May 23
Levi Lusko walks us through the story of the beginning of Jesus’ ministry in the Gospel of John when he turned water into wine at the wedding in Cana. Pastor Levi shows us five ways that Jesus’ first miracle communicated what his ministry is meant to be for us and explains what this powerful story means for our purpose today.
Scripture References
1.On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, 2.and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 3.When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.”4.
“Woman,
2:4
The Greek for
Woman
does not denote any disrespect.
why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.”5.His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”6.Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.2:6 Or from about 75 to about 115 liters7.Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim.8.Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.”
They did so, 9.and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside 10.and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.”11.What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.12.After this he went down to Capernaum with his mother and brothers and his disciples. There they stayed for a few days.
Book I
Psalms 1–41
Psalm 1
1.Blessed is the one
who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
or sit in the company of mockers,
2.but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
and who meditates on his law day and night.
3.That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—
whatever they do prospers.
4.Not so the wicked!
They are like chaff
that the wind blows away.
5.Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
6.For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.
The Fall
1.Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”
2.The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3.but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’ ”
4.“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5.“For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
6.When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7.Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
8.Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9.But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”
10.He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”
11.And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”
12.The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”
13.Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”
The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
14.So the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this,
“Cursed are you above all livestock
and all wild animals!
You will crawl on your belly
and you will eat dust
all the days of your life.
15.And I will put enmity
between you and the woman,
and between your offspring3:15 Or seed and hers;
he will crush3:15 Or strike your head,
and you will strike his heel.”
16.To the woman he said,
“I will make your pains in childbearing very severe;
with painful labor you will give birth to children.
Your desire will be for your husband,
and he will rule over you.”
17.To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’
“Cursed is the ground because of you;
through painful toil you will eat food from it
all the days of your life.
18.It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
and you will eat the plants of the field.
19.By the sweat of your brow
you will eat your food
until you return to the ground,
since from it you were taken;
for dust you are
and to dust you will return.”
20.Adam3:20 Or The man named his wife Eve,3:20 Eve probably means living. because she would become the mother of all the living.
21.The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. 22.And the Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” 23.So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. 24.After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side3:24 Or placed in front of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.
1.Who has believed our message
and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
2.He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
3.He was despised and rejected by mankind,
a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.
Like one from whom people hide their faces
he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.
4.Surely he took up our pain
and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
stricken by him, and afflicted.
5.But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
6.We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
7.He was oppressed and afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
8.By oppression53:8 Or From arrest and judgment he was taken away.
Yet who of his generation protested?
For he was cut off from the land of the living;
for the transgression of my people he was punished.53:8 Or generation considered / that he was cut off from the land of the living,/ that he was punished for the transgression of my people?
9.He was assigned a grave with the wicked,
and with the rich in his death,
though he had done no violence,
nor was any deceit in his mouth.
10.Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
and though the Lord makes53:10 Hebrew though you make his life an offering for sin,
he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand.
11.After he has suffered,
he will see the light of life53:11 Dead Sea Scrolls (see also Septuagint); Masoretic Text does not have the light of life. and be satisfied53:11 Or (with Masoretic Text) 11 He will see the fruit of his suffering / and will be satisfied;
by his knowledge53:11 Or by knowledge of him my righteous servant will justify many,
and he will bear their iniquities.
12.Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,53:12 Or many
and he will divide the spoils with the strong,53:12 Or numerous
because he poured out his life unto death,
and was numbered with the transgressors.
For he bore the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors.
Psalm 2222 In Hebrew texts 22:1-31 is numbered 22:2-32.
For the director of music. To the tune of “The Doe of the Morning.” A psalm of David.
1.My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me,
so far from my cries of anguish?
2.My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer,
by night, but I find no rest.22:2 Or night, and am not silent
3.Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One;
you are the one Israel praises.22:3 Or Yet you are holy, / enthroned on the praises of Israel
4.In you our ancestors put their trust;
they trusted and you delivered them.
5.To you they cried out and were saved;
in you they trusted and were not put to shame.
6.But I am a worm and not a man,
scorned by everyone, despised by the people.
7.All who see me mock me;
they hurl insults, shaking their heads.
8.“He trusts in the Lord,” they say,
“let the Lord rescue him.
Let him deliver him,
since he delights in him.”
9.Yet you brought me out of the womb;
you made me trust in you, even at my mother’s breast.
10.From birth I was cast on you;
from my mother’s womb you have been my God.
11.Do not be far from me,
for trouble is near
and there is no one to help.
12.Many bulls surround me;
strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.
13.Roaring lions that tear their prey
open their mouths wide against me.
14.I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are out of joint.
My heart has turned to wax;
it has melted within me.
15.My mouth22:15 Probable reading of the original Hebrew text; Masoretic Text strength is dried up like a potsherd,
and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth;
you lay me in the dust of death.
16.Dogs surround me,
a pack of villains encircles me;
they pierce22:16 Dead Sea Scrolls and some manuscripts of the Masoretic Text, Septuagint and Syriac; most manuscripts of the Masoretic Text me, / like a lion my hands and my feet.
17.All my bones are on display;
people stare and gloat over me.
18.They divide my clothes among them
and cast lots for my garment.
19.But you, Lord, do not be far from me.
You are my strength; come quickly to help me.
20.Deliver me from the sword,
my precious life from the power of the dogs.
21.Rescue me from the mouth of the lions;
save me from the horns of the wild oxen.
22.I will declare your name to my people;
in the assembly I will praise you.
23.You who fear the Lord, praise him!
All you descendants of Jacob, honor him!
Revere him, all you descendants of Israel!
24.For he has not despised or scorned
the suffering of the afflicted one;
he has not hidden his face from him
but has listened to his cry for help.
25.From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly;
before those who fear you22:25 Hebrew him I will fulfill my vows.
26.The poor will eat and be satisfied;
those who seek the Lord will praise him—
may your hearts live forever!
27.All the ends of the earth
will remember and turn to the Lord,
and all the families of the nations
will bow down before him,
28.for dominion belongs to the Lord
and he rules over the nations.
29.All the rich of the earth will feast and worship;
all who go down to the dust will kneel before him—
those who cannot keep themselves alive.
30.Posterity will serve him;
future generations will be told about the Lord.
31.They will proclaim his righteousness,
declaring to a people yet unborn:
He has done it!
37.it will be established forever like the moon,
the faithful witness in the sky.”
11.And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of8:11 Some manuscripts bodies through his Spirit who lives in you.
Levi Lusko
Levi Lusko is the founder and lead pastor of Fresh Life Church, located in Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Oregon, Utah, and everywhere online. He is a best-selling author, podcast host, husband, and father of five, and travels the world speaking about Jesus.