Isaiah 24, John 2 ~ 20180325 ~ Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org

03/25_John 2, Isaiah 24; Palm Sunday; Audio available at: http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20180325_palm-sunday.mp3

All Joy Has Grown Dark

This is the beginning of holy week. Today, Palm Sunday, marks the day Jesus rode in to Jerusalem on a donkey, hailed as the Messiah, Son of David. 5 days later Jesus is betrayed by one of his own, and the crowds shout crucify, crucify! Then a week from today, resurrection Sunday, the women visit the tomb to honor the body of Jesus, and find it empty. This is Holy Week, an opportunity to remember, to reflect on Jesus, who he is, why he came. Today, I want to look at John 2, where it says 'This, the first of signs, Jesus did ...and manifested his glory.” But before we go to John 2, I want to set the stage by looking at a the prophecy of Isaiah 24.

Isaiah 24:1 Behold, the LORD will empty the earth and make it desolate, and he will twist its surface and scatter its inhabitants.

Isaiah 24 is a picture of God's judgment on the rebellious earth.

Isaiah 24:4 The earth mourns and withers; the world languishes and withers; the highest people of the earth languish. 5 The earth lies defiled under its inhabitants; for they have transgressed the laws, violated the statutes, broken the everlasting covenant. 6 Therefore a curse devours the earth, and its inhabitants suffer for their guilt; therefore the inhabitants of the earth are scorched, and few men are left. 7 The wine mourns, the vine languishes, all the merry-hearted sigh. 8 The mirth of the tambourines is stilled, the noise of the jubilant has ceased, the mirth of the lyre is stilled. 9 No more do they drink wine with singing; strong drink is bitter to those who drink it. 10 The wasted city is broken down; every house is shut up so that none can enter. 11 There is an outcry in the streets for lack of wine; all joy has grown dark; the gladness of the earth is banished. 12 Desolation is left in the city; the gates are battered into ruins. 13 For thus it shall be in the midst of the earth among the nations, as when an olive tree is beaten, as at the gleaning when the grape harvest is done.

God formed the earth and filled it with every good thing, but man sinned, transgressed God''s laws, broke his covenant, brought guilt, and the curse devours the earth. God scatters rebellious mankind who have united against him. All the vain things we seek pleasure in leave us empty and hollow. Holy week is a mirror held up to show us our condition, our rebellion, our emptiness, our need.

Isaiah 24:11 There is an outcry in the streets for lack of wine; all joy has grown dark; the gladness of the earth is banished.

The First of His Signs

John 2:11 tells us

John 2:11 This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.

This first of his signs; this word 'first' means 'beginning, corner, or principle'; it was likely first in time, but it can also mean that this was the principle or ruling sign. It was a sign that manifested his glory. It was a sign that caused his disciples to believe in him.

[Before we get into this, I must acknowledge that Tim Keller helped me see much of what I see in this passage.]

John 2:1 On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 2 Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples. 3 When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” 4 And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.”

This is at the beginning of Jesus' public ministry. Jesus is about 30 years old, single, and he is invited to a wedding. Now put yourself into that context; what does a single guy think about at someone else's wedding? Jesus is there, his mom is there, the master of the feast has made a serious blunder and they have run out of wine. This is going to be that wedding that everybody in the community talks about for years to come. 'Remember BarJudah's wedding, when they ran out of wine?' We put it in our context and think it's not really a big deal, but in that culture it was a very big deal. This is a social catastrophe. Word is spreading. A mother leans over to her adult son and whispers 'they have no wine.' Jesus' response seems strange. 'Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.' This is not my wedding. This is not my party. This is not my responsibility. Today, you are not the mother of the groom. My hour has not yet come.

It almost seems that Jesus is lost in thought, pondering his own future wedding. He is thinking about his hour, his time, when Mary interrupts. What is this to me and to you woman? My hour is not yet here.'

My Hour Has Not Yet Come

This is a phrase used several times in the gospel of John. Here Jesus says 'My hour has not yet come.' John 7:30 and 8:20 give the reason that Jesus was not arrested 'because his hour had not yet come.' In John 12:23 Jesus declares 'The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.' and then he talks about a grain of wheat falling into the ground and dying. And in verse 27 he says:

John 12:27 “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour.

In John 13:1, we are told that 'Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father.' John 17:1 Jesus prays 'Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you.'

In Mark 14:35, in the garden Jesus 'prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him.' Then he says 'the hour has come. The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.' In his prayer Jesus equates the hour with the cup that he asks the Father to remove from him, yet if he must he is willing to drink it.

Through the gospels we see 'his hour' is the time of his betrayal, arrest, condemnation and crucifixion. If we trace this image of the cup through Isaiah and Jeremiah and Revelation, we see consistently that it is the 'cup of the wine of the fury of [God's] wrath' (Rev.16:19; cf. 14:10; Is.51:17, 22; Jer.25:15) that Jesus must drink.

Jesus is at a wedding feast. The wine ran out. The celebration is about to come to a screeching halt. Jesus is looking toward another hour, another cup, a cup of wine that will not run dry until he drinks it. He is thinking about his betrayal by one of his friends, his execution. He is thinking about the righteous fury of almighty God against the sins of mankind. He is at a wedding and he is thinking about his own funeral. And he says 'My hour has not yet come.'

The Best Wine

In this context Jesus does a startling thing. Look back at John 2.

John 2:1 On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 2 Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples. 3 When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” 4 And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” 5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” 6 Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. 7 Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. 8 And he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” So they took it. 9 When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom 10 and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.” 11 This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.

Jesus turns 120 – 180 gallons of water into the finest aged wine. The master of the feast, who failed in his responsibility to prepare appropriately for the wedding celebration, and the groom, who knew he didn't have a 180 gallon reserve of the finest wine in a cellar somewhere, are both confused. Jesus, quietly, unpretentiously, behind the scenes, shows himself to be the true Master of the feast. It was in this premier of his signs that Jesus manifested his glory.

When the wine runs dry, when 'all joy has grown dark; the gladness of the earth is banished' (Is.24:11); and every earthly pleasure will leave us longing for something better, something lasting, something satisfying, Jesus shows himself to be the true Master of the feast, the only one who provides enduring joy. Jesus, in whose presence there is fullness of joy; at whose right hand are pleasures forevermore (Ps.16:11). Jesus who has put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound (Ps.4:7).

John 7:37 ...Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’”

This chief of signs by which he displayed his glory; this is Jesus' calling card. This is the sign by which he made himself known. Jesus opened blind eyes, made the lame walk, healed the sick, liberated those in demonic bondage, even raised the dead, but this was the first of his signs; making over 100 gallons of the finest wine to increase joy at a wedding celebration. If anyone tells you that Jesus is out to spoil their fun, squelch their joy and make life boring, they have not met the Jesus of the Bible! No wonder he was accused of being a glutton and a drunkard (Mt.11:29; Lk.7:34). Jesus came that we might have life and have it abundantly (Jn.10:10); that his joy would be in us, and our joy would be full (Jn.15:11). Jesus knows what joy is, and where lasting joy comes from.

His Wedding

Jesus is at a wedding, thinking about his coming hour and the cup he must drink, and when they run out of wine, he displays his glory and makes over 100 gallons of the finest wine for the celebration. I said he was probably thinking about his own wedding. In the next chapter, when John the baptist was informed that everybody was leaving him to follow Jesus, he compared his role to the friend, and Jesus as the bridegroom.

John 3:29 The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete.

The best man does not run off with the bride. Jesus is the bridegroom. His joy is complete when he sees the bride going out the the groom.

Jesus also used this metaphor early in his ministry. When he was asked why his disciples were not fasting,

Matthew 9:15 And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. (cf. Mk. 2:19-20; Lk.5:34-35)

Paul gets caught up in this picture, this 'profound mystery' in Ephesians 5, where he compares the husband and his wife with Christ and the church, how he loved her and gave himself up for her.

There is a wedding feast coming. John tells us in:

Revelation 19:7 Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; 8 it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”— for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. 9 And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.”

The relation of a bride to her husband is a picture of our relationship with Jesus.

He Wept over Jerusalem

This helps us understand to some extent the triumphal entry of Jesus that Palm Sunday; as he rode in on a donkey, his path strewn with garments and palm branches, 'the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”' (Lk.19:37-38), and Jesus, in the midst of this celebration, acknowledging that it is right for them to praise him,

Luke 19:41 And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, 42 saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. ...44 ... because you did not know the time of your visitation.”

Jesus in the midst of the celebration, weeps over Jerusalem. Why? She is not ready. She is not yet as she ought to be. The bridegroom is coming, and she is not ready to receive him.

Revelation 21:2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

The Joy Set Before Him

This helps us understand Hebrews 12:2.

Hebrews 12:2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

What does it mean that he endured the cross and despised its shame for the joy that was set before him? What joy? The cross and its shame was the necessary means, the cup he had to drink, in order to secure his bride. He looked through the cross to his bride. He could not go around the cross to his bride, as Ephesians says:

Ephesians 5: 25 ...Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.

The cross was the path to joy, the only way possible to cleanse and purify his bride, to make her holy. He had to give himself up for her.

As we move into holy week, let us daily look together to Jesus, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross..

Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org