Apicontent

“So then the Jewish leaders responded, “What sign can you show us, since you are doing these things?”

“Jesus replied, “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up again.”

Then the Jewish leaders said to him, “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and are you going to raise it up in three days?” —John 2:18-21

Do you not find it interesting that in our verses for today, the creatures demand proof of the Creator’s authority? The Jews were always looking for a miraculous sign. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians:

“Where is the wise man? Where is the expert in the Mosaic law? Where is the debater of this age? Has God not made the wisdom of the world foolish? For since in the wisdom of God the world by its wisdom did not know God, God was pleased to save those who believe by the foolishness of preaching. For Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks ask for wisdom, but we preach about a crucified Christ, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles. But to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.” —1 Corinthians 1:20-25

Christ answers their demand by telling them of a sign that was to come–a prophecy of His own death and resurrection. Partially in mercy, using figurative language to those who would refuse to believe so that the clearer words would not be held against them, He shows His pristine knowledge of His sufferings and resurrection. Indeed, this was a charge that the unbelieving Jews brought forth in Jesus’ conviction:

“The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were trying to find false testimony against Jesus so that they could put him to death. But they did not find anything, though many false witnesses came forward. Finally two came forward and declared, “This man said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and rebuild it in three days.’” —Matthew 26:59-61

I am reminded of Jesus’ parting words in Matthew given in the Great Commission: “Then Jesus came up and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” —Matthew 28:18

Take It to Heart

Paul tells us that while our vision and understanding remain clouded, one day we will see clearly as our partial knowledge will be displaced by a completed sight and understanding. This will occur when our now becomes then:

“For now we see in a mirror indirectly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, just as I have been fully known.” —1 Corinthians 13:12

Sadly, the brilliance of man sometimes causes him to miss the mark in regard to fully appreciating and apprehending the wisdom and plan of God because he chooses to lean on his own understanding. God’s thoughts and plans, being far superior to human thoughts and ways, are those that even the most brilliant of minds cannot conceive. God’s compassion, love and mercy far exceed our fleshly ability to comprehend. The narrow way is found only through self-effacing faith not through self-confident erudition. The prophet Isaiah tells us:

“Indeed, my plans are not like your plans, and my deeds are not like your deeds,” says the Lord, for just as the sky is higher than the earth, so my deeds are superior to your deeds and my plans superior to your plans.” —Isaiah 55:8-9

Further Reflections

“And concerning them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says: ‘You will listen carefully yet will never understand, you will look closely yet will never comprehend.” —Matthew 13:14

“The saddest condition a man can be in is to sit under the most living ordinances with a dead, stupid, untouched heart.” —Matthew Henry

“After this he went down to Capernaum with his mother and brothers and his disciples, and they stayed there a few days. Now the Jewish feast of Passover was near, so Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

He found in the temple courts those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers sitting at tables. So he made a whip of cords and drove them all out of the temple courts, with the sheep and the oxen. He scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. To those who sold the doves he said, “Take these things away from here! Do not make my Father’s house a marketplace!” His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will devour me.” —John 2:12-17

When Jesus was on earth, He was passionate about His Father’s house–and He is still passionate today. Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians:

“And what mutual agreement does the temple of God have with idols? For we are the temple of the living God, just as God said, “I will live in them and will walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.” —2 Corinthians 6:16

As believer’s, our bodies are the dwelling place of God! Let’s just think about that briefly. Our bodies carry within us the very Spirit of the living God; Jesus is therefore just as zealous about our temples as He was about the physical dwelling place of God. This message may step on a few of our toes if we are willing to put our feet out there.

As believer’s, we must continually be reminding ourselves of the purpose of life–which is not happiness or health but holiness. Peter tells us:

“Like obedient children, do not comply with the evil urges you used to follow in your ignorance, but, like the Holy One who called you, become holy yourselves in all of your conduct, for it is written, “You shall be holy, because I am holy.” —1 Peter 1:14-16

Zeal for the Right Things

Our lives may be consumed and wasted by our distractions, interests, and desires–some of which may even be right, noble, and worthy. However, God intends for us to be constantly moving towards holiness as He prunes things that are perhaps good in order for the better to bloom forth. Obedience and a relinquishment of our will to Him are required in this process as well as a firm grasp of His Word, a fervent prayer life and the constant listening to His “still small voice.” He alone equips and enables us to grow in Christlikeness as we willingly and humbly submit to His leading.

“The only thing that truly matters is whether a person will accept the God who will make him holy. At all costs, a person must have the right relationship with God … God has only one intended destiny for mankind–holiness. His only goal is to produce saints … He did not come to save us out of pity–He came to save us because He created us to be holy … Never tolerate, because of sympathy for yourself or for others, any practice that is not in keeping with a holy God … Holiness is not simply what God gives me, but what God has given me that is being exhibited in my life.” —Oswald Chambers

Take It to Heart

I wonder if, like Jesus, zeal for our Father’s house consumes us. Are we willing to “make whips” to consciously drive out sin in our lives? Are we concerned about our personal holiness?

Paul sets forth for us a wonderful illustration in 1 Corinthians:

“Do you not know that all the runners in a stadium compete, but only one receives the prize? So run to win. Each competitor must exercise self-control in everything. They do it to receive a perishable crown, but we an imperishable one.

So I do not run uncertainly or box like one who hits only air. Instead I subdue my body and make it my slave, so that after preaching to others I myself will not be qualified.” —1 Corinthians 9:24-27

Further Reflections

“Ask me not where I live or what I like to eat…Ask me what I am living for and what I think is keeping me from living fully for that.” —Thomas Merton

“We may be certain that whatever God has made prominent in His Word, He intended to be conspicuous in our lives.” —Charles Spurgeon

While I regarded God as a tyrant I thought my sin a trifle; But when I knew Him to be my Father, then I mourned that I could ever have kicked against Him. When I thought God was hard, I found it easy to sin; but when I found God so kind, so good, so overflowing with compassion, I smote upon my breast to think that I could ever have rebelled against One who loved me so, and sought my good.” —C. H. Spurgeon

“The Word of God well understood and religiously obeyed is the shortest route to spiritual perfection. And we must not select a few favorite passages to the exclusion of others. Nothing less than a whole Bible can make a whole Christian.” —A.W. Tozer

“Jesus did this as the first of his miraculous signs, in Cana of Galilee. In this way he revealed his glory, and his disciples believed in him.” —John 2:11

“Firsts” are special are they not? The first tooth, the first step, the first day of school, the first date, the first time to drive a car, the first child, the first grandchild. “Firsts” make quite an impact on our lives perhaps because they generally come as the fruition to what most of us disdain–waiting. Indeed, “firsts” carry with them a sense of wonder, awe, and amazement as waiting turns into reality.

Our verse for today speaks of the performance of Jesus’ first miracle, revealing His glory to the disciples, opening their eyes to the finger-marks of God, prompting them to put their faith in Him. Transforming water into wine, Jesus sets forth a taste of what is to come for man–the transformation of the heart. There is nothing like experiencing a miracle to build faith and point us to the truth!

The Jews had been waiting for their promised Messiah just as God had waited on the “fullness of time” for His Son to be born. God’s timing is perfect–never late or early and rarely when we expect it. Everything was ready when Jesus arrived on the scene. God’s Son, in whom all the fullness of the deity dwelt in bodily form, came to make God the Father known to man. Glory and splendor are shown to His disciples as Jesus turns the water into wine without a word. When things too hard for mere man to do are accomplished–things beyond the bounds of human powers–our attention is grabbed.

Jesus was a “first” in Scripture. We find in Romans:

“Because those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.” —Romans 8:29

Paul states in Colossians:

“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation, for all things in heaven and on earth were created in him – all things, whether visible or invisible, whether thrones or dominions, whether principalities or powers – all things were created through him and for him.

He himself is before all things and all things are held together in him.
He is the head of the body, the church, as well as the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he himself may become first in all things.

For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in the Son and through him to reconcile all things to himself by making peace through the blood of his cross – through him, whether things on earth or things in heaven.” —Colossians 1:15-20

Take It to Heart

Christ both preceded the whole Creation and is Sovereign over all Creation. He is exalted as the firstborn among many, demonstrating to us a great pattern we are to follow: He came to do His Father’s will and to make His Father known; in like fashion, we too are to manifest Jesus.

Paul tells us:

“But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that the extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us. We are experiencing trouble on every side, but are not crushed; we are perplexed, but not driven to despair; we are persecuted, but not abandoned; we are knocked down, but not destroyed, always carrying around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our body.” —2 Corinthians 4:7-10

The message of salvation and the results which the gospel produces are both divine and glorious. “To preach the gospel is really to unfold the heart of God, the person and work of Christ; and all this by the present energy of the Holy Ghost, from the exhaustless treasury of Holy Scripture.” —C. H. McIntosh, Notes on Numbers, 1869

Further Reflections

“God alone knows the depth and riches of His Godhead, and divine wisdom alone can declare His secrets.” —Thomas Aquinas

“Christ became what we are that He might make us what He is.” —Athanasius of Alexandria

“Now there were six stone water jars there for Jewish ceremonial washing, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus told the servants, “Fill the water jars with water.”

So they filled them up to the very top. Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the head steward,” and they did.

When the head steward tasted the water that had been turned to wine, not knowing where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), he called the bridegroom and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the cheaper wine when the guests are drunk. You have kept the good wine until now!” —John 2:6-10

How like Jesus to choose the jars which held the water used for the ritual and spiritual purifications as the receptacle of His first miracle–turning water into wine–between 120 and 180 gallons of wine to be a bit more specific. Indeed, nothing in Scripture is random. The servants simply were told to fill the jars with water–and fill them to the brim they did! Jesus Christ is in the business of giving abundantly out of His glorious storehouse, and His desire is for us to be prepared by faith to receive His fullness–no half jars of water would do! The psalmist states: “I am the Lord, your God, the one who brought you out of the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide and I will fill it!” —Psalm 81:10.

Paul also encourages us with these words:

“Now to him who by the power that is working within us is able to do far beyond all that we ask or think, to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” —Ephesians 3:20-21

No uncertainty, with complete confidence, Jesus calmly goes about His first miracle. All done in quietness–without any ceremony, pomp or splendor; without any gawking spectators or fanfare, the miracle was performed suddenly with great dignity and magnanimity. He wills the thing and then proceeds to work it without a word.

This confidence reminds me of the confidence He exuded when He stooped to wash His disciples’ feet:

“Because Jesus knew that the Father had handed all things over to him, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, he got up from the meal, removed his outer clothes, took a towel and tied it around himself. He poured water into the washbasin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to dry them with the towel he had wrapped around himself.” —John 13:3-5.

Jesus was well aware of His sovereign authority, His origin, and His coming destiny, yet He begins to wash the feet of His disciples, taking the very nature of a servant upon Him. While all things are certainly not under our human power, as believers, we know where we come from and where we are going and that we carry, through the blood of Jesus, the high rank of children of the King. Having this confidence in Him, equipped with the Holy Spirit, we are enabled to serve freely as well–no service beneath us. We should no longer be wallowing in insecurity, desperately desirous of our works to be in the limelight, constantly drawing attention to ourselves and craving affirmation to stroke our pride. We can work in quiet confidence, even producing our fruit anonymously, living out our lives for an audience of One. Nothing goes without His notice, nothing!

“And no creature is hidden from God, but everything is naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must render an account.” —Hebrews 4:13

Take It to Heart

What Jesus provides pales the world’s provisions. Nothing we are offered here satisfies or compares to what He holds out for His children. Just as the master of the banquet remarked on the miraculous choice wine, the products of miracles will always be the best of their kind. King David encourages us to: 
“Taste and see that the Lord is good! How blessed is the one who takes shelter in him!” —Psalm 34:8.

Further Reflections

“There are joys that are unearthly in their power and in their sweetness.” —Amy Carmichael

“Christ does great things and marvelous without noise, works manifest changes in a hidden way, without any hesitation or uncertainty in his own breast. With greatest assurance imaginable, though it was his first miracle, he recommends it to the master of the feast first. As he knew what he would do, so he knew what he could do. All was good, very good, even in the beginning.” —Matthew Henry

“I have come so that they may have life, and may have it abundantly.” —John 10:10

“Certainly the Lord watches the whole earth carefully and is ready to strengthen those who are devoted to him.” —2 Chronicles 16:9

“Now on the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding. When the wine ran out, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no wine left.”

Jesus replied, “Woman, why are you saying this to me? My time has not yet come.”

His mother told the servants, “Whatever he tells you, do it.” —John 2:1-5

In our verses for today Jesus brings honor to the institution of marriage–first by gracing it with His presence and second by performing His first miracle. Christ begins His miracles in an obscure little corner of the world, Cana in Galilee, at the celebration of a marriage. How desirable for Jesus to be present at this celebration!

All marriages should be so blessed to have the acknowledgment and attendance of Jesus–an honor indeed. His presence elevates the covenant of marriage to its rightful height as two become one flesh–an example of Christ and His bride, the Church.

Mary goes straight to Jesus, the source of all power and strength, when she discovers the problem of the empty wine glasses. It would do us all well to follow Mary’s example of humbly presenting our case to Jesus as a first, rather than last, resort. His response to His dear mother was that the fullness of time had not yet arrived. Jesus was in the center of God’s will and about His Father’s business in His Father’s time–always. He was not in the business of randomly performing miracles for miracles sake. There was purpose behind each miracle as well as purpose behind everything He said and everything He did.

Mary’s response is one of simple trust: “Do whatever he tells you.” She herself modeled this trust when told by the angel Gabriel that she would be the mother of the Messiah:

“The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called the Son of God.”

“And look, your relative Elizabeth has also become pregnant with a son in her old age – although she was called barren, she is now in her sixth month! For nothing will be impossible with God.” So Mary said, “Yes, I am a servant of the Lord; let this happen to me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.” —Luke 1:35-38

“Do whatever he tells you” … modern day believers are in great need of hearing and applying these five words, are we not? Unfortunately, the god of tolerance coupled with gross Biblical illiteracy has blinded our eyes to the truth, leaving us ignorant of what we are even to be obedient to. We have bought into the relativism of our day. Statistics prove this out: there is very little difference between the behavior of those who claim to be Christians and the actions of the world. This should not be! We are to be different–cities on a hill that cannot be hidden, showing forth good fruit, pointing others to Jesus, bringing God much glory.“Love for God and obedience to God are so completely involved in each other that either one of them implies the other too.” —F. F. Bruce

Take It to Heart

“The person who has my commandments and obeys them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and will reveal myself to him.” —John 14:21

“What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but does not have works? Can this kind of faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, keep warm and eat well,” but you do not give them what the body needs, what good is it? So also faith, if it does not have works, is dead being by itself. But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith without works and I will show you faith by my works. You believe that God is one; well and good. Even the demons believe that – and tremble with fear.” —James 2:14-19

“Faith, as Paul saw it, was a living, flaming thing leading to surrender and obedience to the commandments of Christ.” —A.W. Tozer

“Whenever there is a true faith, it must fix on Jesus Christ alone for salvation; that is its principal act. This same faith unites to Christ; and where there is union, there must be love; and where there is love, there must be obedience; and where there is obedience, there will be a reward of grace; and when the reward is acknowledged to be of grace, and not of merit, God will have all the glory in time and eternity.” —K. H. Von Bogatzky

“If you love me, you will obey my commandments.” —John 14:15

“Beware of reasoning about God’s Word–obey it.” —Oswald Chambers

Further Reflections

“Every time we resist the slightest temptation, we honor God. Every time we overcome even the smallest problem by trusting and obeying our Lord Jesus, God is glorified in our lives. Whenever we choose character over convenience, faithfulness over ease, or honesty over deceit, we bring honor to the Lord Himself.” —Robert J. Morgan