May 13, 2014
Spiking the punch at a wedding seems like an odd way for God’s Son to kick off His public ministry. But, that’s essentially what His first miracle consisted of.
“Now there were six stone waterpots set there for the Jewish custom of purification, containing twenty or thirty gallons each. Jesus said to them, ‘Fill the waterpots with water.’ So they filled them up to the brim.” (John 2.6-7)
Lest we think this miracle consisted of turning water into grape juice, notice: “When the headwaiter tasted the water which had become wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the headwaiter called the bridegroom, and said to him, ‘Every man serves the good wine first, and when the people have drunk freely, then he serves the poorer wine; but you have kept the good wine until now.” (John 2.9-10)
It’s all rather confusing, and maybe disillusioning, unless we look more closely at the story. Let’s begin with the containers chosen for this twenty to thirty gallon miracle: waterpots for purification. Perhaps in this we see that it is Jesus who comes as the “new wine” to bring purification for God’s people. And, performing this amazing miracle at a wedding is a lesson in itself. The coming kingdom age is described as a lavish feast, complete with “refined, aged wine”, in Isaiah 25.6-8. Something of that celebration began that day when the King of the kingdom provided wine for a wedding celebration.
The take away for us today is to return to that celebration, and to drink deeply of this intoxicating wine. No, I’m not advocating drunkenness, but rather a deep and satisfying drink from the cup of the King, who welcomes us to the kingdom celebration. A stimulating drink and taste of the coming age is just what we need to live in the present age. It is only when we drink of this good wine that we realize how superior it is to what the world offers.
The analogy changes from wine to bread when we consider how Jesus taught us to pray: “Give us this day our daily bread” (Matthew 6.11). The essence of this request is, “feed us today of the bread of tomorrow”. Thus, may the kingdom be our nourishment and refreshment today. Indeed; may each of us be nourished and refreshed today with the bread and wine of the coming age, and may we live and serve in eager anticipation of this great coming celebration.
©Steve Taylor, 2014
Be sure to also visit http://thetruthrevolution.wordpress.com/
Amazon ebook & print devotional -http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FQ1Q9GW
paperback print copy of book — https://www.createspace.com/4500045
“Now there were six stone waterpots set there for the Jewish custom of purification, containing twenty or thirty gallons each. Jesus said to them, ‘Fill the waterpots with water.’ So they filled them up to the brim.” (John 2.6-7)
Lest we think this miracle consisted of turning water into grape juice, notice: “When the headwaiter tasted the water which had become wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the headwaiter called the bridegroom, and said to him, ‘Every man serves the good wine first, and when the people have drunk freely, then he serves the poorer wine; but you have kept the good wine until now.” (John 2.9-10)
It’s all rather confusing, and maybe disillusioning, unless we look more closely at the story. Let’s begin with the containers chosen for this twenty to thirty gallon miracle: waterpots for purification. Perhaps in this we see that it is Jesus who comes as the “new wine” to bring purification for God’s people. And, performing this amazing miracle at a wedding is a lesson in itself. The coming kingdom age is described as a lavish feast, complete with “refined, aged wine”, in Isaiah 25.6-8. Something of that celebration began that day when the King of the kingdom provided wine for a wedding celebration.
The take away for us today is to return to that celebration, and to drink deeply of this intoxicating wine. No, I’m not advocating drunkenness, but rather a deep and satisfying drink from the cup of the King, who welcomes us to the kingdom celebration. A stimulating drink and taste of the coming age is just what we need to live in the present age. It is only when we drink of this good wine that we realize how superior it is to what the world offers.
The analogy changes from wine to bread when we consider how Jesus taught us to pray: “Give us this day our daily bread” (Matthew 6.11). The essence of this request is, “feed us today of the bread of tomorrow”. Thus, may the kingdom be our nourishment and refreshment today. Indeed; may each of us be nourished and refreshed today with the bread and wine of the coming age, and may we live and serve in eager anticipation of this great coming celebration.
©Steve Taylor, 2014
Be sure to also visit http://thetruthrevolution.wordpress.com/
Amazon ebook & print devotional -http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FQ1Q9GW
paperback print copy of book — https://www.createspace.com/4500045
posted by steve @ 9:27 AM
1 Comments:
At 12:14 PM,
Unknown said…
Also, we are to use bread and wine in remembrance of what Jesus has done.
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