(John 2:3)
�And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine.�
We are beginning to enter some of the most controversial, at least among conservative Christians, portions of the New Testament. This is the beginning of the incident where Jesus changed the water into wine. I choose not to address that point during today�s message. I will address this later when the actual miracle is recorded.
However, let me state for the record that I believe the miracle was centered on the making of grape juice, not hard or fermented wine. For today I will just say that I can not believe that the holy character of Jesus would be involved in an endeavor which might lead to drunken reverie.
For today I am going to do something which I rarely do. I am going to consider the wine as an allegory. In the Lord�s Table we commemorate the death of Jesus; by the way I understand this to be the only truly �Christian� celebration commanded in the Scripture. Other celebrations such as Christmas, and even Easter, are not celebrations which have their roots in Biblical commands.
As a general rule allegorical type preaching is very poor. The tendency when preaching allegory is to make the Scripture say what the preacher believes it should say under his theological system. The proper method of interpreting Scripture is to consider the plain meaning as the meaning which God intended unless the context makes it clear that God was using word pictures.
I think that the allegory I will consider will not do violence to the meaning of the text. I believe that the subject matter I will address is ingrained within the meaning of the text. I just wanted to make it clear that I was allegorizing at this point.
In this celebration of the Lord�s Table, we see that the bread stands for the broken body of Jesus while the wine is a symbol of His blood which was shed for the remission of sins.
As an aside, how often do we preach the Blood in this day? Very, I am afraid, rarely! Yet it is that shed blood of Jesus which has purchased our salvation.
As we begin to look at today�s verse, may we first understand that a problem arose. �And when they wanted wine��
The guests and proprietors of this wedding party did not understand the significance of Jesus among them. They were interested in the wine of society.
We see quite a bit of this in churches. Many go for the fellowship. That isn�t a bad thing; it�s just that people need more than people when it comes to the spiritual. There is a need for a real relationship with Jesus if we are to be true Christians. Simply being with others who seem in the faith does not make one a Christian. �although, it does make it easier to live a Christian life if there is a support group.
Looking, and acting, like a Christian is no substitute for a real encounter with Jesus based on the work He did at the Cross of Calvary.
When I was a youngster my former �home� church had a very active youth group. We had parties at least twice a month. There was a regularly scheduled youth service, ran by the youth, before the evening worship service. We had anywhere from thirty five to fifty in our youth group.
Today that entire church averages less than 70 attendees at the morning worship service.
What happened to all those �kids� from back in those olden days? Well, some have moved away as they became adults. A few entered the ministry and moved to other churches. Sadly, more than a few were driven off by the churches attitude toward them as they struggled with teen angst. Rather than striving to build up these youngsters, the church was more interested in �skewing� them with hostility.
But, for the most part, these children found other social outlets as they grew, attended college or entered the work force. They no longer needed the fellowship of the youth group. In their minds they had �outgrown� that phase of their lives. Had these teens be more focused on Jesus, and less focused on �Judy or Jim,� they might have been led to understand that they would never outgrow their need for Jesus.
It wasn�t that the youth group was bad. Far from it. It was the teen�s own fascination with �cliques and clacks� which led them to equate �church� with socializing rather than with a relationship with Jesus Christ.
Adults are prone to the same mistakes. Our clubs, fellowships, circles and such are very good for us. They are! But, we still need to focus on the fact that Jesus is the reason for our fellowship, not a side light of that fellowship.
This, brethren, is the preacher�s job as the under shepherd! We are to lead people to understand that Jesus, and the worship and following of Him, is our purpose. Fellowship with others is to strengthen that bond with Him!
What people need is the wine of salvation.
I was just on the computer at a Christian web site where they run a question and answer blog which the people who come on line are encouraged to use. The question came up as to whether or not a certain cult group was a Christian church.
That is an important question. The word �church� is an ecclesiastical word. The Greek word from which it derives is �ecclesia.� The Greek word simply denotes a group of people, culled from the general population, called out for a specific purpose. This would apply to groups ranging from stamp clubs to military units.
But, when the word �church� is invoked, in the English, we are addressing an ecclesiastical body which has as its purpose the worship and study of God. These could range from churches which are devoted to the true God of the Universe, or to churches that worship the monkey wrench at Joe�s Corner Garage. Simply put, we need to understand just what it is that constitutes a true church of God. Anyone could call themselves a church.
Essentially, the true church is a group of individuals who have been saved from their sins through the atoning power of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. They will gather together under His leadership to elect and install Biblically sanctioned offices: Bishop (Pastor, Teacher) and Deacons to assist the people in the study and actions of things truly Christian and Biblical.
This is why we must also consider the wine of the Spirit.
Those who have been born again by the Blood of Jesus are endowed with the witness of the Spirit of God. This is first seen among the church at Jerusalem on Pentecost. This is not a witness of individuality or novelty. The Spirit bears a witness to the inspired and preserved Scripture and the Lord of that Scripture. The Spirit bears a witness to go forth into the world to spread the message that Jesus Christ died in time so that others might live in eternity. The Spirit bears a witness to hold fast to the doctrinal stance of the church rather than seeking either a �go it alone� spirit or a prideful spirit which seeks to �reinvent� the ordinances or Words of God.
And, the Spirit bears witness to the fact that Jesus did inaugurate the institution of the true Christian churches. We do not follow Him when we disparage that which He has established. Neither do we honor Him when we suggest that all of His witness among the churches has become corrupted and needs a new start.
This is a hallmark fallacy of cultish behavior/
Notice also the prayer in this passage. ��the mother of Jesus saith unto him��
This was a mother�s act of petition.
Some �Protestant� Christians are very afraid of this verse. They equate this with the Roman practice of praying to saints rather than to the Lord. But, such is not the case in this instance. No one is mentioned as having approached Mary with a request that she speak to the Savior. I�d hazard a guess that there was no one at this celebration who even understood that Jesus could do anything about the problem.
No. Mary was not acting in the position of a �go between� between those who had expressed a need and Jesus. Mary was acting in the best sense of the Christian ideal of praying for others. Mary saw a need and took her problem to the Lord.
We need to be more like Mary! When we look about the world and see the desperate need of the lost, we should begin to pray for them by name. I do not believe that the prayer of �Be with all those that need You in this town,� prayed to make our own hearts feel that we�ve done our religious �duty,� is nearly as effective as a prayer with says, �Lord be with Jim across the street, Sam down at the plant, Mary at the coffee shop. They need your salvation.�
After this prayer we have an obligation. We are the holy hands of God upon this earth. That is His purpose for us. We need to seek out these same people with the Gospel message. This can be by passing a tract. This can be by a vocal testimony of what the Lord has done for us. Most importantly, this can be waiting on the Lord for the opening that He will provide in answer to the prayer. Then we fill that opening with more prayer and witness as the Lord gives direction.
There are, of course, many more things about which we should pray. We should be prayer partners of missionaries. Again, pray by name for those missionaries. There is no real burden in saying, �Lord, be with those starving pigmies in New Guinea.� There is real power in praying, �Lord, lead the people of Australia to be responsive to the preaching of Dr. Bennett.�
Not only was this a mother�s act of petition, this was also a mortal�s act of prayer.
The Roman church will teach her adherents to pray to dead saints. This was not the case in this verse. This was a human being petitioning the Lord of Glory to intercede in a very real situation.
A quick aside, a person does not have to wait until after death to have a �church� board examine his life to �appoint� him a saint. I even know about a church group on the web who will proclaim a person to be a saint for a $40.00 offering with his request for the title. That�s not even close to Scriptural!
A saint is a person who has had his sins washed in the Blood of Jesus! A saint is any person who has been born again. Every single church should be made up of saints. The saints should be praying for one another. The saints should be praying for the lost. And, each of these saints should be praying for the will of God to be done upon the earth.
We have no business in praying to a dead saint to talk God into doing something. That is idolatry! Any time we place anything, or anyone, between us and God, we have established an idol. When we relate to an idol rather than to God we are engaging in idolatry.
Mary was also acting in the minister�s place of proclamation.
What was Mary doing in this instance?
First, she was turning over her problem to Jesus. Most of the commentators I�ve consulted believe that this was a wedding of a relative of Mary. I don�t know. The Scripture is silent on this point. What I do know is that Mary felt close to this couple; she had received an invitation. Mary cared about the people so she cared about their problem.
We need this type of empathy for others! When we see pain we need to call the Great Physician to bring the balm for the ill. The famous cup of cold water of Christian charity is meaningless unless it is accompanied by the purpose of the Christian life: The story that Jesus Christ died in time so that others might live in eternity.�
Mary was also �turning on� the Light of the World. When I flip the switch at my door to turn on the light an amazing thing happens. A light some six to eight feet away suddenly flares into brilliance. The light had been there all the time. All I did was use what the electrician had given me so that the light became visible.
Jesus is already here. He is standing at the door of the life of humanity. We do not force Him to come. We use the power that the Spirit has given us so that the Light of the World becomes visible to the people of that world.
Mary was touching One. She asked Him to intervene in the situation. He was already there. I would surmise that He was already knowledgeable about the problem.
Whenever I speak at a conference or church there is generally someone who will introduce me to the audience. They will then �turn over� the pulpit or lectern to me. They, in effect, take my hand and place it on the controls of the next twenty minutes, or so. That is what Mary did. She took the hand of the Master and told everyone to pay attention to Him. He was the important part of the equation.
That is the true job of the minister. The minister is not really important. Jesus is! What is important about the minister is that he understand his place and point the eyes, ears, and hearts of the assembled to gaze upon the majesty of the Savior.
In that sense, folks, we are all minister�s of the Gospel. We need to see that people see Jesus. We need to hear the voice of the Master so He may speak to others. We need to have our lives so enraptured on the majesty of the Savior that others would wish to gaze on His presence.
Notice, also, in our text verse that there is a promise explicit in the words. ��They have no wine.�
The promise was that the problem had been met by The Solution.
One problem was that there was a lack of provision. Food and drink were part of the celebration. If either of these were to fail the bride and groom would be humiliated in the eyes of their guests. In the culture in which this story took place, this was no small situation.
The lack of wine was not an inconvenience; it was a social emergency at the very beginning of the bride and groom�s life together. What a way to start out!
There was also a problem in that there was a lack of party. When the wine failed the celebration would be hampered. It is hard to celebrate the beginning of a life time commitment of a man and woman when they can�t even supply the needs of their own invited guests.
It is good for us to consider what others think of us. It is hard to convince anyone of their need for the God of Love when we preach, or worse yet practice, the concept of a God of Hate.
Rather than mistreating others, we need to keep our eyes on Jesus. When we do this we will see that His eyes are on the lost. He is searching out the lost so that He might offer them salvation.
Let us always preach what Jesus preached. Let us always see what Jesus saw. And, importantly, let us live as Jesus lived. We are, it is an old proverb but it is nonetheless true, the only picture of Christ that many will ever see. If we live so as that they will reject us, it is likely that they will also reject the Savior.
There was one thing of which there was no lack at this celebration. With Jesus in attendance there was no lack of power.
What Mary and the others saw as a problem became an opportunity to proclaim the truth that Jesus is the very Son of God. He has the power to solve what ails humanity.
Jesus can also solve what ails you in the spiritual realms. To the Christian this means that He has the power, if we will but access that power, to enable us to live a victorious life for Him.
I was at my son�s house about the time that his daughter came home from school. Elijah wanted to see his big sister get off of her bus. The problem was that it was just too cold for him to go outside and wait for her. On top of this, the window of the door was about a foot higher than Elijah�s head. Too cold to open the door and Elijah was too short to see out of its window. What was the poor little boy to do?
Grandpa came to the rescue. I picked up Elijah and held him in front of the window so he could see.
Elijah has been going through the �terrible twos.� Lately, his favorite word has been �NO!� Just a few minutes before this I had tried to pick up the toddler. He said, �NO!� Now, knowing this was his chance to see Shandi get off the bus, which he wanted very much, he decided to let Grandpa pick him up.
You may have rejected the concept of salvation in Jesus. You may have thought this too simple. You may have thought that this was not a notion consistent with your religious upbringing.
All of this is irrelevant at this point.
Jesus is now at the door to your life. Accept Him and gain life eternal and fellowship with God. Reject Him and your spiritual problems persist. He is the answer to what ails you!
Accept Him today.