Jesus' Wedding Miracle (John 2:1-12)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:05.639 Let's turn our attention to the gospel of John, John Chapter Two, verses 2 00:00:05.759 --> 00:00:10.310 one through twelve. If you have one of the black bibles from the cart, 3 00:00:10.349 --> 00:00:14.589 this is on page eight hundred and eighty seven. You're welcome to read 4 00:00:14.630 --> 00:00:21.109 along. If it helps you, however, to be an active listener and 5 00:00:21.269 --> 00:00:26.100 in other ways, that's that's wonderful too. Let's give our attention to God's 6 00:00:26.100 --> 00:00:30.859 Word and John Chapter Two, verses one through twelve. This morning we have 7 00:00:31.019 --> 00:00:35.700 the pleasure of hearing of Jesus First Public Miracle That John Records for us. 8 00:00:36.609 --> 00:00:43.090 He turns water into wine. Amazing. On the third day there was a 9 00:00:43.210 --> 00:00:48.130 wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus 10 00:00:48.289 --> 00:00:53.000 was also was invited to the wedding with his disciples. When the wine ran 11 00:00:53.159 --> 00:00:57.000 out, the mother of Jesus said to him, they have no wine, 12 00:00:58.039 --> 00:01:00.640 and Jesus said to her, woman, what does this have to do with 13 00:01:00.759 --> 00:01:06.989 me? My hour has not yet come. His mother said to the servants, 14 00:01:07.750 --> 00:01:12.349 do whatever he tells you now. There were six stone water jars there 15 00:01:12.469 --> 00:01:18.659 for the Jewish rites of Purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus 16 00:01:18.700 --> 00:01:23.180 said to the servants fill the jars with water. They filled them up to 17 00:01:23.219 --> 00:01:26.579 the brim and he said to them, now draw some out and take it 18 00:01:26.700 --> 00:01:30.859 to the master of the Feast. So they took it. When the master 19 00:01:30.980 --> 00:01:36.810 of the feast taste of the water now become wine and did not know where 20 00:01:36.849 --> 00:01:40.969 it came from, though the servants who had drawn the water new. The 21 00:01:41.090 --> 00:01:45.090 master of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him everyone serves the good 22 00:01:45.129 --> 00:01:48.480 wine first and when the people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. 23 00:01:49.079 --> 00:01:53.879 But you have kept the good wine until now. This the first of his 24 00:01:53.000 --> 00:02:00.200 signs. Jesus did it Cana and Galilee and manifested his glory and his disciples 25 00:02:00.319 --> 00:02:04.790 believed in him. And then after this he went down to Copernam with his 26 00:02:04.909 --> 00:02:07.669 mother and his brothers and his disciples, and they stayed there for a few 27 00:02:07.669 --> 00:02:37.610 days. You may be seated. One of the funny things about this passage 28 00:02:37.689 --> 00:02:44.560 is that a really solid and thorough interpretation of it would seem to require a 29 00:02:45.000 --> 00:02:52.919 fair amount of background knowledge, purification rights, Jewish weddings, social customs, 30 00:02:53.719 --> 00:03:00.310 even a good understanding of the language and the way things are said. And 31 00:03:00.430 --> 00:03:06.710 yet it seems like very few of these questions can be answered with a lot 32 00:03:06.750 --> 00:03:13.780 of certainty. Is Jesus Mad at Mary? Is Mary Mad at Jesus? 33 00:03:14.500 --> 00:03:17.659 Is She simply pointing out a fact? Is She blaming there's a lot of 34 00:03:17.780 --> 00:03:22.939 ways in which you could read this passage, and it was somewhat difficult to 35 00:03:23.060 --> 00:03:31.370 read it this morning without a certain kind of interpretation. One of the challenges, 36 00:03:31.490 --> 00:03:36.569 however, is that commentators are divided on almost all of these questions. 37 00:03:38.210 --> 00:03:44.439 There's not there's not any kind of consensus on most of these questions as to 38 00:03:44.960 --> 00:03:49.840 a lot of the things that are going on here. So I'm going to 39 00:03:49.960 --> 00:03:57.310 avoid them, perhaps to your frustration, and focus on what I think are 40 00:03:57.590 --> 00:04:02.349 the majors of this passage, the things that are really, really, really 41 00:04:02.590 --> 00:04:15.060 clear. One of them is that Jesus does this extraordinary thing and, if 42 00:04:15.100 --> 00:04:20.100 I could put it this way, without being disrespectful at all to my Lord, 43 00:04:20.139 --> 00:04:27.569 a very, very boring way. He does this extraordinary thing that if 44 00:04:27.610 --> 00:04:30.449 you saw something like this, if you experience this in your own home, 45 00:04:31.050 --> 00:04:39.920 water, right wine, you would be blown away. You would tell the 46 00:04:40.120 --> 00:04:43.199 story for the rest of your life. Right, this would be one of 47 00:04:43.240 --> 00:04:47.680 your goto stories at every dinner party from now until the future. I was 48 00:04:47.839 --> 00:04:51.949 there, that there was no more wine and then all of a sudden there 49 00:04:53.069 --> 00:04:57.990 was tons of wine. Jesus turned water into wine. Raise this amazing thing. 50 00:04:58.350 --> 00:05:02.949 It demonstrates that Jesus in fact is God, that he has creative power, 51 00:05:03.709 --> 00:05:09.779 that he can, in a way that only God can and only the 52 00:05:09.819 --> 00:05:17.100 way that God knows, change reality to create new reality. He's not he's 53 00:05:17.100 --> 00:05:23.610 not merely manipulating things and shifting them around like we do, but he can 54 00:05:23.769 --> 00:05:28.089 create something out of nothing, or change one thing that is one thing and 55 00:05:28.569 --> 00:05:34.720 something else that is something else. Totally outstanding, extraordinary in every way. 56 00:05:36.160 --> 00:05:40.639 And yet if you didn't know, if I didn't tell you, that this 57 00:05:41.079 --> 00:05:46.079 was the first of Jesus's miracles in which he turned water into wine, you 58 00:05:46.160 --> 00:05:54.790 wouldn't know at all that this was a miracle story. Until you get down 59 00:05:54.829 --> 00:06:00.310 at the very sort of bottom of the story. It's almost a passing comment 60 00:06:00.110 --> 00:06:03.500 when it says in verse nine, when the Master of the feast, taste 61 00:06:03.540 --> 00:06:09.620 of the water now become wine. Right, it's just like, and this 62 00:06:09.819 --> 00:06:14.899 happened right like just this sort of side fact. Almost when you read through 63 00:06:14.939 --> 00:06:17.970 the story, you simply have there was an and the events don't even seem 64 00:06:18.009 --> 00:06:23.730 all that dramatic. Mary says to Jesus they're out of wine, and he 65 00:06:23.850 --> 00:06:28.050 says, why are you asking me this? And and she just she responds 66 00:06:28.089 --> 00:06:34.079 by going telling the servants just do whatever he says. and Jesus, he 67 00:06:34.160 --> 00:06:39.600 doesn't promise to do anything, but the commands that he gives are so ordinary 68 00:06:39.720 --> 00:06:42.800 to there's you know, when you go watch a magic show, it's all 69 00:06:42.839 --> 00:06:48.550 about the performance, right, you know, there's there's colors and lights and 70 00:06:50.110 --> 00:06:56.269 you know, movements and drama. Listen to how Jesus performs this miracle. 71 00:06:57.430 --> 00:07:00.029 Verse Seven, Jesus said to the servants, fill the jars with water. 72 00:07:00.939 --> 00:07:06.779 Can you imagine a more boring thing to say or do? FILL THE JARS 73 00:07:06.860 --> 00:07:11.019 WITH WATER? Right, this is something that you do all the time and 74 00:07:11.139 --> 00:07:14.620 all kinds of different situations and ways. This is an everyday kind of thing. 75 00:07:15.500 --> 00:07:20.370 There's no special formula, no magic wand, no great enchantment or amulet. 76 00:07:21.129 --> 00:07:29.290 Jesus doesn't switch over to another dimension and then switch back and just fill 77 00:07:29.370 --> 00:07:33.879 the jars with water. And it goes on like this. They filled them 78 00:07:35.279 --> 00:07:41.560 to the brim. He said to them, now draw some out and take 79 00:07:41.600 --> 00:07:46.709 it to the master. Of the Feast. So they took it. When 80 00:07:46.750 --> 00:07:49.629 the master of the Feast of tastes the water now become wine. What you 81 00:07:49.750 --> 00:07:54.029 see? To See what I mean? It's it's done. It's all this 82 00:07:54.310 --> 00:07:57.589 very, very ordinary thing. Now become wine and did not know where it 83 00:07:57.629 --> 00:08:01.139 comes from. They'll the servants of the water knew where it had come from. 84 00:08:01.180 --> 00:08:03.939 The master of the friest calls the bide groom and pats him on the 85 00:08:03.980 --> 00:08:07.819 back. It says, man, you're an amazing host. Wait, I 86 00:08:07.899 --> 00:08:11.139 thought Jesus did the miracle. What does this have to do with the bridegroom? 87 00:08:11.579 --> 00:08:15.769 You see how Jesus, an almost every moment in this story's receding into 88 00:08:15.810 --> 00:08:20.889 the background, is doing this in these incredibly ordinary things, in ordinary ways, 89 00:08:20.050 --> 00:08:26.129 with ordinary means. And yet is doing these extraordinary things. Not only 90 00:08:26.160 --> 00:08:30.160 does he turn water into wine, but now, all of a sudden, 91 00:08:30.240 --> 00:08:35.000 the bridegrooms a hero, the waiters and etc. They're all happy and likely 92 00:08:35.200 --> 00:08:43.870 this brought joy, more joy to the wedding, and it was really good 93 00:08:43.870 --> 00:08:48.750 wine to we read. John Concludes this by saying this was the first of 94 00:08:48.870 --> 00:08:54.230 his signs. Jesus did it Cana, and it manifested his glory. Right, 95 00:08:54.269 --> 00:08:58.860 if you will go, if you if you had the opportunity to go 96 00:08:58.100 --> 00:09:03.700 to Jesus, or imagine a story in which the son of God would come 97 00:09:03.740 --> 00:09:09.570 into the world and would do his first big sign in which is man is 98 00:09:09.769 --> 00:09:18.250 glory. The glory of God would be manifested, the glory of God would 99 00:09:18.250 --> 00:09:26.200 be made known. I would expect to show something dramatic, and it is 100 00:09:26.240 --> 00:09:33.000 in some ways, but in so many ways it's it's not. Why? 101 00:09:37.600 --> 00:09:46.389 Because this first sign is in a way a telling sign, a sign that 102 00:09:46.509 --> 00:09:54.820 demonstrates the way his entire ministry is going to go. On the one hand, 103 00:09:54.980 --> 00:10:01.580 it is going to be exceedingly great, beyond anything anyone has ever imagined. 104 00:10:01.620 --> 00:10:05.980 It's going to be fulfilling the kinds of promises that were promised under the 105 00:10:07.850 --> 00:10:11.809 old covenant, New Covenant Promises. For example, if you go over to 106 00:10:13.649 --> 00:10:22.080 Isaiah, Chapter Twenty Five, I'm you'll hear this of these these promises, 107 00:10:22.360 --> 00:10:31.240 these coming promises for God's people. Let me read. Oh, let me, 108 00:10:31.840 --> 00:10:33.360 there's so much good here. Let I'll just start at verse one and 109 00:10:33.480 --> 00:10:37.950 we'll see I goes. All Right, here we go, Isaiah Twenty Five, 110 00:10:39.230 --> 00:10:41.590 the Lord you are my God. I will exalt you. I will 111 00:10:41.590 --> 00:10:46.230 praise your name, for you have done wonderful things. Plans formed of old, 112 00:10:46.470 --> 00:10:50.620 faithful and sure. For you have made the city a heap, the 113 00:10:50.740 --> 00:10:54.500 fortified city a ruin, the foreigners place a city no more. It will 114 00:10:54.620 --> 00:11:01.220 never be rebuilt. Therefore, strong people's will glorify you. Cities of ruthless 115 00:11:01.259 --> 00:11:05.009 nations will fear you, for you have been a stronghold to the poor, 116 00:11:05.490 --> 00:11:09.490 a stronghold to the needy in his distress, a shelter from the storm and 117 00:11:09.570 --> 00:11:13.409 a shade from the heat. And a breath of the ruthless is like a 118 00:11:13.570 --> 00:11:16.889 storm again, for the breath of the ruthless is like a storm against a 119 00:11:18.009 --> 00:11:22.120 wall, like heat in a dry place. You subdue the noise of foreigners 120 00:11:22.399 --> 00:11:26.000 as heat, by the shade of a cloud. So the song of ruthlessness 121 00:11:26.080 --> 00:11:33.950 is pressed down. There's put down here, the the the description of the 122 00:11:33.070 --> 00:11:37.909 Lord and his work, work that is brought to a consummation in Christ is 123 00:11:37.029 --> 00:11:43.669 described in a way that puts down evil, puts down ruthlessness, God's enemies, 124 00:11:43.789 --> 00:11:46.980 people that would seek to do harm. And in the second of Jesus's 125 00:11:48.019 --> 00:11:52.100 miracles, he's going to do exactly that when he goes into the temple and 126 00:11:52.220 --> 00:11:58.299 he cleans it out of wickedness. But in addition to making God's people safe 127 00:11:58.419 --> 00:12:03.850 and it making establishing a kingdom that is secure and strong and a place for 128 00:12:03.970 --> 00:12:09.370 worship, it is also a place that is filled with endless joy, endless 129 00:12:09.570 --> 00:12:15.570 blessing. Listen to the continuing description here in verse six. Now this connects 130 00:12:15.570 --> 00:12:18.919 us to the wine miracle. Here on this mountain, the Lord of hosts 131 00:12:20.039 --> 00:12:24.639 will make for all people's a feast of rich food, a feast of well 132 00:12:24.799 --> 00:12:30.990 aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine, well 133 00:12:31.149 --> 00:12:37.110 refined. You see this glorified way in which God is describing this kingdom that 134 00:12:37.269 --> 00:12:41.549 is going to come, this kingdom that is established with blessings that just you 135 00:12:41.629 --> 00:12:46.539 don't just eat your daily bread, it is the best bread you've ever had. 136 00:12:48.460 --> 00:12:52.220 You don't just drink some wine with your dinner. It's the best, 137 00:12:52.820 --> 00:13:01.250 it's bountiful, it's a pleasurable and brings joy. goes on and I will 138 00:13:01.289 --> 00:13:05.009 swallow up, on this mountain, the covering that is cast over all people's 139 00:13:05.330 --> 00:13:09.529 the veil that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death forever 140 00:13:11.009 --> 00:13:15.000 and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach 141 00:13:15.080 --> 00:13:18.840 of his people will be taken away from all the earth, for the Lord 142 00:13:18.399 --> 00:13:22.159 has spoken, it will be said on that day, behold, this is 143 00:13:22.240 --> 00:13:26.519 our God. We have waited for him that he might save us. This 144 00:13:26.799 --> 00:13:28.789 is the Lord. We have waited for him. Let us be glad and 145 00:13:28.909 --> 00:13:33.909 rejoice in his salvation. Remember the words of his disciples that we've been reading 146 00:13:33.990 --> 00:13:39.429 in John. Come and see, the Messiah has come. Behold the lamb 147 00:13:39.470 --> 00:13:43.220 of God who comes into the world. This is what they're talking about, 148 00:13:43.419 --> 00:13:46.980 the fulfillment of these things. They have been waiting on the Lord, and 149 00:13:46.139 --> 00:13:52.620 now he has come. God Incarnate, God Emanuel with us, has come 150 00:13:52.139 --> 00:13:56.009 and these things are coming true. First ten for the hand of the Lord 151 00:13:56.049 --> 00:14:00.850 will rest on this mountain, and mob shall be trampled down in his place, 152 00:14:01.250 --> 00:14:05.289 a straw, as Straw is trampled down in a Dunghill, and he 153 00:14:05.330 --> 00:14:07.730 will spread out his hands in the midst of it, as a swimmer spreads 154 00:14:07.809 --> 00:14:13.039 his hands out to swim. But the Lord will lay low his pompous pride, 155 00:14:13.120 --> 00:14:16.440 together with the skill of his hands and the high fortifications of his wall, 156 00:14:16.519 --> 00:14:20.679 he will bring down, lay low, cast and cast to the ground, 157 00:14:22.200 --> 00:14:28.830 to the dust. God is not going to tolerate anything that stands in 158 00:14:28.990 --> 00:14:33.389 his way. It will be laid low, it will be crumpled, it 159 00:14:33.429 --> 00:14:37.580 will be destroyed, it will be ground into the dust, but those who 160 00:14:37.700 --> 00:14:41.139 cling to him, those who wait for him and for his salvation, will 161 00:14:41.179 --> 00:14:48.580 be lifted up and will be blast with every blessing that could that you could 162 00:14:48.580 --> 00:14:52.889 ever imagine. This is all going to come through this Messiah who comes, 163 00:14:54.169 --> 00:15:01.450 who is now here and turning water into wine, who is marking the things 164 00:15:01.529 --> 00:15:05.730 that he does with celebration, with joy, with blessing, and he's going 165 00:15:05.809 --> 00:15:09.000 to continue to do that through his miracles that we read and John and the 166 00:15:09.039 --> 00:15:16.879 other gospels, as well as he restores people's crippled legs, relationships, sin, 167 00:15:18.159 --> 00:15:26.509 problems many other things. Jesus does amazing things, more amazing than anybody 168 00:15:26.590 --> 00:15:33.470 is really expecting, but he does them in a more ordinary way than anyone 169 00:15:33.549 --> 00:15:39.220 is expecting, and that's the other aspect here that we're learning about in this 170 00:15:39.779 --> 00:15:45.659 first of this Jesus signs and this in his public ministry. Here not only 171 00:15:45.740 --> 00:15:52.210 is this extraordinary thing happening, but it's going to happen in a very ordinary 172 00:15:52.289 --> 00:16:00.570 way. Fill this, take that, do this thing. Sometimes people are 173 00:16:00.409 --> 00:16:04.840 frustrated with this. When are you coming? When is it going to happen? 174 00:16:06.200 --> 00:16:08.559 What's IT GOING TO BE? And he says it's happening now, it's 175 00:16:08.600 --> 00:16:15.000 happening among you. Even the miracles people will see and point to and be 176 00:16:15.159 --> 00:16:21.029 frustrated. I'm the same continues on today. Jesus is Ministry, Jesus is 177 00:16:21.190 --> 00:16:23.470 Gospel, is still at work. It's still at work among his people. 178 00:16:23.509 --> 00:16:32.429 He's still doing extraordinary things, like being present with us when we come and 179 00:16:32.549 --> 00:16:37.700 worship with him, like lifting us up out of our death, our sins 180 00:16:37.740 --> 00:16:41.059 and our trespasses so that we might live with him, reign with him, 181 00:16:41.220 --> 00:16:45.500 walk with him, like giving us a spirit that changes us so that, 182 00:16:45.580 --> 00:16:49.850 instead of stamping our foot and looking Jesus and now I and saying I don't 183 00:16:49.850 --> 00:16:55.169 care and I don't want to do it, we humble ourselves no matter what 184 00:16:55.250 --> 00:17:00.649 it takes. We say, I'll do whatever you want. What makes a 185 00:17:00.730 --> 00:17:07.519 person do that? But change is a person God does. If God can 186 00:17:07.599 --> 00:17:11.359 turn water into wine, he can take dead bodies and make them live again. 187 00:17:12.119 --> 00:17:18.309 He can take dead souls and make them live for him. Amazing things, 188 00:17:18.470 --> 00:17:25.150 but in very ordinary ways. In Our confessions and Catechisms we talk about 189 00:17:25.190 --> 00:17:32.099 God working through the ordinary means of grace. It's an important phrase to know 190 00:17:32.339 --> 00:17:37.380 and memorize, ordinary means of grace. Grace, on the one hand, 191 00:17:37.539 --> 00:17:41.339 is an extraordinary thing to talk about. None of us are deserving of it, 192 00:17:41.619 --> 00:17:45.130 especially the kind of grace that's been described for you this morning here in 193 00:17:45.210 --> 00:17:51.450 God's word. And yet it comes to us through very ordinary means. What 194 00:17:51.609 --> 00:17:57.680 are those means? The word of God, particularly preaching, the administration of 195 00:17:57.759 --> 00:18:04.279 the sacraments and prayer. And people will want programs and they'll clamor after all 196 00:18:04.359 --> 00:18:07.359 kinds of things and they'll want to see all kinds of other stuff. And 197 00:18:07.759 --> 00:18:12.430 not that all that is terrible or wrong and of itself, but God has 198 00:18:12.509 --> 00:18:19.910 promised to do some amazing things. If we will listen to him, we 199 00:18:19.990 --> 00:18:26.390 will follow his paths. It's a blessing to us really that he does things 200 00:18:26.470 --> 00:18:30.299 in this way. If God did things, if got if a salvation only 201 00:18:30.460 --> 00:18:37.220 came to us if we accomplished certain goals or if we approved ourselves to be 202 00:18:37.579 --> 00:18:41.210 worthy in some way or another, if we were if we had to, 203 00:18:41.410 --> 00:18:45.809 let's say, go on a long journey to a special place, or we 204 00:18:45.970 --> 00:18:51.529 had to go and collect certain elements that we could concoct into a formula that 205 00:18:51.650 --> 00:18:56.720 and finally would be able to enact some kind of salvation or enchantment, or 206 00:18:56.799 --> 00:18:59.480 maybe we had to do a certain amount of good works, or anything you 207 00:18:59.559 --> 00:19:04.480 might imagine that would be really impressive and worthy of salvation would ultimately undermine any 208 00:19:04.480 --> 00:19:10.990 kind of gift that God is giving to us. Because God does it in 209 00:19:11.069 --> 00:19:17.869 these ordinary, totally accessible, boring ways. It makes salvation accessible to all 210 00:19:17.950 --> 00:19:22.990 of us. Everyone the calls on the name of the Lord, that hears 211 00:19:22.109 --> 00:19:29.299 the word and responds in faith. It's a reminder to US constantly of how 212 00:19:29.500 --> 00:19:38.329 far the Lord humbled himself to be with us and to love us. So 213 00:19:38.450 --> 00:19:42.410 in this first miracle where Jesus turns water into wine, we begin to understand, 214 00:19:42.809 --> 00:19:48.170 we begin to see more of what this Ministry of Jesus is All about, 215 00:19:49.650 --> 00:19:55.960 what the Gospel itself is that the Lord can't the Lord of Glory, 216 00:19:56.559 --> 00:20:03.759 manifested that glory by coming into the world, humbling himself and eventually even dying 217 00:20:03.799 --> 00:20:10.829 on a cross to forgive us our sins. The second thing I want to 218 00:20:10.910 --> 00:20:14.710 mention in the last thing I want to mention is what Martin Luther says is 219 00:20:14.869 --> 00:20:22.220 the most important phrase in this chapter and the central point of of of this 220 00:20:22.859 --> 00:20:30.859 message here, and it's Mary's words when she says in Verse Five, Do 221 00:20:30.460 --> 00:20:40.250 Whatever he tells you, do whatever he tells you. If you could just 222 00:20:40.369 --> 00:20:45.609 get this one thing, my job would be done. Right. If I 223 00:20:45.890 --> 00:20:49.359 could just get this one thing, my life would be so much easier. 224 00:20:52.039 --> 00:20:59.680 Do Wherever he tells you. Now it's easy to say, well, yeah, 225 00:20:59.839 --> 00:21:03.400 of course right, he is the Lord of the universal what else would 226 00:21:03.400 --> 00:21:07.589 I do? But Ah, we don't do that, do we? We 227 00:21:07.750 --> 00:21:17.670 don't do whatever he tells us. Constantly I hear people say things like well, 228 00:21:17.750 --> 00:21:22.500 I don't like the way God did that then the Old Testament. Oh 229 00:21:22.660 --> 00:21:26.380 really, I mean, I i. that's, of course, a very 230 00:21:26.420 --> 00:21:30.500 kind of callous way to put in and I try not to do that because 231 00:21:30.500 --> 00:21:33.529 I understand some things are hard to understand, some things are hard to take. 232 00:21:33.890 --> 00:21:40.650 There are providences of God, Commands of God that are difficult. When 233 00:21:40.690 --> 00:21:44.250 Abraham was asked to sacrifice his son Isaac, you think that was easy? 234 00:21:45.970 --> 00:21:49.160 Many other examples could be given. You have them in your own lives. 235 00:21:51.279 --> 00:21:53.240 The point isn't to sort of blow it off and say well, life isn't 236 00:21:53.279 --> 00:22:00.519 hard. Life is hard, but our lives and our interpretation of them should 237 00:22:00.559 --> 00:22:07.990 not depend on how we feel about God. He is who he is and 238 00:22:07.109 --> 00:22:12.150 there's no changing that. When we approach God, we don't approach him at 239 00:22:12.269 --> 00:22:18.500 a distance and say, well, all decide once, I decide. No, 240 00:22:18.740 --> 00:22:29.460 we do whatever he says. But it's not just the commandments that we 241 00:22:29.539 --> 00:22:33.569 ought to think about. But in chapter six Jesus will have Jesus will be 242 00:22:33.569 --> 00:22:36.490 asked, well, what, how do we do the things of God? 243 00:22:37.410 --> 00:22:44.480 And he will say trust in me, believe in me. That is the 244 00:22:44.640 --> 00:22:52.960 work of God. You could, maybe for thirty seconds or less, commit 245 00:22:52.079 --> 00:22:59.509 yourselves to being totally sold out and engaged for God to do everything that he's 246 00:22:59.549 --> 00:23:02.670 going to say from now until you know, thirty seconds from when you forget. 247 00:23:03.390 --> 00:23:07.230 You could do that. And even if you were able to accomplish that, 248 00:23:07.309 --> 00:23:10.589 which you wouldn't be able to, because even our best works, the 249 00:23:10.670 --> 00:23:15.299 Bible says, are like filthy rags, even if you were able to do 250 00:23:15.539 --> 00:23:22.980 that, it would not spring from faith and would ultimately be useless and bringing 251 00:23:22.019 --> 00:23:26.890 you any kind of salvation. At the bottom of every work that we do 252 00:23:27.210 --> 00:23:33.210 at the bottom of all striving that we do for the name and the glory 253 00:23:33.410 --> 00:23:38.089 of God, underneath all of that, empowering all of that, is faith, 254 00:23:40.210 --> 00:23:44.960 and faith is nothing but receiving something that God is giving to us in 255 00:23:45.160 --> 00:23:51.400 love. That's why Jesus puts it that way. Doing the works of God 256 00:23:51.599 --> 00:23:55.950 is not going out and becoming another Jesus. Doing the works of God is 257 00:23:56.029 --> 00:24:00.950 about trusting Jesus. If you just go be another Jesus, you're rejecting Jesus. 258 00:24:02.029 --> 00:24:04.509 And how can that be a thing of God if you're rejecting God? 259 00:24:04.990 --> 00:24:15.579 Not a thing of God. Trusting the Lord for everything, doing whatever he 260 00:24:15.819 --> 00:24:25.250 says for in everything. That's what it means to follow Jesus. That's what 261 00:24:25.369 --> 00:24:34.490 it means to be a Christian. Now I'm I'd like to read kind of 262 00:24:34.529 --> 00:24:40.599 a lengthy quote from Martin Luther on this, because I think what he says 263 00:24:40.599 --> 00:24:48.119 is so helpful. He says, in noticing this interaction between Mary and Jesus, 264 00:24:49.759 --> 00:24:55.069 see how unkindly Jesus turns away the humble request of his mother, who 265 00:24:55.109 --> 00:25:00.789 addresses him with such great confidence. Now observe the nature of faith. What 266 00:25:02.029 --> 00:25:07.420 has it to rely on? Absolutely nothing all. All is darkness, it 267 00:25:07.299 --> 00:25:12.140 feels its need and it sees its help nowhere. In addition, God turns 268 00:25:12.180 --> 00:25:18.099 against it like a stranger and does not recognize it, so that absolutely nothing 269 00:25:18.900 --> 00:25:22.490 is left. In the same way with our conscience, when we feel our 270 00:25:22.529 --> 00:25:27.210 sin in the lack of righteousness, or in the agony of death, when 271 00:25:27.250 --> 00:25:30.730 we feel the lack of life, or in the dread of hell, when 272 00:25:30.769 --> 00:25:36.799 eternal salvation seems to have left us, just as he here treats his mother 273 00:25:36.960 --> 00:25:41.680 by refusal, making the need greater and more distressing than it was before she 274 00:25:41.759 --> 00:25:45.359 came to him with her request. This is where faith stands in the heat 275 00:25:45.440 --> 00:25:52.109 of battle. Now observe how his mother acts, and so here becomes our 276 00:25:52.230 --> 00:25:57.069 teacher. However harsh his words sound, however unkind he appears, she does 277 00:25:57.190 --> 00:26:03.230 not, in her heart interpret this as anger. You see that that's key. 278 00:26:04.259 --> 00:26:07.859 He's luther saying, and rightly so, that what Mary does rightly here, 279 00:26:08.299 --> 00:26:15.180 is she gets a blank, she gets a no, she gets a 280 00:26:15.500 --> 00:26:19.890 not right now, maybe even in a strong way. I think that's somewhat 281 00:26:19.970 --> 00:26:26.930 hard to say. But no matter what, she refuses to Impute to God's 282 00:26:26.009 --> 00:26:30.289 Sin. She doesn't interpret it as anger and say, well, forget you 283 00:26:30.450 --> 00:26:33.920 all, go find someone else who can help, or this has to be 284 00:26:34.240 --> 00:26:37.880 on my own time, or don't you understand? Didn't you hear me? 285 00:26:37.480 --> 00:26:42.319 None of that. What does she say? Do Whatever he tells you. 286 00:26:42.960 --> 00:26:47.039 She doesn't know what he's going to do either. She doesn't have it all 287 00:26:47.150 --> 00:26:51.309 figured out. She doesn't know all the ways. Let me continue on with 288 00:26:51.829 --> 00:26:56.829 Luther here. However unkind he appears, she does not enter in her heart, 289 00:26:56.910 --> 00:27:00.990 interpret this as anger, as the opposite of kindness, but adheres firmly 290 00:27:00.150 --> 00:27:06.099 to the conviction that he is kind, refusing to give up this opinion because 291 00:27:06.140 --> 00:27:10.259 of the thrust she received, and done willing to dishonor him in her heart 292 00:27:10.660 --> 00:27:15.140 by thinking him to be otherwise than kind and gracious, as they do, 293 00:27:15.579 --> 00:27:18.690 who are without faith, who fall back at the first shock and think of 294 00:27:18.769 --> 00:27:23.849 God merely according to what they feel, like the horse and the mule which 295 00:27:23.849 --> 00:27:29.130 we saying about this morning, and son thirty two. For if Christ's mother 296 00:27:29.250 --> 00:27:33.599 had allowed those harsh words to frighten her, she would have gone away silently 297 00:27:33.799 --> 00:27:38.000 and displeased. But in ordering the servants to do what he might tell them, 298 00:27:38.640 --> 00:27:44.789 she proves that she is overcome the rebuff and still expects of him nothing 299 00:27:44.950 --> 00:27:48.950 but kindness. Hence, the highest thought in this Gospel lesson, and it 300 00:27:49.029 --> 00:27:53.309 must ever be kept in his mind, is that we honor God as being 301 00:27:53.470 --> 00:28:00.980 good and gracious, even if he seems to act and speak otherwise and all 302 00:28:00.140 --> 00:28:07.579 our understanding and feeling be otherwise. She is certain that he will be gracious, 303 00:28:07.579 --> 00:28:14.769 although she perhaps does not yet feel it. If that's not practical, 304 00:28:14.849 --> 00:28:19.089 I don't know what else to tell you. We stand before the Lord, 305 00:28:19.490 --> 00:28:26.970 not as his master's we stand receiving His grace, as those who are totally 306 00:28:26.009 --> 00:28:33.400 undeserving of it. But we hold fast and firm to the conviction that he 307 00:28:33.599 --> 00:28:37.160 is true, he is good, he is gracious in all that he does. 308 00:28:38.319 --> 00:28:42.069 He promises us that whoever comes to him for mercy will receive it, 309 00:28:42.670 --> 00:28:48.710 whoever comes to him for kindness will receive it. So trust him for that. 310 00:28:49.029 --> 00:28:53.789 You won't understand every situation of your life. You won't understand the very 311 00:28:53.829 --> 00:28:59.099 ordinary ways in which things are happening. You will often be asked to be 312 00:28:59.299 --> 00:29:04.660 patient and to persevere over and over and over again. But your strength is 313 00:29:04.779 --> 00:29:12.009 not in yourself if it is in Christ. So trust him, rest on 314 00:29:12.089 --> 00:29:19.210 him, do whatever he tells you and he will do extraordinary things. He 315 00:29:19.250 --> 00:29:23.289 will save you from death, he will bless you with all the blessings and 316 00:29:23.400 --> 00:29:29.880 the heavenly places. Who Call you his brother. He'll make you a son. 317 00:29:30.440 --> 00:29:32.000 Let's pray