John 2: Obeying Jesus to Reveal His Glory

Introduction

Have you ever felt that your efforts were pointless? In your studies, your part-time job, your work, your club activities, or even in your service at church, your personal evangelism and your various ministries? That is the question evangelist Sei Nakayama asks at the prayer meeting of October 22, 2026, at Aburayama Shalom Church in Fukuoka, Japan.

He speaks just after the Kyushu convention. He thanks everyone who served "like the servants who drew the water," in the preparation, the cleanup and the prayer, and he rejoices to see the next generation rising up: middle school and high school students in the youth worship team, and even children leading worship. "Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit": it was the Spirit who worked freely.

You start out with joy, then find yourself tired, dried out, with a feeling of emptiness, and the joy has been lost along the way. To answer this, the preacher opens John 2:1-11, the wedding at Cana, under the title "Those Who Reveal the Glory of the Lord." He looks at two attitudes: the faith of Mary, who prepares for Jesus' time, and the obedience of the servants who filled the jars.

Message Outline

1. When the Wine Runs Out

The scene is a wedding in Cana of Galilee. Jesus grew up in Nazareth, a town very close by. The bride and groom may have been childhood friends of Jesus, relatives or neighbors.
Mary seems to be on the side of those welcoming the guests, not on the side of the guests.
In those days, weddings lasted several days, sometimes almost a week. The preacher, who has just prepared his own wedding, admits that a whole week would be exhausting. He recalls the celebration the church held for him and his wife after the service, in the form of a shared meal, and the "Connect Lunch" the previous Sunday: a single meal already takes a great deal of work.
Wine was the symbol of joy, essential to a feast. If it ran out, the guests would say the family had prepared nothing, the rumor would spread through the whole town and the young couple's life could get off to a bad start. The family also had to show what it could afford.

2. Jesus' Surprising Answer

Mary goes to ask Jesus for help: "he will find a solution." A mother counting on her son is no surprise.
Yet Jesus answers coldly: "Woman, what does that have to do with you and me? My hour has not yet come" (verse 4).
The preacher makes the congregation smile: if your wife asks you to buy eggs or take out the trash and you answer, "Woman, what does that have to do with you and me?", it is time for a family meeting. And if a son over thirty said that to his mother when she asked him to go buy milk, she would explode, be left speechless or burst into tears.
The meaning of these words is different: what Jesus has in view is not what Mary is looking at. The hour of the cross, the resurrection and the ascension, the hour when he will reveal himself as the Savior, has not yet come.

3. Mary, a Faith That Prepares for the Lord's Timing

Mary stays calm. Her trust in Jesus as the Son of God goes further than her trust in her son. Hers is a faith that keeps things in its heart.
She could have lost her temper. Instead she receives Jesus' word with humility, looking for its true meaning beyond the words, and she prepares hearts: "Whatever he says to you, do it" (verse 5). She sets everything in place so that the Lord can act.
Without this preparation, Jesus' first miracle might not have taken place there.
It is easy to pray: "Do a miracle, change my situation, give me this." Asking is not wrong. But do you believe the miracle will surely come at the Lord's time, and are you preparing for it? Or do you settle for saying "that will do"?
The new wine of blessing bursts old wineskins. If you prepare only a cup, the wine overflows. If the jar is dirty, the wine becomes undrinkable. If the jar stays covered in dust, you cannot pour the wine into it.
The preacher thinks of the salvation of families, friends, the neighborhood, coworkers and schoolmates, of revival in Fukuoka and Japan, of the great wave of world mission. You cannot receive that with old wineskins.
He calls for a faith that waits for Jesus' time and not its own, that receives his word and prepares, and for asking God for a thirst for that faith.

4. Servants Facing an Incomprehensible Order

Verses 6 to 8 put the servants in the spotlight. For the preacher, they are admirable people: a man they barely know gives them an order that makes no sense.
Six stone jars holding two or three measures each. The measure (metrētēs) is a Greek unit, "a word that could show up on an exam." One measure is about 40 liters, so each jar holds 80 to 120 liters, the size of a small refrigerator. In all, two to three times an ordinary bathtub, about 700 liters.
"Fill the jars with water": "a real tyrant of a boss, isn't he?" What is needed is wine, not 700 liters of water.
There is no running water. They have to go all the way to the well. On the way, one of them may have thought: "What am I doing? That lady told me to do whatever this man says, and he is asking me to fetch water. Tomorrow I quit."
In spite of everything, they carried the work through to the end and filled the jars to the brim.

5. Carrying Water to the Master of the Feast

They finally rest, and the man comes back. They expect a reward or a word of thanks. He gives them an even crazier order: "Now draw some out, and take it to the ruler of the feast" (verse 8).
These jars held the water used to purify hands and feet, according to the Jewish custom. They were the symbol of sin washed away, and so also a reminder of sin. Some old water may have been left in them.
Bringing this water to the person in charge of the meal meant risking the door: "I won't even need to quit." We do not know what faith they had. They may have found it a burden, but they kept obeying Jesus' word alone.
The preacher imagines their thoughts: "What nonsense, what useless work. I was told to prepare wine and I am carrying water. I will be fired, the town will laugh at me. Never mind, it will be this man's fault. For now, I do what he says."
They hold out the cup trembling, "as if bringing a bomb into the middle of a crisis." The master of the feast tastes it, his expression changes and he calls the bridegroom. The servants think: "It's over."
But his face shows no anger, he is delighted: "Everyone serves the good wine first, and when the guests have drunk freely, then that which is worse. You have kept the good wine until now!" (verse 10). The servants cannot believe it. They may have tasted it themselves to check: it was a wine of incomparable quality.

6. Jesus Uses People Without a Name

Only Mary, the disciples and the servants knew about the miracle. These ordinary servants were Jesus' hands and feet, his coworkers in his work, and they were the ones who saw it up close.
Jesus could have chosen famous, capable, powerful or rich people so that the mission would move faster. He sometimes does. But he gladly uses people with no name and no power so that the glory of the Lord may be revealed.
Even today he is looking for obedient servants who listen to his voice, flexible people who follow his lead, "good channels." Through them, others see his miracles, meet him and discover who he is.
"This beginning of his signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him" (verse 11). That day was a turning point: the disciples decided to follow him for the rest of their lives.
In the middle of a celebration, Jesus showed that his hour had come. Like that wine, a new wine was going to flow at the cross, the wine of a joy that surpasses everything. The preacher hopes the Church will carry this wine of joy to its friends, its families and every neighborhood, with new wineskins.

7. Listening to His Voice and Moving Forward Together

"Do you want to be one of those who reveal the glory of the Lord? Then listen to the voice of Jesus."
Even if what he gives you is not what you asked for, even if it seems unfair, useless or absurd, even if it departs from your values or those of the people around you: if it is the voice of the Lord Jesus Christ, in line with his Word, obey.
When you move forward like this, preparing for his time, Jesus himself takes responsibility for everything, responsibility for your life. So go forward without fear, or even with fear and with doubts, one step after another.
There are times when you cannot move forward alone. The servants were not alone either. "Look at your neighbor. Who is there?" Friends, fellow workers entrusted with the mission in Japan, serving the salvation of Fukuoka.
Each person comes with worries, fears and hesitations, but with the desire to hear the voice of Jesus. In this gathering, the glory of the Lord is already revealed. The preacher wants to see this glory in Fukuoka, through him, through Shalom Church.
He ends with an appeal: to wait on the Lord, trust his word, wait for him and obey him, each filling his or her own jar like the servants. At the appointed time, the Lord will answer prayers and reveal his glory. In his closing prayer, he asks forgiveness for the weakness that pushes us to want to accomplish everything by our own strength and our own means.

Key Takeaways

The wedding wine was the symbol of joy. Jesus gives a better joy than the one that ran dry.
Mary receives a baffling answer without losing her temper. She trusts Jesus and prepares others to obey him.
Asking for a miracle is not wrong, but you need to prepare to receive it: new wine calls for new wineskins.
The servants obeyed an absurd order to the end. They were the ones who saw the first miracle up close.
Jesus uses people without a name to reveal his glory. When you obey his voice, he takes responsibility for what follows.

Personal Application

In which area of your life do you feel your efforts are useless and your joy has been lost?
When God does not answer the way you expected, do you react like Mary, with calm and trust, or with anger?
Are you preparing to receive what you ask for in prayer, or have you settled for "that will do"?
Which word of Jesus seems useless or absurd to you today, and what first step of obedience can you take?
Who is beside you to move forward together, and how can you encourage them this week?

Verses Cited

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does Jesus' answer to his mother seem so cold in John 2:4?

For Sei Nakayama, Jesus means that what concerns him is not what Mary is looking at. The hour of the cross, the resurrection and the ascension, the hour when he will reveal himself as Savior, has not yet come. Mary stays calm: she trusts Jesus as the Son of God even more than as her son.

What do the stone jars at the wedding in Cana represent?

These six jars were used for Jewish purification rites: people washed their hands and feet in them. They were the symbol of sin washed away, and so also reminded people of sin. Each held 80 to 120 liters, about 700 liters in all. This is the water Jesus turns into a wine of incomparable quality.

How can you reveal the glory of the Lord according to John 2:1-11?

By listening to the voice of Jesus and obeying him, even when his word seems useless or absurd, like the servants who filled the jars and carried the water to the master of the feast. The preacher affirms that Jesus then takes responsibility for everything that follows and that he uses people without a name to reveal his glory.