Live Free with Josh Howerton - The First Miracle | Ep. 241 | Monday, January 8, 2024

Episode Date: January 8, 2024

Simplicity is a powerful tool. Jesus uses normal situations, normal means and normal problems to show that He can make anything new. Listen and learn as we look at the faith of His mother and the power of the Savior. For more information, visit lakepointe.church/dailydrive

Thanks for tuning in to today's Daily Drive with Lake Point Church, a daily dose of God's Word for your morning drive. When the word, not the world, becomes the majority of your week, your life will start to change. For that reason, our prayer is that God will speak to you through today's devotional. For more digital content to feed your faith, visit lakepoint.combe.com slash daily drive. And now let's dive in to today's devotional. Hey, what's up, everybody? I hope you had a great weekend. Thanks for joining us on the Daily Drive.

My name is Mike, and we're hanging here for a few minutes each weekday, just looking at the life of Jesus through the lens of his close friend and follower, John. And the Gospel of John is such an amazing read, and it's a great way for you and me to kick off the new year. I'm learning that if you get to know Jesus, you get to know life. There's no one like him. And I've been praying that we all would get to know him a little better

and become a little more like him every day. Now, like we said last week, John is not as interested in chronology as like Luke's gospel. It's almost like he's painting a picture of the greatness of Jesus by recounting mind-blowing events and encounters. Like a guy whose heart has been absolutely captured by the uniqueness and glory of Jesus, he kind of writes with a spirit of,

there is this one time, or you want to hear something that's going to blow you away, or there is this other time, John focuses on these miracles, these signs that Jesus performed that validated just who he was, and where he had come from, and what he was about. So chapter two opens with one of those times. It's the first of many miracles that Jesus does,

and this one, at least to me, seems to be mixed with a combo of compassion and reluctance. Let's read the first few verses, and maybe you'll get what I'm saying. The next day, a wedding celebration in the village of Cana in Galilee. Now, weddings were a big deal then, still are, but in their culture they lasted for like days. We have three kids, and their weddings were such a highlight of my life, so much fun, and they married incredible people who we love

as our own kids. But I can remember thinking through all the preparations and planning. You know what, my job as a dad, kind of stay out of this, and occasionally ask how much? The weddings back in Jesus Day were these huge extended celebrations that provided the groom a chance to demonstrate that he had the means to take care of a family. So Jesus and his followers were there

at this wedding, and then it adds that Jesus' mother was there as well. All of them had been invited, and the wine supply runs out. And that would be extremely embarrassing, so as all moms tend to do, she wants no one to feel embarrassed or talked about, especially during her wedding. And if she had been

a southern mom, she would have started with Oh, bless their heart. Bless their heart. They ran out of wine. Somebody needs to do something. And she turns toward her son. I'm sure with that do-something look that moms can give and tells them they have no more wine.

Jesus responds, I think he tenderly and gently whispers, Dear woman, that's not our problem. My time has not yet come. Now, a couple of things in here. First of all, he doesn't call her mom. And in that day, it was not seen as disrespectful to not address her like that. Now, if I had to call my mom woman, my dad would have worn me out.

But in not addressing her in the way he had the past, perhaps Jesus wanted to emphasize that now, at the beginning of his public ministry, their relationship would have to look a little different in the days ahead. And he tells her, my time has not yet come. John uses this phrase, my time, or his time throughout the gospel, in reference to the time, God's plan would be fulfilled by Jesus,

laying down his life as the Lamb of God, the one who takes away the sins of the world. So it seems like Jesus is saying, if I do this, the countdown from my time starts now. And I love the simplicity of what Mary says here.

It reminds me of the time when the angel Gabriel told her 30 years prior that she would be the mother of the son of God, and she responds, well, I'm the Lord's servant, whatever he wants to do in my life. And now 30 years later, check out what she says. But his mother told the servant,

verse 5, do whatever he tells you. There's no pushback here, there's no arguing. No, I told you that you need to do something here. None of that stuff. And I think it's just so cool that Mary saw Jesus, not just as her boy, but as her Lord. She was a follower of his. And she says, just do whatever he tells you. He knows what's best. His thoughts are higher. His ways are better. His timing is perfect. He is the Lord. Just do whatever he tells you. He knows what's best. His thoughts are higher. His ways are better. His timing is perfect. He is the Lord. Just do whatever he says. Well, guess what? Jesus swings into action. I believe he's moved by Mary's response. God has always been impressed and moved by humility. And perhaps in his humanity, he was not quite ready to start the countdown toward his time toward the cross, but he starts it

anyway. Again, I'm just a guy digging into this like you, and I look forward to unpacking this with him when I get to heaven someday. But I think the convergence of there's a need, and these people are going to be embarrassed on their biggest day if somebody doesn't do something, and I know I can do something, and my mom knows it too, and humbly believes I can do it. So maybe after a quick prayer to his father, he says, Okay, here goes. Let me just read it for you, verse six. Standing nearby, where six stone water jars used for Jewish ceremonial washing,

among other things used for washing dirty, nasty feet, each could hold 20 to 30 gallons. Jesus told the servants, spill the jars with water. When the jars have been filled, he said, now dip some out and take it to the master of ceremonies. So the servants followed his instructor. Now, I'm sure there's so much more. Swirling in the minds of those servants and those six words suggest, they didn't know what they'd be serving up from those pots. They were well aware that once the host tasted it, they could be humiliated. They could be fired.

But demonstrating the same kind of humble faith as his mom, the servants followed his instructions. When the master of the ceremony, their boss, the one in charge of the party, tasted the water that was now wine, not knowing where it had come from. Now, of course, the servants knew where he'd come from. He called the bridegroom over. He said a host always serves the best wine first. And then when everyone's had a lot to drink, he brings out the less expensive wine, but you have kept the best until now.

This is amazing stuff. And it is. John wraps this up by saying, verse 11, this miraculous sign at Cana and Galilee was the first time Jesus revealed his glory and his disciples, believed in him. After the wedding, he went to Copernian for a few days with his mother and brothers and his disciples. Now, there's so much, so much we could say about this miracle, but just know that Jesus can take the nastiest stuff in your life and turn it into something amazing. He has that power. So today, why not humble yourself and just do,

whatever he tells you to do. See you back tomorrow. Thanks for tuning in today. For more biblical teaching and worship, join us for our church online live weekend services on Saturdays at 6 p.m. and Sundays at 9.30 and 11 a.m. Central Standard Time. Also, if this podcast was helpful to you, would you be sure to rate, review, and share this podcast to help get the word out? For more information about all digital ministries of Lake Point, visit lake point.church slash daily drive.