Jesus Does Everything Perfectly Well!

2nd Sunday after Epiphany, 1/16/22 John 2:1-11 Jesus Does Everything Perfectly Well! I. From his Father’s perspective II. From our perspective Have you ever done this? You spend a couple hours taking care of a project at home or at work. Maybe it involved some physical exertion. Or maybe it required a good deal of mental concentration. Maybe both. And, as you put the finishing touches on your project, you look over what you had accomplished and declare, “Good enough.” In other words, you realize what you had done wasn’t perfect or perhaps wasn’t what you had envisioned it would be, but you didn’t want to expend any more time or energy on it. It’s good enough. Or how about this scenario? You tell yourself that you have this amount of time to work on the project in front of you. Maybe it’s something such as doing yard work. When that hour or two is over, whatever your yard looks like at that point is the way it’s going to be, whether you like it or not. And then there are those projects that others do for you, and, when they’re done, you can tell they cut corners in order to save time or money. And the outcome is subpar or perhaps even unacceptable. Too often, that’s the way it is with what we set out to do. It’s not perfect. Sometimes not even close. The event described for us here in the opening verses of John 2 took place very shortly after the baptism of Jesus. At his baptism, a tremendous event occurred. The Holy Spirit descended on Jesus like a dove, an act which marked him as the one God had chosen to be the world’s Savior from sin. From that moment forward, Jesus had a project in front of him. Imagine if Jesus went into that work thinking he would do only as much as he had time for. Or, when he determined his work was done, he’d give it a nod of his head and declare, “Good enough!” Or, even worse, imagine if he decided not to give it his best effort. Instead, he cut corners and paid no attention to the details. Imagine what that would mean for you and me, for a world full of sinners. We’d be filled with doubt. Worse, we’d be filled with despair because we would have no Savior from sin. But Jesus did everything perfectly well and we see him doing a perfect job of being our Savior from sin in this event before us—the first event in his ministry as our Savior. Jesus does everything perfectly well. Let’s ponder that truth as we delve into this familiar text. Part I. In any successful multi-level organization, there are clear lines of responsibility. Knowing who reports to whom is critical. If those lines get crossed or become obliterated, nothing good results. Clear lines of responsibility came into play in the event before us this morning, Jesus at the wedding of Cana. Did you catch that issue? Maybe not. After all, a wedding is one of the happiest family occasions among people of any society and at any point in history. Think about it. The wedding couple wanted to celebrate with family and friends, and who arrives but Jesus! What could be better than that—having the Son of God in human flesh and blood at your wedding! But a “crisis” occurred. “The wine was gone.” Now, Jewish wedding celebrations typically lasted an entire week, unless the family hosting it was poor. Then it might have lasted only a day. How long was this event and did the wine run out shortly after the celebration began or was it already winding down? We just don’t know. The wine was gone, and it was a big deal. Literally, there was nothing for the guests to drink, other than perhaps water, and the well water in the Holy Land was tolerated, not enjoyed. Suddenly, Mary the mother of Jesus becomes involved. She’s the one who informs Jesus, “They have no more wine.” From her interaction with the servants a little later, it would appear that Mary was more than a guest at this wedding. She was involved in making sure the guests had the food and drink that they wanted. Perhaps she was related to the bride or groom and was given this responsibility. And notice what she doesn’t do. We hear no word of her going out into Cana to find more wine. Instead, she turns to Jesus. It sounds as if she finds out about the wine shortage and almost immediately turns to Jesus. Why would she do that? Recall what Mary knew and believed about Jesus. She knew from the mouth of the angel Gabriel that Jesus was the Son of God and the promised Savior from sin. She had spent the last 30 years pondering her Son and what he would do. No doubt, she also knew, as the rest of the Jews did, that the Messiah would appear and perform many signs. That’s what the Old Testament had foretold. Furthermore, she could see that Jesus had begun to call disciples to follow him, a clear indication that he had begun his work. So, why not perform a sign right now? We need more wine! Listen again to Jesus’ response, “Dear woman, why do you involve me. My time has not yet come.” His response almost sounds a little rude, but we know that Jesus was never rude. So, just what was he saying? To paraphrase, Jesus told her, “This affair is mine, not yours.” He told her, “My work as Messiah and how and when I reveal myself as that Messiah using signs and wonders is my business, not yours.” And then he adds, “My time has not yet come.” And those are the words that Mary clings to in faith. He didn’t tell her “No, I can’t help you.” He told her, “Not yet.” And with that hope, Mary went to the servants and directed them, “Do whatever he tells you.” Jesus didn’t conduct his earthly ministry on Mary’s timeclock. Nor did he conduct it on his own. He was completely responsible to his heavenly Father. He would not perform a single sign until his Father gave him the green light. Jesus does everything perfectly well from his Father’s perspective. We’ve all been where Jesus was that day. He loved his mother. He wanted to help her. But his ultimate responsibility wasn’t to her. It was to his heavenly Father. And that’s the way it always had to be, or we wouldn’t have a Savior from sin. For all the times we’ve told our heavenly Father with our words and actions, “My will be done, not yours,” Jesus never did. In fact, he didn’t even jump the gun on performing his first miracle. And when the time came for him to offer himself for us on the cross, Jesus told his Father, “Your will be done.” In every situation of his life, he did things well, perfectly well. And that’s the way we needed it to be so that we can be certain of our forgiveness and our eternal life. Part II. Jesus told his mother, “My time has not yet come.” I don’t know this for sure, but if his time had not yet come before the wedding celebration ended, I don’t think the Holy Spirit would have caused John to write this account. What would be the point? The point for us is that his time did come. He acted. Notice that Jesus didn’t meet the needs of the wedding guests by simply snapping his fingers and causing wine to suddenly fill the empty water jars. No, he had the servants fill the jars with water, presumably from a nearby well. Imagine how the servants were affected. John informs us they knew where the wine came from. They had drawn the water. They were included in this miracle more than anyone else, for their benefit. And note how much wine Jesus created. One Bible commentator states it was roughly 600 to 900 bottles worth. What does that tell us about Jesus? When he helps people, he’s not stingy; he’s incredibly generous. I imagine there was plenty of wine left once the celebration had ended and every time the bride and groom enjoyed some of it, they recalled how generous Jesus had been to them. And it wasn’t some cheap boxed wine. When the master of the banquet tasted it, he immediately recognized that he was tasting good, fine wine. Jesus doesn’t give bottom shelf; he gives top shelf. The guests would have been happy with lower quality wine. In fact, at this point in the celebration they might have expected it. But Jesus gives the best. He gives more than we expect, and he gives the best. Those are two truths for us to ponder, possess, and proclaim. I can’t think of a single miracle of Jesus recorded in the Bible to which Jesus received the response, “You didn’t do enough for me.” Take that to heart, dear people of God! By faith in Jesus, possess that truth. Make it your own. And then proclaim it to others. Tell them, “Jesus does everything perfectly well.” Indeed, he does! Jesus does everything perfectly well from our perspective. I just encouraged you to make that truth your own by faith because, too often, our response to what Jesus does for us and gives us is, “It’s not enough. It’s not good enough. I was expecting more.” If you’re going to enter into a conversation about what you expect Jesus to do for you, you might want to reconsider. What we should expect is nothing good, only condemnation and eternal separation from him. But look what he does! He earns our forgiveness, and not for a few sins, but for all them! He wins life in heaven for us, not just for a few days or years, but for eternity! He gives us what we don’t deserve, and he gives in abundance. Instead of wine, today Jesus gives us the water of life—his word. Drink from it deeply and live forever! Jesus does everything perfectly well! Amen.