Luke 24:13-35: Are You Walking with Jesus?

INTRODUCTION

Have you ever been excited by great hopes and then been terribly disappointed?

Life was exciting and good and great success was just around the corner, when suddenly all your hopes turned to ashes. Your heart was broken.

This story is about such an event.

I. Here is the story. It was afternoon of Resurrection Day:

A. That very day, two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were kept from recognizing him.

And he said to them, “What is this conversation which you are holding with each other as you walk?”

And they stood still, looking sad.

Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?”

And he said to them, “What things?”

And they said to him, “Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him.

“But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since this happened.

“Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning and did not find his body; and they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive Some of those who were with us went to the tomb, and found it just as the women had said; but him they did not see” (Luke 24:13-24).

B. These two friends of Jesus had followed Jesus and learned to love him.

They had heard the teaching of the Sermon on the Mount. They had seen his miracles. They had heard his parables.

Cleopas and his companion were not among the 12 disciples Jesus had especially chosen.

But they were two of many other disciples besides the 12 who had given up everything to follow Jesus. You know Jesus had many disciples—men and women—who didn’t belong to the 12 who are named in the gospels.

Perhaps they had been among the 70 disciples that Jesus had sent out on a mission trip.

They had been among those who welcomed Jesus on Palm Sunday, waving their palm branches as he rode on the donkey into Jerusalem amid the Hosannas of the people.

They saw in him the promised Messiah who would bring peace and justice into the world.

They were convinced that in Jesus all their hopes and dreams would come true.

(I want to put in here that—along with many scholars—I am satisfied that the second disciple was Cleopas’s wife, whose name was Mary. They note that a Mary Clopas was with Mary Magdalene and Mary, our Lord's mother at the foot of the cross, according to John 19:25. But whether her name was Mary or not, they lived in the same house in Emmaus, so they must have been man and wife.)

C. Cleopas and Mary remembered the prophecies about the Messiah, such as this one in Isaiah (Isaiah 32:1-2, 16-17):

Behold, a king will reign in righteousness,

and princes will rule in justice.

Each will be like a hiding place from the wind,

a covert from the tempest,

like streams of water in a dry place,

like the shade of a great rock in a weary land…

Then justice will dwell in the wilderness,

and righteousness abide in the fruitful field.

And the effect of righteousness will be peace,

and the result of righteousness,

quietness and trust for ever.

They had been convinced that Jesus was the Messiah, and he had fulfilled these prophecies.

But they had been proved wrong!

The one they had trusted and followed was taken and killed—not only killed but condemned as a criminal, and put to the most shameful, disgraceful death imaginable.

They had read in their Bible: “A hanged man is cursed by God” (Deuteronomy 21:23).

That contradicted everything they had ever believed about the Messiah.

It was inconceivable that the Messiah could die! And Jesus had not only died but he had died under a curse.

They were trying to come to terms with the greatest tragedy they could imagine.

And that’s why they were so sad—so perplexed.

That’s why they were deep in conversation. They were trying to make sense of something that made no sense.

D. One would suppose that they would have been thrilled by the report of the women that they had seen Jesus alive. But this tale seemed to actually increase their confusion.

What had the women seen? A ghost? A vision?

They had heard of ghosts and visions.

But they couldn’t conceive of a dead Messiah come back to life.

And the angel? Had the women really seen an angel? And if Jesus was alive, where was he?

II. We continue the story:

A. And Jesus said to them “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself (Luke 24:25-27).

B. We don’t know all the scriptures Jesus quoted for them. But we know one of them for sure. It was in the book of the prophet Isaiah, the place where Isaiah speaks most directly about the Messiah as the Suffering Servant.

We read some of these words in our Call to Worship:

He was wounded for our transgressions,

he was bruised for our iniquities

upon him was the chastisement that made us whole,

and with his stripes we are healed.

The Stranger explained to Cleopas and Mary how all the books of the Hebrew Bible testified to Jesus, the Messiah.

He showed them from their Bible that Jesus was the descendant of Abraham in whom all the nations would be blessed.

He told how offerings their priests offered at their Temple pointed to Christ’s death.

He told them how the psalmists spoke of Christ when they said things like “The Lord is my Shepherd.”

He told them that Jesus was the one Isaiah spoke of when he said, “Behold to us a child is born…and his name shall be called Immanuel, which means “God with us.”

He told them how Jesus had fulfilled the mission of Israel, to be a “light for the nations.”

He showed them how Daniel pointed to Christ when he said that to him was to be given dominion and glory and a kingdom that would never pass away.

III. Now to finish the story:

A. So they drew near to the village to which they were going. He appeared to be going further, but they constrained him saying, saying, “Abide with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent.”

So he went in to stay with them.

When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened and they recognized him; and he vanished out of their sight.

They said to teach other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the scriptures?”

And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven gathered together and those who were with them, who said, “The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!”

Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread (Luke 24:28-35).

B. Luke is famous for his references to dinners that Jesus ate with his friends.

Luke tells of 12 times when Jesus sat down with his disciples or friends or others for dinner.

And that doesn’t count the feeding of the 5000 and the Last Supper and two dinners Jesus told about in his parables.

At this dinner in Emmaus, Jesus took the part of master of the feast. He lifted up the bread and blessed God. They suddenly recognized their guest as Jesus, and he vanished out of their sight.

We don’t know why they hadn’t recognized him before. It only says, “Their eyes were kept from recognizing him.”

Perhaps as he raised the bread say the blessing they saw the nail prints in his hands.

Perhaps it was his special way of saying the blessing that revealed who he was.

We don’t read whether they finished their dinner or not after they recognized Jesus and he disappeared. But as soon as they could, they walked as fast as they could the 7 miles back to Jerusalem to tell their story to the apostles.

APPLICATION

Jesus did not rise from the dead to sit in heaven and wait for us to join him there.

Jesus rose from the dead so that he could walk with us through life, so that he could be our companion and friend.

As we go on our journey through life, Jesus wants to accompany us.

As we walk with him through the ups and downs of life, he opens our hearts to understand the scriptures.

As we read our Bibles, as we pray, as we worship in church, as we enjoy the companionship of other believers—Jesus speaks to us, down deep in our hearts.

He joins us in our joys…and in our sorrows…He keeps telling us he loves us and everything is going to be all right.

He shows us our way…He teaches us how to live…

He promises us a glorious future with him in his Father’s House.

Reflecting on their experience, Cleopas and his wife said to each other: “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the scriptures?”

I can hear Cleopas telling Mary: “Didn’t it make your heart glow the way he opened to us the scriptures to us?”

And Mary said, “It was exciting to hear the Bible come alive like that. I never realized that our entire Bible was about Jesus.”

CONCLUSION

In an article in The Christian Century, April 7, 1999, Pastor Susan Andrews tells the story of Michael, a young Jew who was a faithful participant in the Bible studies at her church.

Although not yet a Christian, Michael had a deep interest in God and an understanding of theology.

Michael’s wife was a Christian, and when their baby daughter was born, they had a decision to make. Would they have their baby baptized?

After much soul searching, they decided that yes they should, and Michael stood up with his wife and child and made promises for their little daughter.

Michael continued to hunger for the Word, and one day he asked to be baptized also. He was ready to follow Jesus.

The pastor explains what happened this way: Because he had studied the gospels, his heart had begun to burn. In powerful ways, the Jesus described in the Bible had begun to get up off the pages and walk out into the world with him. Jesus had become Michael’s traveling companion in the journey of his daily life.

Michael had been on the Emmaus journey with the risen Jesus. His heart was set on fire as he came to know Jesus as his Companion and Guide.

The walk to Emmaus is an historical event, but it is also a parable.

As we study and meditate on the stories of Jesus, we meet our Savior.

Our hearts begin to burn …

And as we give ourselves to Jesus, he gets up off of the pages of the Holy Book and walks with us—all the way to the end—even through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, and beyond into a glorious eternity with Jesus our Friend.

1 Thessalonians 5:17: How to Pray Without Ceasing

INTRODUCTION

The last time I was here I read to you I Thessalonians 5:17, 18 and 19. Verse 17 says, “Rejoice always.” Verse 18 says, “Pray without ceasing” And verse 19 says, “Give thanks in all circumstances.”

I said, “Aren’t those really three impossible things? How could anyone—even the great Apostle Paul—be always happy, always saying prayers, always giving thanks?

St. Paul’s life was even more troubled than yours is—he was insulted and attacked by his enemies. He was often disappointed in his friends. He experienced failure as well as success. Several times he was stripped and beaten with rods and whips. He had been shipwrecked and adrift on the sea, and one time he was stoned and dragged out of the city half dead.

Was Paul always cheerful? Always saying prayers? Always thankful for everything that happened to him?

I talked about how it is possible to have a deep well of joy within us even when we are in the midst of sorrow.

Paul could have joy deep in his heart even in the midst of trouble because he knew deep in his heart that God was with him, and he knew that his suffering was for Jesus.

Paul looked forward to another world, a world in which God will wipe away all tears—another world in which he would meet Jesus and see him face to face and live forever in the joy of the Lord.

I. Today we will talk about the second of the three “impossible things”: “Pray without ceasing.”

A. To “pray without ceasing” doesn’t mean nonstop talking to God.

In the mental hospital where Charlotte and I used to work, there was an old man, a patient, who we often saw shuffling through the halls, head bowed, hands together, constantly mumbling. I think that in the haze of his mental affliction he found comfort in this habit of constantly repeating his prayers. But this isn’t what Paul means when he says, “Pray without ceasing.”

To pray without ceasing doesn’t mean constantly saying prayers or “being religious” all the time.

We can watch TV and read novels and thank God for the pleasure they give us.

We can play Bingo, play cards, or converse with friends, and still be aware that Jesus is at our side.

It will mean that we play the game more for the sake of friendship than the desire to win.

If we belong to Jesus, we will be good company for our friends. But it may mean that we will decline to enter into certain conversations.

Jesus was a social person. He enjoyed a good dinner with his friends.  In fact, he was criticized for his sociability. Are we to suppose that at these happy occasions Jesus and his companions didn’t share stories and laugh together?

B. To pray without ceasing means to live one’s life in the presence of God—to always be aware that God is with us, to thank God simply and naturally for the good things in life, and to bring to God our needs and the needs of others.

To live in an attitude of prayer is to turn your thoughts to God whenever worries or doubts assail you or when you are tempted to anger or unworthy thoughts.

When you’re in pain—of course you have prayed to God to take it away, but it’s still there—so you offer your pain to God, asking him to use it to teach you some lesson of life. Or you may ask God to use your pain to help you be more sympathetic to others who are also suffering.

C. When—in the midst of anything you are doing—you think of someone in need, you can send up a prayer to God to bless that person.

When you think of some hurt you have experienced from someone, you will remember Jesus’s instructions to pray for those who abuse us, and you pray, “God bless so-and-so, and help me to love him and show him that I love him.”

And when you see someone struggling through life without God, ask God: “Dear Father, help so-and-so find the joy of salvation.”

When you watch the news on TV you see many sad stories. Make a prayer for those who suffer. You don’t know in what way blessing may come into their lives because of your prayer, but it will keep you in tune with the needs of others and maybe help you get your mind off yourself.

II. I don’t want to give the impression that all our praying can be “on the run”—just in bits and pieces through the day.

A. We need to have set times to pray, just as we need a set time to brush our teeth and to take baths.

Daily prayer needs to become a habit. You could have a time of prayer as soon as you wake up but before you have to get out of bed. Ask God to go with you. Pray that God will lead you to someone you can serve in some way. In several of the Psalms, the psalmists tell us of praying on their beds.

Or you can pray in your bed when you lie down to sleep. This doesn’t work if you are one of those people who are asleep as soon as your head hits the pillow. But if you can keep awake for a while, you can bring to God the concerns of the day and the needs of people and give thanks for the blessings and opportunities you’ve experienced.

Sometimes when I wake up in the night and can’t sleep, instead of tossing and turning and wishing I could go back to sleep, I think of think of people who have been important in my life and thank God for them. If they are still in this world I ask God to bless them. I thank God for those who have taught me about God. I thank God for those who have been my examples.

You can pray sitting, or standing, walking, or kneeling.

Once in our Bible study at the prison, one of the inmates said, “Last night I had the strongest feeling that God would have me kneel at the side of my bed and pray. And I did.” I was really proud of that man because at Mt. Pleasant prison the inmates sleep in dormitories. He exposed himself to the ridicule of the other men.

Charlotte and I write our prayers on paper—daily letters to God. To write your prayer helps to keep our minds from wandering. It keeps us honest.

B. Daily prayer needs to be a habit. Habits are hard to form, but a habit, once established, is also hard to break. The habit of prayer is a good habit. The more you keep it up the habit of prayer, the more you want to keep it up. If you have a time of prayer every day, you will find that to miss a day leaves you with an unsatisfied feeling.

III. To pray without ceasing means never to give up on God.

A Jesus told two parables to make this point:

In the Parable of the Friend at Midnight (Luke 11) the man who needed a loaf of bread to set before his unexpected guest who arrived at midnight. So he went to his neighbor and pounded on his door. The neighbor was in bed and didn’t want to get out of bed and help his friend. But because of his neighbor’s shameless persistence, he finally got up and gave him his bread.

In the Parable of the Widow and the Unrighteous Judge (Luke 18), the unrighteous judge doesn’t want to hear the case of the widow, but he finally does so because she pesters him day and night.

The lesson in both of these stories is not that God needs to be begged and nagged and pestered by our continual praying; the lesson is that it is earnest, persistent, determined prayer that enables God to act. Half-hearted, casual, routine prayers don’t have the same effect.

B. God has so arranged the world as to leave part of the governing of it to his people. Our heartfelt prayers somehow free God to act on our behalf.

I heard a lecture by a famous physicist who was also a theologian. He put it this way: “Prayer is the alignment of human will with the divine will, that enables things to happen that otherwise wouldn’t have happened” (John Polkinghorne).

God loves to answer prayer, and he loves to bless people, and he has given us prayer so that we can have a part in that blessing—both of ourselves and others.

So praying without ceasing means

to live in a spirit of dependence on God,

to pray repeatedly and often,

never to give up,

and to live in the conscious presence of God.

CONCLUSION

Some years ago I went to University Hospital to visit a friend from church who was sick.

My friend was asleep, so I turned to his roommate. This man was sitting beside his bed. The first thing I noticed was an open Bible on his bedside table in front of him. His hand was on his Bible.

I said, “I see you have your Bible. You must be a Christian.”

He said, “Yes, I’ve got Doctor Jesus with me.”

We talked a while. He told me his name was Tom and that he had worked as a janitor. He told me that had his stomach removed; he was pretty sick.

But then he said something I have never forgotten. He said, “You know, it’s not enough just to go to church.” He patted his Bible and said, “You’ve got to get it into your bloodstream.”

Tom had Jesus in his bloodstream. He knew how to live in the presence of God, even though things weren’t going well for him.

Tom knew how to “pray without ceasing.”

John 2:1-11: Jesus Goes to a Wedding

INTRODUCTION

I remember the first wedding I ever went to. It was the wedding of my Aunt Jeanne. She was my mother’s youngest sister. The wedding took place in my grandparents’ house. The preacher stood in front of the fireplace with Aunt Jeanne and her husband-to-be Uncle Bill, and we all stood around in the living room and in the entry hall. I don’t remember that anyone sat down.

I suppose we had cake. That’s what weddings were in those days.

Charlotte and I were married in the little chapel at the University of Kansas. We had about 75 guests—our best friends and relatives.

I bought a new tie to go with my blue suit. Charlotte wore a borrowed dress.

You can see a picture of Charlotte and me in our wedding finery just outside the door of our apartment.

My brother was my best man, and Charlotte’s roommate was the maid of honor.

A friend sang a song. After the wedding we ate cake and drank punch.

Weddings weren’t a big deal in those days—at least in the circles we moved in.

My, haven’t times changed!

Now weddings are a really big deal. The bride and groom each have three or four attendants, all in matching formal dresses or tuxedoes, and they process in to stand in rows on either side.

And after the wedding, we all sit down to a big dinner. It is pretty exciting. There are speeches. There may be music and dancing.

In Israel, in the time of Jesus, times weddings—were a Big Deal! Even more of a big deal than nowadays.

For ordinary people who had very little excitement in their lives, weddings may have been the highlights of most people’s lives.

And in John’s gospel, right at the beginning after the gospel writer introduces Jesus—before Jesus does any teaching or performs any miracles—he tells us that Jesus went to a wedding, with the first five disciples that he had just met in the first chapter.

I. But before I tell you the story, I want to share some things I learned about wedding customs in the Holy Land that would have been true of this wedding. (This information comes mostly from a couple of books by historians of the time: The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, by Alfred Edersheim and Palestine in the Time of Christ, by Edmond Stapfer.)

A. Marriage held great significance for Jewish people of that time.

In the Old Testament the relationship between the Lord and Israel was compared to that of a husband and his bride.

Some of the rabbis taught that God himself spoke the words of the first wedding blessing at the union of Adam and Eve.

They say that the angels Michael and Gabriel were the first groomsmen, and the angel choir sang the wedding hymn.

B. Young people became engaged at a young age, but they couldn’t be actually married until the girl was at least 12-years-old and the boy 18.

The fathers of the boy and the girl would arrange for their children to be married

According to the customs of ancient Israel, before the wedding could take place, the young man and his bride-to-be had a betrothal ceremony at the girl’s parents’ home.

Both families made promises. The young man gave a gold ring or a piece of money or a letter to his fiancée with which he promised to marry her.

The young people were then considered legally married, although the wedding would not be held for maybe a year. If the boy died, the girl was considered a widow. To cancel the marriage required a divorce.

Before he left the young man would say, “I am going to prepare a place for you, and I will return for you when it is ready.” Usually he went to his parents’ house and prepared a room for them there. This is what is symbolized by the Chuppah, (koo’pah) or canopy which is used in Jewish weddings today.

The day for the wedding of a first-time bride was Wednesday. The ceremony would be held at sunset.

The groom’s friends and the relatives of the girl came to the house of the bride-to-be and led her from her parents’ home to the home of her husband-to-be.

She went perfumed and adorned with a crown of flowers on her head. Her hair was flowing loose.

Each of her bridesmaids carried a torch or lamp on a pole.

Some waved myrtle branches. A band of drummers and musicians playing instruments accompanied the procession.

As the wedding party wound through the streets, everyone who saw it was obligated to join the procession, clapping and singing and dancing and praising the beauty and virtues of the bride as they went. The friends of the groom passed out nuts for the children.

C. When they reached the groom’s house, they led the girl to her husband-to-be.

The steward—or master-of-ceremonies—would pronounce the benediction and say, “Take her according to the Law of Moses and of Israel.”

The bridegroom signed the marriage contract.

Then there would be the ritual washing of their hands. A servant would pour water over each guest’s hands.

Wedding festivities might last up to a week.

The bride and groom spent each night during the festivities in the wedding chamber the groom had prepared. This was their “honeymoon.”

It was the custom for the women relatives to help in the kitchen.

As a friend of the family, we gather that this was what Mary, our Lord’s mother was doing. That’s how she knew when the wine had run out.

II. Now it’s time to read the story, from John 2:

A. On the third day there was a marriage at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there; Jesus also was invited to the marriage, with his disciples.

When the wine failed the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.”

And Jesus said to her, “O woman, what have you to do with me? My hour has not yet come.”

His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”

Now six stone jars were standing there, for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to them, “Fill the jars with water.” and they filled them up to the brim.

He said to them, “Now draw some out, and take it to the steward of the feast.”

So they took it. When the steward 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 steward of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him, “every man serves the good wine first; and when men have drunk freely, then the poor wine; but you have kept the good wine until now.”

This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory; and his disciples believed in him.

B. For the wine to fail was a great embarrassment to the bride and groom and their families.

Jesus’ mother came to Jesus with the problem about the wine.

Jesus hadn’t yet worked any miracles. We don’t know what Mary expected Jesus to do about it.

Since we read nothing about Joseph after Jesus’s visit to the Temple as a child, we assume that Joseph had died and Jesus had taken responsibility for the family. His mother had grown to depend on him.

She said, “They have no wine.”

Maybe she thought that Jesus would go out and buy some wine for them.

C. Then Jesus said something that sounds to us strange. He said, “O woman, what have you to do with me? My hour has not yet come.”

Scholars who study these things tell us that addressing one’s mother as “woman” wasn’t rude in that language. It was a normal, polite way to speak to a lady.

What must have seemed odd to Mary was: “What do you have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.”

It seems that Jesus was reminding her that now wasn’t the time to be going public with his mission. So what he would do, he would do quietly.

Mary understood. She knew that Jesus was going to help out, so she told the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”

I think that John tells us that detail because that’s what we all need to do. Whatever Jesus tells us to do, we need to do it—whether we understand or not.

D. Jesus pointed to the six big stone jars that had held the water the guests had used to wash their hands. He said, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim.

Now these were huge jars, each holding 20-30 gallons of water. Together they would hold 120 to 180 gallons.

I wonder what the servants thought. If each of their buckets held two gallons, they would have to send down their bucket into the well at least 60 times to fill those six jars.

They must have wondered what was going on. You can imagine their surprise when they put their pitchers into the jars—and drew out fine wine!

E. Jesus saved the day for the happy couple. The wine Jesus provided made it possible for the wedding to go on to its joyful conclusion.

I think it is striking that Jesus’s first miracle wasn’t giving sight to a blind man, or raising someone dead, or stilling a storm—but making wine to save a young couple from embarrassment.

And all that wine was a nice wedding gift. That happy couple wouldn’t have to buy wine for a long time.

III. The Bible says that this was the first of Jesus’ “signs.”

Every miracle Jesus does as recorded in John’s gospel is called a “sign.” So we should ask ourselves, “What does this miracle signify?”

A. First of all, it is appropriate that Jesus’s first miraculous “sign” was performed at a wedding.

Weddings, in Jesus’s teaching, are symbols of the Kingdom of God.

In Matthew 22:2 Jesus says, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son…”

In Revelation 19:9 the angel tells John, “Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.”

The kingdom of God is compared to a wedding because weddings are about the happiest events in most of our lives.

The kingdom of Heaven is like a wedding because the church—you and me and all believers together—are called Christ’s bride. That’s how much Jesus loves us.

B. Wine is also a symbol.

In our culture wine is often a problem. We have many other nice things to drink. Many of us don’t use wine at all. I don’t.

But wine in those days was the drink that enriched fellowship.

In Psalm 104 we read that God creates wine to gladden peoples’ hearts.

So wine is a symbol of joy—the joy that Jesus brings into every life he enters.

C. Changing ordinary water into rich, delicious wine, symbolizes the transforming power of the gospel.

Jesus changed ordinary water into wine in an instant! What a powerful object lesson of the transforming power of the gospel!

We who are believers have experienced the transforming power of the gospel. In 2 Corinthians 5:17 we read: “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come.”

D. But the most important thing that this miracle signifies is abundance—Jesus made something like 150 gallons of wine!

This illustrates Jesus’s saying, “I came that they might have life and have it abundantly.”

If earthly wine signifies worldly well-being, camaraderie, and pleasure, the “wine” of eternal life means fellowship with God and assurance of eternal life.

This abundance of grace opens to our view a better country where all tears will be wiped away and all the costs of following Jesus will be swallowed up in eternal blessings of salvation.

A lady at a nursing home said to me, “I don’t know how people can live without God.” I don’t either.

CONCLUSION

Our story ends with these words: “This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory; and his disciples believed in him.

In the first chapter of John’s gospel we read of five men who had begun to follow Jesus up to this time. Andrew, Peter, Philip, Nathaniel, and another disciple who is not named.

These disciples had already “believed in him” in the sense that they believed what he said was true.

Now they had seen his glory, and they “believed in him” in a deeper sense. They committed their lives to him.

A lot of people say they “believe” because they agree with what Jesus said. They like Jesus’s teaching and they like the idea of going to heaven when they die—but they don’t take the next step of giving themselves to Jesus. When we give ourselves to Jesus in love and faith and obedience, that is the faith that connects us to God and brings assurance of eternal life.

Have you seen Christ’s glory and believed in him? I believe you have.

Let’s keep looking toward Jesus and fill our minds and hearts with his glory—the glory of his never-ending goodness.