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| Order Of Worship (Liturgy) TH 265 - Come, Ye Faithful, Raise the Strain Psalm 69 “It Is My Zeal for Thy Abode” selected stanzas – P184 – 7; P185 – 6,7, P186 – 1,3,5; sung to P186 TH 253 - There Is a Fountain Filled with Blood |
Two Feasts Point to Two Greater Feasts
John 2:1-25
When General Election 2025 was revealed, and polling day was set on 3 May, many people lost their joy. Why? Because they planned holidays for Labor Day weekend. Their anticipated joy was turned to disappointment. Their plans disrupted. Their joys dashed! Similarly, Israel also experienced that. After redeeming her from Egypt, God gave her a land to enjoy. It flowed with milk and honey. But because of her sins, her joy was short-lived. She was exiled and could no longer enjoy its fruits. But in the midst of that, God promised her future joy. In Isaiah 25:6-8, God revealed that one day, he’ll prepare a lavish feast on his mountain. There’ll be rich food; finely aged wine and the best marbled meats. Who’ll be there in heaven for this feast? All nations. He’ll remove whatever veil that prevents them from coming to God. He’ll wipe away all tears from their eyes. But how will people experience this final and eternal joy? By knowing and believing Jesus Christ.
In our passage we see this theme of joy and faith. Early in his ministry, when he was less known, Jesus attended two significant feasts. Only a few people knew who he was. His mother knew who he was at his conception and saw his sinless childhood. John the Baptizer saw heaven open and pointed his disciples to him. But even they weren’t always sure. So Jesus had to reveal himself. And he did that starting with these two feasts. And we see 2 points. Firstly, a feast’s unintended reveal; secondly, the feast’s intended reveal.
Firstly, a feast’s unintended reveal. Verses 1-2 - three days after meeting Nathanael, Jesus attended a wedding in Cana. And there, we see the participants of the feast. His mother Mary, by then a widow, was there with his half-siblings, verse 12. His disciples, at this point only 6, were present: James, John, and Andrew were initially the Baptizer’s disciples. Andrew in turn brought Peter his brother. And both were from Philip’s hometown - Bethsaida. Then Philip introduced Christ to Nathanael, who was from Cana. So they were all friends and family at a wedding. It may possibly have been Nathanael’s - we don’t know. But what do we know is that they were all invited to this wedding. It was a close friend or family. Mary even had influence, she could instruct the servants. So these participants - family and friends - knew him - they had revelation. Mary, from Gabriel; the disciples, from John; and Nathanael so witnessed Christ’s power himself. But they still needed to know more about him. So at this intimate wedding feast, filled with friends and family, Jesus performed this miracle - before his mother, disciples, and half-brothers. By so doing, they believed.
And he did so, in obedience to his mother. Verse 3 says, “And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine.” Now, it was unthinkable that a wedding could run out of wine. A wedding went for days back then, and they would’ve catered enough wine. A celebration needed wine. It was symbol of joy. Ecclesiastes 10:19 - “A feast is made for laughter, and wine maketh merry…” Psalm 104:15 - God gives wine to gladden the heart of man. This is why Isaiah 25 described heaven as a great feast - with finely aged wine. But here, they ran out. And Mary told Jesus they ran out of wine; meaning essentially - they ran out of joy. Now, she went him because she knew who he was. But how did he respond? Verse 4 - Woman, how’s this my business? My time’s not yet come.
To be clear, Jesus was his own man. He’s in his thirties, commissioned by God, and came to do what he was born for. But to him, he had his timing. He called his disciples, went to Jerusalem, and perform miracles in his own time. He even told people not to broadcast his miracles. Why? His hour hadn’t come. He told her he’d only reveal his glory at the right time. He even addressed her “woman”, a formal address. Yes, she was his mother, but he was the Christ - he had his own time. But, in spite of this, he obeyed! How did he go from saying it wasn’t his time, to doing what she asked? Well, maybe mother does know best. She’s been anticipating his hour since his announcement. She knew God destiny. Long ago, when she visited Elizabeth, John heard her voice and leapt in her womb. Why? Luke 1 - Elizabeth said - “…the babe leaped in my womb for joy.” Joy because of Jesus. And Mary glorified God, singing in Luke 1:53 - “He hath filled the hungry with good things.” And now, the wedding lacked joy. The wine pots were empty. But Jesus was sent to restore joy; to fill the hungry with good things. So Mary thought it was time. And Christ obeyed. It was the right time, if not to others, then to his family and disciples.
And in verses 6-12, we see how the miracle performed affected their faith. Jesus told the servants to fill 6 stone water pots. These pots or jars were for ritual purification. Now to be clear, these stone pots were huge; containing two or three firkins each - or about 80 to 120 liters. Multiplied by six, they’d be at most 720 liters. And they were to fill them to the brim, verse 7. Why this particular detail? To fill it full, you’d have to fill it to overflowing. And the miracle was instantaneous. In verse 8, he told them to give wine to the governor of the feast, who’s the wedding planner and emcee. And he tasted it. It was wine, verse 9 This was miraculous. Firstly, wine can’t come from water - only grape juice. Secondly, juice needs time to ferment into wine. But Jesus instantly transformed it. As creator, he took 6 days to make the universe. Here, he took no time to make 6 jars of wine. And it was overflowing. If a pour is 150 mls, there was enough for 5025 glasses of finely aged wine.
Verses 9-10 - when the governor tasted the wine, he was surprised. As wedding planner, he knew it ran out. But he didn’t know where the wine came from. So he assumed the bridegroom pulled a fast one and brought out a vastly superior wine. And this wouldn’t have been standard practice. They usually brought out the good wine first - the finely aged one. And when people had drunk their fill and were already merry, they’d bring out weaker wine, diluted with water. But Jesus supplied better wine. He supplied lots - with no danger of depletion. He did it to bring joy. By so doing, he revealed himself more to his mother, his half-siblings, and his disciples. Verse 11 NKJV says, “This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.” A sign is meant to point to something else. So the miracle wasn’t about better wine - but the better wine giver, the better joy and better joy-giver. Through this unintended and unplanned reveal, the disciples believed. But there’s something missing. Verse 12 speaks about his half-siblings. After the feast, he took them to their new home in Capernaum. But there’s no hint they believed. In fact, we know they didn’t until his resurrection. They had a blindness; a veil covering their eyes. But God would one day remove it, and they’d rejoice. But we see another feast, where the blindness was worse.
Secondly, we see the feast’s intended reveal. After the wedding feast where Jesus had not initially intended to reveal himself, he went down to Jerusalem where he did intend to reveal himself. And he revealed himself in a very different way. While he did it discreetly at the wedding where only a few knew he turned water into wine, everyone at the temple saw his anger. Why was he so angry? Because of the participants of the feast. In verses 13-14, Jesus went to Jerusalem for Passover. “And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting.” The first participant was Jesus himself. He went to keep the feast commanded of all Jewish males to remember God’s redemption of his people from Egyptian slavery. They sacrificed a lamb without blemish to remember that redemption from sin required a perfect sacrifice. So Jesus was obedient to keep the feast - not because he was a sinner, but because he was a savior. After all, John the Baptizer proclaimed him to be the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. So he kept the feast to remember his role of sacrifice. But what did he find there? The other participant who didn’t worship God rightly. Instead, they corrupted the sacrifices.
There were people selling oxen, sheep, and doves for sacrifice. Now, this was not a bad or unusual practice. Pilgrims would travel great distances - as far as Babylon. That took weeks of travel. And they’d risk injury or blemish to any animals they brought. So they’d buy the sacrificial animals at the temple. This provision was also given in Deuteronomy 14. God required animal sacrifices. But if it was too far to take the animal, you can sell yours for money, take the money to the temple, and buy another for sacrifice. So why was Jesus angry? Several reasons. Firstly, the principle was corrupted. The high priest struck a deal with these merchants. He allowed them to conduct business on temple grounds for a cut of the profits. Secondly, the place was corrupted. Historically, the animals were sold at the Mount of Olives. But now, it was in the temple’s Court of the Gentiles. Thirdly, the price was corrupted. It was a scam. The animals sold for more than they were worth. Fourthly, the purity was corrupted. They may not have been free of blemish. They only had to be declared free of blemish by the priest. So for a cut of the profits, inferior animals passed inspection and were sold for higher prices. There was no ISO standard. So they fleeced the people. Same with the money changers. Worshipers needed to pay the Corban, or temple tax. But money had to be changed for temple currency. But the exchange rates weren’t in their favor. Again, fleecing at the temple. So while Christ came to worship and offer sacrifice, the people rejected the significance. Instead of offering relief and joy, they multiplied sin and grief. The principle was wrong; place was wrong; price was wrong; and purity was wrong. The priests had allowed sin into God’s mountain and turned it into a marketplace. And this made Christ angry.
So while they were disobedient, he was obedient to his father. How? In verses 15-16, he made a whip with rope - likely from all the rope used to bind the animals. And he whipped the cheating merchants out of the temple. He even drove away all the blemished animals. He overthrew the tables and dirty money. This was to punish them - they broke the first and last commandment - by coveting money and perverting worship. Which means that though they were there at Passover, supposedly remembering redemption, they weren’t freed from sin. They were still bound to sin. So it was poetic how Jesus used rope from bound animals to whip these slaves of money on Passover. Likewise, the birds. In verse 16, he told the bird merchants to take them out of the temple. They were likely still in cages. And that’s also poetic. Who were the ones truly caged by greed? They were! And he told them - “make not my Father’s house an house of merchandise.” We see several truths from this phrase. Firstly, it was God’s house - supposed to be protected by the priests to be a place of holiness and sacrifice for people seeking God for forgiveness. But the priests were corrupt. Secondly, it was MY father’s house. He’d be the true priest that would cleanse and protect the temple. And thirdly, this was in the mount of God - where all people should rejoice. But the merchants set up shop in the Court of the Gentiles. This made Jesus angry. So he cleansed the temple with great righteous and violent anger - in obedience to God. That’s when the disciples remembered Psalm 69:9 - that it was zeal for God’s house that ate Jesus up - or consumed him. This was revealed to them. The word “ate up” or “consumed” shows he’d do all that’s necessary to bring about the true Passover. It started with him whipping them in anger, and it would end in him being whipped because of their anger. This was his life’s work, his all consuming passion. He revealed himself to be the one who’d restore God’s house. This is why the Lord Jesus had to die.
But the people were not happy with him. They asked what right he had to chase them from the temple. And they asked for his credentials. Verse 18 - “Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign shewest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things?” So here, we see his answer - he’d perform a better miracle. They asked for a further sign, his qualification. Now, note that the disciples saw his qualifications - when he cleansed the temple, they remembered Psalm 69. The disciples got it. They also saw his miracle at Cana. But these Jewish merchants and priests were blind. Like Pharaoh, they couldn’t see clear signs. So they asked him for another sign. And our Lord answered in a parable-like way - destroy this temple and I’ll raise it up in three days. That’s the sign of my power. But they couldn’t understand him. They were blind. There was a veil. And they scoffed - how could he take 3 days to build what took 46 years? Now, we know he was not talking about the actual temple, but about his death and resurrection. This is where, we with spiritual eyes can see the real meaning. Their Passover was kept so poorly - bad temple, bad priest, bad sacrifices… No redemption! So Jesus had every right to cleanse the temple. And replace it. He’d be the better priest, sacrifice, temple. As the Lamb of God - he’d die. Those who believe in him, would be restored to a better land - God’s mountain, where he’d gather them in the great marriage supper of the lamb, to feed them and drink that better wine with them. God’s people will have perfect joy.
Dearly beloved, as we look at these two feasts early in Jesus’ ministry, they point to two greater feasts. God reserves that great supper in heaven, that time of rejoicing, for those who believe in him. They shall have finely aged wine - better wine and joy - without sorrow or tears forever. The joy will never end. But you can’t be in that feast if you don’t have Christ as your Passover. To be at the wedding supper, you need Christ’s Passover. Sometimes those in church are like those in the temple. We don’t look to Christ. We merely treat the faith as ritual, coming to church, without seeing his sacrifice, but offering your own blemished good works. Of that’s the case, you shall never enter that wedding feast. If you don’t believe in Christ as he’s been revealed, a sacrifice whipped for you; then judgment is still yours. Just as Christ was revealed to his family, he’s revealed to you here in church. Are your eyes still veiled? I pray that for some of you, the veils of your eyes will be uncovered, that you’d see him as your Savior.
But not all will see Jesus. Not all will have this joy. Now, at the end of this passage, we see a sad commentary. Sure, verse 22 says his disciples understood who he was - they believed the Scripture and Christ’s word. But verse 23 onwards, we see that despite the miracles Jesus did, there were people who didn’t really truly believe. Not Jesus performed many miracles at the feast. Many saw. Many were in Jerusalem during the feast. Or says they believed in his name, but then in verses 24-25, it says Jesus didn’t commit or entrust himself to them. Meaning, he kept away from them. Why? Because he knew all men. He didn’t need anyone to tell him what man was like - he knew human nature.
And dearly beloved. He knows you. He sees into your heart. He knows what kind of faith you have. Is Christ your Passover? Is he your bridegroom? Are you experiencing the joy that comes from being in his kingdom?
1. A Feast’s Unintended Reveal
A. The participants of the feast (1-2)
B. His obedience to his mother (3-5)
C. The miracle performed and their faith (7-12)
2. The Feast’s Intended Reveal
A. The participants of the feast (13-14)
B. His obedience to his Father (15-17)
C. The miracle to be performed and their faith (18-25)
* As a matter of courtesy please advise Rev. Mark Chen, if you plan to use this sermon in a worship service. Thank-you.
(c) Copyright 2025, Rev. Mark Chen
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