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JOHN’S GOSPEL…NEW WINE -7

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“On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding….“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.” 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.”

‭‭John‬ ‭2‬:‭1‬-‭2‬, ‭10‬-‭11‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Without going into the details of this story which we know well, let’s examine John’s reason for beginning his record of “signs”, that Jesus was both the Son of God and the Messiah, with a story about a wedding. 

Wine and a wedding? Not unusual in the context of Jewish life but significant in Jesus’ life because it symbolised the purpose of His sojourn on earth. 

Marriage is God’s idea. The Bible begins with a wedding…Adam and Eve joined together in a union authorised by their Creator, the beginning of their love story…and ends with a wedding, between Jesus and His bride, the church joined together forever in a union of love…the culmination of His love story. 

An integral part of a wedding celebration is, of course, wine! Strangely enough, wine is also God’s idea. “Religious” people might repudiate drinking wine but God chose to include it in His Word and in the context of a wedding. 

“He makes grass grow for the cattle, and plants for people to cultivate— bringing forth food from the earth: wine that gladdens human hearts, oil to make their faces shine, and bread that sustains their hearts.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭104‬:‭14‬-‭15‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Wine heightens and enhances human enjoyment when taken in moderation but causes havoc when imbibed to excess. So do many other things when taken too far. 

Jesus’ presence at this wedding and His subsequent intervention to provide wine endorses both marriage and the drinking of wine.   However, it has an even greater significance, as John points out, in our understanding of Jesus’ mission on earth. 

Among the many miracles Jesus did, John chose this one to introduce his readers to Jesus’ glory. This is a mystery. How can a wedding and some wine cast light on Jesus and magnify His character and attributes?

We must dig deeper to find the significance of Jesus’ action in these human activities. The entire record of Jesus from Genesis to Revelation is a love story…of a Father seeking a bride for His Son.  After wooing Israel, His chosen people, to no avail, the Father sent His Son in person to purchase, save, and set apart a people for Himself.  

The purpose of the Son was to espouse to Himself a people who would be filled with the “new wine” of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit would restore the joy of the true and eternal union of God and His people. 

Paul endorsed this symbolism in his encouragement to the Ephesian church….

“Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit,”

‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭5‬:‭18‬ ‭NIV‬‬

The ”sign” of the abundance of the “best wine” at the wedding in Cana of Galilee was the greatest possible way of introducing Jesus to His people… the glory of the God who came in person to find a bride and to fill her with the joy of His own presence in her forever. 

So, this story heads the list of “signs” because it starts with a picture of the end result, the marriage supper of the Lamb and the union of Jesus and His bride forever. We celebrate the anticipation, sealed and filled with the “new wine” of the Holy Spirit, we await the moment of our marriage to our eternal bridegroom on that day when He returns to take us to Father’s house to be with Him forever. 

THE BEST WINE… 6

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John 2:1 NLT‬
[1] The next day there was a wedding celebration in the village of Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there,
[3] The wine supply ran out during the festivities, so Jesus’ mother told him, “They have no more wine.”….
[7] Jesus told the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” When the jars had been filled, [8] he said, “Now dip some out, and take it to the master of ceremonies.” So the servants followed his instructions.
[9] When the master of ceremonies tasted the water that was now wine, not knowing where it had come from (though, of course, the servants knew), he called the bridegroom over. [10] “A host always serves the best wine first,” he said. “Then, when everyone has had a lot to drink, he brings out the less expensive wine. But you have kept the best until now!” [11] This miraculous sign at Cana in Galilee was the first time Jesus revealed his glory. And his disciples believed in him.”

Since Jesus always and only did what the Father told Him to do, this incident was a divine appointment for a divine purpose. “It was ‘a sign’ “, John wrote, “to reveal something significant.”

Aside from its negative connotations of addiction and intoxication, wine has something important to reveal to us about the “new wine” of the Spirit that Jesus came to give us.

What does wine, in moderation, do for us?

‭Psalms 104:14-15 NLT‬
[14] “You cause grass to grow for the livestock and plants for people to use. You allow them to produce food from the earth— [15] wine to make them glad, olive oil to soothe their skin, and bread to give them strength.”

Wine can dull emotional pain and change the mood for a little while. I wonder why drinking alcohol is called “happy hour”!

‭Proverbs 31:6 NLT‬
[6] “Alcohol is for the dying, and wine for those in bitter distress.”

‭Luke 10:33-34 NLT‬
[33] “Then a despised Samaritan came along, and when he saw the man, he felt compassion for him. [34] Going over to him, the Samaritan soothed his wounds with olive oil and wine and bandaged them. Then he put the man on his own donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him. “

Wine can sterilise and heal bleeding wounds. How often people with wounded hearts turn to wine to soothe the pain and try to heal the wounds!

‭1 Timothy 5:23 NLT‬
[23]”Don’t drink only water. You ought to drink a little wine for the sake of your stomach because you are sick so often.”

The Apostle Paul even advised Timothy to drink a little wine in place of water for a stomach ailment. Did Timothy suffer from chronic diarrhoea from drinking contaminated water?

As much as wine can teach us a little about the new life in the Spirit that He came to bring us, Jesus was not advocating that we all become wine-bibbers! On the contrary, the Bible warns against drinking too much wine.

‭Proverbs 23:31-35 NLT‬
[31] Don’t gaze at the wine, seeing how red it is, how it sparkles in the cup, how smoothly it goes down. [32] For in the end it bites like a poisonous snake; it stings like a viper. [33] You will see hallucinations, and you will say crazy things. [34] You will stagger like a sailor tossed at sea, clinging to a swaying mast. [35] And you will say, “They hit me, but I didn’t feel it. I didn’t even know it when they beat me up. When will I wake up so I can look for another drink?”

Ephesians 5:18a NLT‬
[18]”Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life…”

On the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit fell on the disciples with supernatural manifestations, some in the watching crowd accused them of being drunk. Peter negated their accusation with these words,…

‭Acts of the Apostles 2:14-18 NLT‬
[14] “Then Peter stepped forward with the eleven other apostles and shouted to the crowd, “Listen carefully, all of you, fellow Jews and residents of Jerusalem! Make no mistake about this. [15] These people are not drunk, as some of you are assuming. Nine o’clock in the morning is much too early for that. [16] No, what you see was predicted long ago by the prophet Joel: [17] ‘In the last days,’ God says, ‘I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams. [18] In those days I will pour out my Spirit even on my servants—men and women alike— and they will prophesy.”

Isaiah 55:1 NLT‬
[1] “Is anyone thirsty? Come and drink— even if you have no money! Come, take your choice of wine or milk— it’s all free!”

The New Wine had been poured out at last. God’s many promises fulfilled, the coming of the Holy Spirit upon His people meant so many things to those who drank this new wine.

Jesus promised, as the high priest poured water on the dusty ground, that spiritually thirsty people could come to Him to drink. He would give them the new wine (sometimes “living water”) of the Holy Spirit who would satisfy their thirst forever.

‭John 7:37-39 NLT‬
[37] “On the last day, the climax of the festival, Jesus stood and shouted to the crowds, “Anyone who is thirsty may come to me! [38] Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.’” [39] (When he said “living water,” he was speaking of the Spirit, who would be given to everyone believing in him. But the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet entered into his glory.)”

‭The New Wine is still available to all who are thirsty for the truth. This “wine” has never stopped flowing and never will. More abundant than the wine Jesus provided at the wedding in Cana, the wine of the Holy Spirit is given freely to all, Jew and Gentile alike, who come to Jesus in faith and obedience to drink of His Spirit.

‭1 Corinthians 12:13 NIV‬
[13] For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. “

JESUS SAVED THE DAY

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JESUS SAVED THE DAY

“On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, and Jesus and His disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to Him, ‘They have no more wine.’

“‘Woman, why do you involve me?’ Jesus replied. ‘My hour has not yet come.’ His mother said to the servants, ‘Do whatever He tells you.’

“Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.

“Jesus said to the servants, ‘Fill the jars with water’; so they filled them to the brim. Then He told them, ‘Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.’ They did so and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it came from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew.

“Then he called the bridegroom aside 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.’

“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.” John 2:1-11 (NIV).

“The third day”…why did so many things happen on the third day according to John’s story? What was significant about the third day? Is this a veiled reference to something much more important than simply a chronological record of timing? The early church Fathers categorised John’s gospel as a “spiritual” gospel, hence it is quite comprehensible that John would have included “the third day” as a symbol of the greatest event that ever happened “on the third day” – the resurrection of Jesus.

If this miracle – turning water into wine – was a sign of what was to come, then the resurrection of Jesus would usher in the era of the Spirit when the Father would pour out His Spirit “on all flesh” as Joel predicted, turning the “water” of the Old Covenant into the heady “wine” of the Holy Spirit in the New Covenant.

Just as John began his gospel by taking his readers right back to Genesis 1 and linking the human Jesus with His eternal existence and creative work before He appeared on earth, so now he takes us back to Genesis 3 — the first wedding and its significance for revealing the glory of God.

Is there a subtle hint that the first marriage ran out of the heady wine of pure love and the powerful bond of unity because sin intruded and ruined God’s intention for marriage? Marriage was intended to reflect the ecstasy of the loving unity in the Godhead which is the essence of God’s glory…

Why did John begin his story with “On the third day”? Was this just a chronological detail or was this a subtle reference to the outcome of His resurrection “on the third day”– the promise of the “new wine” of the Holy Spirit who would be poured out on the church in the abundance which the 120 to180 gallons of miraculously-produced wine symbolized?

Was this chronologically the first of Jesus’ miracles; the first of the recorded miracles according to John; or the first in importance because it summed up in a graphic story the purpose for His coming — to provide in abundance the “new wine” of Holy Spirit, transforming life into a perpetual celebration?

If we try to stick rigidly to a literal time line, we can easily accuse John of inaccuracy. However, if we understand how John used his material to serve his greater purpose — to present Jesus as the Son of God in order to spur his readers to putting their trust in Him — the whole incident comes alive and begins to make sense.

John concluded this story with his interpretation of the episode so that his readers would be in no doubt about the meaning of the miracles he reported. He called it “the first of the signs.” This tells us, first of all, that there would be more signs to follow. It also points us to the reason Jesus responded to His mother’s request. It was not just to bail the bridegroom out of an embarrassing situation.

Everything Jesus said and did was intended to put His Father’s glory on display. Since He insisted that He and the Father were one, that meant that whatever He was, the Father was. Both His compassion and His power are reflected in His action, God stepping in to save the day and to bring in the hope of a better day for all who believe in Him.

His disciples understood! Do you?

Acknowledgement

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE – THE BRIDEGROOM IS HERE!

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THE BRIDEGROOM IS HERE!

“They asked Him, ‘John’s disciples are well-known for keeping fasts and saying prayers. Also the Pharisees. But you seem to spend most of your time at parties. Why?’ Jesus said, ‘When you are celebrating a wedding, you don’t skimp on the cake and wine. You feast. Later you may need to pull in your belt, but this isn’t the time. As long as the bride and groom are with you, you have a good time. When the groom is gone, the fasting can begin. No one throws water on a friendly bonfire. This is Kingdom Come.

‘No one cuts up a fine silk scarf to patch old work clothes; you want fabrics that match. And you don’t put wine in old cracked bottles, you get strong, clean bottles for your fresh vintage wine. And no one who has ever tasted fine aged wine prefers unaged wine.'” Luke 5:32-39.

What was that all about? Weddings; wine; mending old clothes? How did that answer their question about fasting and prayer?

John was the last of the Old Testament prophets, who had faithfully practised and taught his disciples the requirements of the religious system he represented. Part of the ritual was the daily prayers and the required fasting which he and his disciples had engaged in while he was alive. He had not been a disciple of Jesus in the sense of following Him as the Twelve were doing.

Although Luke did not record the circumstances of John’s death, we can assume that by this time Herod had killed him, and that his disciples were continuing where he left off.

Those who questioned Jesus had noticed the difference between John’s and Jesus’ disciples. While John’s followers were practicing their religion, Jesus and His disciples seemed to be a happy-go-lucky lot, going to banquets and feasting instead of fasting.

Jesus answered, using the imagery of the Old Testament Scriptures. Wine and weddings were familiar pictures of Israel and her relationship with God. At Sinai after their deliverance from Egypt, God invited His people into a marriage relationship with Himself, using wedding talk to engage their understanding of how He viewed the union He desired to have with them.

The life He offered them to return to, in spite of their persistent waywardness and spiritual adultery, was like spicing up their lives with wine. “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.” Isaiah 55:1 (NIV).

On the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came, the followers of Jesus were accused of being drunk, and they were — on the new wine of the Holy Spirit! Jesus had not come to patch up an old, worn-out religious system with “a silk scarf”. He had come to bring something altogether new, so radical in its newness that it could never be poured into the old wineskins of rules and ritual, which is what Judaism had become, another “ism” of performance which most of them could not keep up.

The kingdom of God is a kingdom of joy and celebration. They had to learn that their God is a joyful, glad God, not a mad or sad God. This was all about a wedding and at a wedding no one fasts! When Jesus turned water into wine at a wedding, He made enough of the best quality wine to keep the celebration going for many days.

Jesus had lit a fire because the kingdom of God had arrived, and He wanted no one to put it out by dousing it with old rigid practices that extinguished its joy. The wedding feast had begun, the new wine was flowing, hearts were being set ablaze because the Bridegroom had finally come!

Where do you fit in? Are you still clinging to the old stuff that makes you want to abstain? Come, join the party because the Bridegroom is here.

CHAPTER SIX

THE BOOK OF ACTS – A SECOND CHANCE

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A SECOND CHANCE

“When the Feast of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Without warning there was a sound of a strong wind — gale force — no one could tell where it came from. It filled the whole building. Then, like a wildfire, the Holy Spirit spread through their ranks, and they started speaking in a number of different languages as the Spirit prompted them.” Acts 2:1-4 (The Message)

Such a familiar story! We know it so well, but do we? Funny how I have always taken for granted that the event took place in the upper room! But did it? They met in a house for the Feast of Passover, hardly big enough to accommodate a hundred and twenty people! Luke said that they spend all their time in the Temple, praising God (Luke 24:53). Perhaps this happened in the Temple where people would have gathered for the Pentecost ceremony, led by the high priest.

Pentecost was a harvest festival, celebrating and giving thanks for the full harvest that had been gathered in. It was also the last of the spring feasts which Messiah was to fulfil, according to the ancient rabbis. It was the only feast in which bread was made with yeast, symbolising God’s willingness to dwell with imperfect people.

The high priest would take a loaf of leavened bread, symbolising the harvest, pour olive oil through it and offer it up to God, saying, “Now the Feast of Pentecost has fully come.” It was celebrated fifty days after Passover. The symbolism is beautiful. Jesus was the “seed” sown into the ground at Passover and fifty days later, the “harvest” of the church began to be gathered in when the Holy Spirit was poured out on imperfect people. God had now taken up permanent residence in His “temple”, the people of God.

Pentecost took place on the same day of the year that God met with Israel on Mount Sinai and entered into a marriage covenant with them. On that occasion His appearance was accompanied by noisy and visual confirmations. There was the blowing of a trumpet, voices and fire and smoke. He offered them a marriage proposal and entered into a marriage covenant which they failed to honour.

The same phenomena occurred when the Holy Spirit was poured out, wind (noise), fire and smoke (visuals) and voices. At Sinai, God’s people refused to respond to His marriage proposal — they were terrified at the sound of God’s voice and pleaded with Moses, not God, to speak to them. They did not want to hear God’s voice. At Pentecost they spoke back to God, in the languages of the astonished visitors from all over the Roman Empire.

At Sinai they rejected their status as the bride — at Pentecost the church was born, which is the Bride of Christ! Subsequent to Sinai, they proved their refusal to accept God’s marriage proposal by living in perpetual spiritual adultery, consorting with the idols of the surrounding nations and dishonouring the terms of the marriage agreement until God “divorced” them by sending them back into slavery in Babylon.

At Pentecost, Jesus sent His Spirit to betroth the church to Him once again. She responded to His proposal. Now He has a bride who is learning to submit to her lover, getting to know Him and preparing herself for the day when He returns (Revelation 19:7, 8) to take her to His Father’s house (John 14:1-4) to become one with Him forever (John 17:20, 21). Together they will celebrate the Marriage Supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19:9).

Pentecost has great significance for us. It is much more than the justification for speaking in tongues or exercising spiritual gifts. The Holy Spirit is the inward presence of Jesus, representing Him to us, teaching us about Him, leading us into all truth, glorifying Jesus to us and through us and preparing us for the wedding when the Bridegroom comes to take us to Himself.