ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE WITH JESUS
(JOHN
2:1-11)
INTRODUCTION:
1. Please
open up your Bibles to (John 2). This morning's lesson will come from (John
2:1-11).
I.
LET'S FIRST LOOK AT THE SETTING OF THIS
STORY.
1. From
this story, we see that Jesus, His mother, and His disciples all attended a
wedding that took place in Cana in Galilee.
Cana was a town about 9 miles north of Nazareth--the city where Jesus
and His family lived
2. A
wedding celebration in the first century was a gala occasion much like a
wedding in our day. It was a time to
celebrate the bride and grooms new life together.
3. The
wedding celebration usually lasted about a week and some lasted up to two
weeks.
4. During
this week long festival, normally everyone in the community attended the
event. It was considered an insult to
refuse a wedding invitation. This means
that hundreds of people made an appearance to congratulate the newlyweds.
5. When
the guests attended the celebration, the host of the party was expected to
provide them with food and wine. And if
for some reason the host failed in providing adequately for the guests it was
considered a social disgrace. Running
out of wine and food meant more than embarrassment; it broke the strong
unwritten laws of hospitality. In the
closely-knit communities of Jesus’ day, such an error would never be forgotten
and would haunt the newly married couple all their lives.
6. In
this story, the host of the party did the unthinkable--he ran out of wine. So Mary, the mother of our Lord told Jesus
of the predicament expecting Him to do something about it.
7. On
the surface, it seems that Jesus was abrupt with His mother. However, to use the term woman in the first
century, was a polite form of address.
Jesus simple wanted His mother to know that it was not their problem
that the wine had ran out.
8. Jesus
filled with compassion, decided to help the newlyweds out. He had His disciples fill six stone jars
with water and then He miraculously changed the water into wine.
II.
HERE ARE A FEW PRACTICAL LESSONS THAT I
SEE FROM THIS STORY:
A.
FIRST, WHEN WE HAVE A PROBLEM, WE SHOULD
GIVE IT TO JESUS, AND TRUST THAT HE WILL TAKE CARE OF IT.
1.
Mary realized that she had a problem (the
wine was gone). So she gave the problem
to Jesus; and then she trusted Him to take care of it. She walked away from the problem and stopped
worrying about it because she knew that Jesus was in control and that He could
take care of the problem. Our Lord can
take care of our problems if we lay them in His lap.
ILLUSTRATION:
Dr. Charles Stanley, a prominent
minister of a large church in Atlanta, tells the story of a time when their
church needed two million dollars to relocate to a larger facility. The only problem was they didn’t have the
money. One day, the board members told
Dr. Stanley to get a loan from the bank because the deal sounded good. However, Dr. Stanley told the group that
they needed divine direction, so they all packed their gear and took off for a
state park for the weekend for a time of prayer. All weekend they prayed earnestly that God would give them
direction and help them resolve the problem that they were facing.
When they finally left the park, they
still didn’t have any clear direction about how to purchase the building. But they were committed to waiting on
God. A few days later, Dr. Stanley had
a message to call a man He had never met.
He lived in another state. The
man said that he wanted to help Dr. Stanley’s ministry.
Immediately, Dr. Stanley called him
back, and the stranger said, “I have had you and your ministry on my mind the
past several days. I notice that you
never ask for money on the broadcast, and I was wondering if you have any
needs.”
Dr. Stanley explained the situation
about the building and how they needed two million dollars to purchase it. The stranger said, “I think I can handle
that.” And he gave that church two
million dollars.
That church had a problem; they gave
their problem to God and Jesus; and they solved their problem.
2.
While I was going to preaching school,
Mary, with her job, was taking care of us financially. One time, times got rough and we were down
to thirty-two cents in the bank. We
prayed to God that He would help us and a few days later a check came in the
mail from my old employer explaining that they had made a mistake and withheld
some of my vacation time.
a. We
had a problem; we prayed; and God solved our problem.
3.
I am convinced that if we are walking
faithfully in the sight of God, He will help us solve our problems.
a. In
the OT, King Hezekiah had a problem. He
was about to die from an illness. But
instead of giving up, (Isa. 38:2) tells us that he “prayed
to God for help.”
God solved his problem by adding 15 years to his life.
b. In
the NT, Peter had a problem. He was
arrested and placed in jail for preaching the gospel. But (Acts 12:5) tells us that the “church
was earnestly praying to God for Him.” God solved Peter’s problem by sending an
angel to rescue him from jail.
4.
No matter what your problem is, God can
help you solve it.
5.
When we have a problem, we need to lay it
in Jesus' lap and trust that He will help solve our dilemmas.
B.
SECOND, WHEN JESUS COMES INTO A LIFE OR
SITUATION, NEW POSSIBILITIES ALWAYS EXIST.
1. When
the wine ran out, it seemed like a hopeless situation. Where were they going to get more wine? They couldn’t just run over to the local
supermarket to buy more wine, for it took days to produce it. It was obvious that the newlyweds were in a
jam and in jeopardy of breaking the strong unwritten laws of hospitality
because they had no more wine to serve their guests.
2. But
Jesus turned a hopeless situation into hope.
He turned the water into wine.
3. The
point is that our Lord turns hopeless situations into hope.
a. One
day, when Jesus entered into Capernaum, four men brought a paralyzed man to
Jesus for healing.
b. Can
you imagine what it must have been like to be paralyzed, especially paralyzed
in the first century?
(1)
Back two thousand years ago, they didn’t
have the medical technology that we have today.
(2)
A paralytic didn’t have physical
therapists to work with him day in and day to help restore some muscle
movements. He didn’t have an electric
wheelchair to transport him from one place to another.
(3)
A paralytic didn’t have social security
to help him financially.
c. Instead,
if you were a paralytic in the first century, you would spend your day lying on
a hard and uncomfortable mat. And some
days, you would have your friends move you to the streets so that you could beg
for money in order to eat. A paralytic
lived without pleasure and hope.
d. In
(Mark 2), the paralytic must have heard that Jesus,
the miracle worker, was in town, so he had some of his friends carry him to
meet Jesus, hoping that He could make him well. And we all know from the story that Jesus, full of compassion,
healed the man. After the healing, the
Bible says that the paralytic “got up, took his mat and walked out in
full view of them all.”
Jesus took a hopeless situation and produced a miracle.
4. Are
you struggling with problems that seem hopeless and difficult to resolve?
5. Are
you struggling with an illness that is causing you a lot of pain and
discomfort?
6. Are
you struggling with emotional problems that you are having a hard time
overcoming?
7. If
so, I want you to know that whatever situation you may be going through; there
is always hope with Jesus. When Jesus
enters into a situation, new possibilities always exist.
CONCLUSION:
1. From
(John 2:1-11), we have learned a couple of spiritual
principles to help us in our daily walk with the Lord.
a. When
we have a problem, we should give it to Jesus, and trust that He will take care
of it.
b. When
Jesus comes into a life or situation, new possibilities always exist.
2. This
morning, if you are going through a dilemma that seems hopeless, I would like
for you to come forward and ask Jesus to turn your hopeless situation into
hope. When Jesus comes into your life,
new possibilities always exist. Come
now as we stand and sing.