John
2:1-11
After our Lord spent those 40 days in the
wilderness, He then began His earthly ministry. As we saw from Chapter 1 of the
Apostle John’s gospel our Lord has already called out 6 of His disciples and
they all left their dwelling places and livelihood to follow our Lord where He
would lead them. Now our Lord begins to move about or circulate Himself among
the Jewish people and in so doing He is invited to a wedding celebration in
Cana of Galilee (John 2:1). The
Apostle John notes that this occurred on the third day which must mean the
third day of the wedding feast which usually lasted 7 days. How long this event
occurred after His fasting, testing, and temptation in the wilderness from the
devil where our Lord resisted him in the power of the Holy Spirit is not
exactly known, but I believe our Lord went immediately into ministry mode after
this victory.
Everywhere our Lord went so did the disciples go and
this testifies to us that we cannot be His disciple if we are not willing to
identify ourselves with Him in everything He says and does (John 2:2). It is so easy to follow our
Lord by feeding those that are in physical need if we have been blessed with
resources to do so because this is popular with the world and it will even draw
praise from the world, but it is also our duty to follow our Lord in standing
against the killing of innocent babies inside their Mother’s womb. We must also
say what our Lord says about marriage as He did in Matthew 19:4 “Have you not read that He who
made them at the beginning ‘made
them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to
his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’ ?” NKJV This our Lord said defining what is the only marriage honored and recognized by
God the Father for it was His design, purpose, and plan from the beginning and
it is why He made man and woman different that they would unite in holy
matrimony and the two become one.
Our Lord did not go anywhere without His disciples except
when He would go away alone atop a mountain to talk (prayer) with the Father. When
our Lord told Nathaniel that He saw him under the fig tree, he and the other
disciples were sure that He was the Messiah, yet they had not witnessed Him
work any kind of outward miracle, for surely this was a miracle to them. It was
never the Nature of our Lord to do miracles without an important purpose for
them, especially when His heart was moved with love and compassion as He found
many people bound under afflictions from the devil it was always the heart of
our Lord to loose these souls from their captivity, but this first miracle was
done to solidify to these first 6 disciples that He is the Messiah or He is the
God-Man. Our Lord was certainly aware that they would waiver and wonder at
times as the journey became more difficult and threatening so He wanted them to
get a glimpse of His Glory, His Deity, and His Divine Power. This occasion of
the wedding was one of relaxation and refreshing as they were among people who
received them and our Lord well and He had yet to say or do anything that would
offend any of the Jewish people.
The Mother of our Lord must have reflected back to that
day when our Lord was only 8 days old and Brother Simeon (full of the Holy
Spirit) lifted Him up and blessed the Father for allowing him to see the
deliverer of Israel and the whole world. She surely remembered the words of the
angel Gabriel when he said to her, Luke
1:31-33 “And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and
shall call His name JESUS. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the
Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He
will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no
end.” NKJV She must have known after our Lord disappeared into the
wilderness for 40 days and returned tired and hungry that it was time for the
words that the Angel Gabriel spoke to her to begin its course so she went to
Him with this issue knowing that He could resolve it for the good of the
wedding party (John 2:3). She had no
idea how our Lord would solve this problem, but she was confident that He was able
and that He would come to her aid in this matter. None of the disciples would
even think to bring this issue to our Lord even though they believed Him to be
the Messiah they did not hear those words from the Angel Gabriel or Simeon or
did they live with our Lord for all of those 30 years watching Him, listening
to Him, and observing how different He was from Mary’s other children as His
Mother Mary was privileged to be eye witness to every day. Therefore, with
boldness and confidence she says, John
2:4 “Whatever He says to you, do it.” NKJV
Our Lord had them fill
these water pots to make it clear to all that observed that only water went
into the pots but by His Divine Power He changes the water into wine as it is
being drawn out of the pots by the servants who were eyewitnesses to the
miracle. Our Lord knows all things and He knew that this very day these people
would run out of wine and He chose this as His first miracle manifesting His
Glory because this was not able to be questioned or disputed by anyone. The
servants were certain they went to the well and drew out water and poured it
into the empty stone containers. The servants also knew that as they drew out
what was first water that they put in the container they now see wine in their
jug as they go to serve it to the master of the feast. It was the perfect way
to have His Glory revealed to His disciples and the other witnesses at the
feast (John 2:6-9). When the
disciples saw this they were strengthened in their faith (they believed) and
were more confident that leaving everything to follow this Man was not a good
thing to do it was the only thing to do (John
2:11). There is nothing in this present world worth holding onto, there is
no sin that is worth keeping, hiding, suppressing, and there are no bad
relationships worth treasuring when Jesus Christ can be yours eternally. For I
must follow Him that He may bestow mercy and glory upon me as I walk uprightly
before Him and this is what the early disciples must have spoken to themselves
and to one another after this first miracle truly revealed Him as God in a Man’s
tent or body.
Psalms
72:18-19 Blessed be the LORD God, the God of Israel, Who only does
wondrous things! And blessed be His glorious name forever! And let the
whole earth be filled with His glory. Amen and Amen. NKJV
Psalms
96:3 Declare His glory among the nations, His wonders among all peoples. NKJV
“A Christian
is one who recognizes Jesus as the Christ,
the Son of the living God, as God manifested in the flesh, loving us and dying
for our redemption; and who is so affected by a sense of the love of this
incarnate God as to be constrained to make the will of Christ the rule of his obedience,
and the glory of Christ the great end for which He
lives.” Charles Hodge 1797-1878
If
you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this
from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear
Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I
believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from
the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn
from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control
of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...
Sincerely in Christ,
Clifford D. Tate, Sr.
Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you
Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus
Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and
Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple
I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reader,
Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…
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