THEY WANTED WINE BUT THEY HAD NO WINE
John 2:1-11 vs.3 And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, they have no wine.
GRAND ENTRANCE
This is one miracle that launched Jesus into ministry revealing His glory to people around which caused His disciples to believe in Him. This is just wonderful; as much as many latch unto this particular miracle to justify the consumption of alcoholic beverages because Jesus Himself turned water into wine; it still is a great miracle.
Once I read a Biblical archeological review where Michael Homan threw up an argument that the right translation for the word wine should have been beer; still I think this assertion is ridiculous.
Well, Jesus turned water into wine. Glory Allelujah!
WHAT REALLY HAPPENED?
The Bible in Psalm 4:7 portrays wine as a traditional source of happiness. So, among the Jews where this story is coming from, wine is seen as the life of every ceremony and likely all over the world as well. Without wine it will be socially embarrassing to gather people especially during a wedding ceremony.
THE NEED THAT YOU WANT
So, in this scripture wine was a need that must be made available in a constant supply during this wedding. This is a typical situation where you currently wanted to have a need met but the capacity and resources to make that happen was not available.
Just like a man gasping for air, who constantly needs air like every other person; but at the moment of distress, he badly wanted the air but he is not able to get air.
This is both a critical and as well as an embarrassing situation.
WHY DIDN’T THEY GO BUY WINE?
Such was the case, so Mary the mother of Jesus had to call on Jesus because of the following reasons:
- He is the new wine
- The real bridegroom
- He is the revolution
THE NEW WINE
There are several prophecies in the scriptures portraying wine flowing when the Messiah comes, new wine and the fruit of the vine. So, this was not just an ordinary miracle but one that holds a robust prophetic significance.
THE REAL BRIDEGROOM
This situation of wine running out was going to be a huge social embarrassment for the couple especially for the bridegroom who bore the responsibility of hosting his guests with wine. Well, if it had happened that wine was not restocked, the talk and the embarrassment couldn’t last beyond the next weekend when another wedding will hold elsewhere and the memories of this one will be erased. But still, the mother of Jesus knew who the real bridegroom was and she wanted Him to do something about it.
HE IS THE REVOLUTION
Close to where Jesus and the mother sat where 6 water pots that could hold 20-30 gallons of Water each. These pots of water were for the Jewish ceremonial washing of hands and feet according to the Levitical law in Leviticus 15. Well, it will be a mistake to think that Jesus used these pots of water because He was sitting close to them. A careful look at Jesus during His time when this story took place, you will see Jesus challenged religious zealousness several times and He also revolutionized a lot of practices through His miracles, teachings and actions.
HE SHOOK THINGS UP
Customarily, these waters were for external cleansing which is where the religious leaders laid much emphasis on but Jesus shook things up by replacing them with stuff for the inside of the body. Mark 7:15 Jesus talks about what goes on inside of the body to be better than what happens outside of the body.
INSIDE VS OUTSIDE
Jesus was not just about behavioral adjustment and outside perfection but He emphasized on the total man being transformed.
Jesus here buttressed the point with this act, that all the ceremonial external cleansing can never provide solutions for you but the total transformation which He alone as the bridegroom can provide.
THE BRIDEGROOM
When the wine ran out, not one single person at the wedding could do anything but the bridegroom – Jesus.
OLD WINE – FINE WINE
Before I move on let me call your attention to the process of making wine. The entire process of making wine starting from the time the grapes are planted, harvested and fermentation; will not be less than a whole year. And it is also a known fact that fine wine is a product of years because the older the wine, the finer and more expensive it becomes. Judging from the governor of the feast’s testimony, the wine that Jesus produced was a far better wine to the one they previously had. So, in other words, Jesus collapsed a more than one-year process into a brief moment of taking water from a pot.
LET GOD JUSTIFY YOUR MIRACLE
God can give you a child without conception. You have to learn how to leave it for God to justify your miracle.
He is a just God.
It is true that God is a God of principles and process but He can also kill and make alive. When it comes to you, God can override rules and make an exception.
He is God.
Just like Mary in this story told the servants, “whatsoever He tells you to do, do it”.
What are you doing now that Jesus told you to do?
Make room for God to break protocols, processes and principles for you.
Man is predictable but God is not.
SOURCE OF HAPPINESS?
Man cannot provide you happiness, neither will a spouse provide happiness. Man is full of deception. Listen to what the governor of the feast said, and it was and still is a popular and accepted practice even today.
vs.10 and saith unto him, every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now.
He was saying to the bridegroom, you serve the good wine first until they are hooked then you can short change or deceive them because they will not know. But Jesus is saying through His act: “when you think you have had it all; then I begin my own. I save the best for the last”.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, I hear God say: “better is the end of a matter than its beginning”.
Stay with Jesus, He will never deceive you. He offers only the best even when you are not aware. He makes sure you will have what you wanted.
He will give you more than the desires of your heart.
Do you want wine?
Ask Him but you must be willing to do what He tells you to do.
Then you need to say this with me: Lord thank you for this opportunity, I acknowledge that I am a sinner and that you have died for my sins on the cross and God has raised you from the dead. I confess with my mouth that you are now my Lord.
If you have just made this confession then you are saved and born again. Do reach out to me and I will let you know further the next step to take.
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