The Life of the Party - Part Three
SCRIPTURE
John 2:1-11
On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples. When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”
Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. And he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” So they took it. When the master 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 master of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people 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.
LESSON
The idea that anyone can go to the Virgin Mary and get something from Christ, that they could not get by going to Him directly, is the equivalent of saying, "Dear tender-hearted Virgin Mary, I tried to get something from your hard-hearted son and couldn't make the grade and I'd like you to use a little pull for me." This is totally alien from the Bible. It comes from mother-son ideas prevalent in pagan religions. By accepting His rebuke and directing the servants to do whatever Jesus told them, Mary showed her understanding of what Jesus had said.
A word is in order about the wine used at the wedding feast. Was it fermented? Many believe it was! The process of keeping grape juice from fermenting dates from Louis Pasteur. In the warm climate of Palestine the juice would have fermented very quickly.
Of course, this does not mean that our Lord condones drunkenness. Wine was a staple drink in oriental lands where the water supply was contaminated. Everyone drank it, usually diluted to make it last longer.
The writer of the book of Proverbs said: "Look not thou upon the wine when it is red ..." (Prov. 23:31). This was undiluted wine-red, not pink as when mixed with water-and dangerous for prolonged imbibing.
What, exactly, was the nature of the wine Jesus provided? We do not know. But that it was real wine, and not just "grape juice," there can be no doubt. The "steward of the feast" (v. 9), a skilled wine-taster, sampled it, and pronounced it the best wine served thus far.
The Jewish religion had become more and more external by the time Christ had come, but this miracle symbolizes what Christ came to do-transform the old externalism into a new vitality of the spirit.
The water pots were used for outward cleansing. In fact, they were probably large massive stone basins holding twenty to sixty gallons of water each, which stood in most houses for foot-washing after guests came in from the dusty roads. But Jesus transformed the water that stood for outward cleansing into wine for inward assimilation. Christ came to clean up the inside of a man.
We may not know just when the miracle of water into wine took place. Was it in the pouring of the water into the stone jars? Or, at the drawing out of the water was it made wine? It is not important! The simple fact was that the miracle was performed which saved the day for the host and hostess-and helped to spread the fame of Jesus far and wide.
Note that the governor of the feast did not know where the wine came from. You know, I'd rather be a servant and know where the wine came from than be governor and not know where it came from. A Christian has a better idea of what could happen in the next hundred years than anyone in Congress or the United Nations. Neither the average man-in-the-street nor the prominent political leader knows the plan of God. He doesn't know about the second coming of Christ. He doesn't know the prophecies.
Amos 3:7 says, "Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets." I'd rather be a servant and know the plan of God than be governor and not know the plan of God.
STUDY QUESTIONS
- Where does the idea that we can or should pray to Mary come from? What is the fundamental error in this thinking?
- Why is this miracle important for the ministry of Christ?
- Does this miracle symbolize something more than just a miracle performed?
