Word of Jesus Part 48
John 2:1 And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the
mother of Jesus was there:
John 2:2 And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage.
John 2:3 And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have
no wine.
John 2:4 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is
not yet come.
It appears that Mary may have relied on her Son to solve basic problems that
come up in daily life. I imagine that Jesus was full of wisdom. However we do
not know exactly why Mary expected Jesus to solve the problem of the lack of
wine. Very little is said about the life of Jesus before His public ministry
began. Mine hour is not come may mean that His time to reign over the earth was
not yet and if He did many miracles the people would expect that time to come
now. We know now that His time to reign on the earth was not yet. When He did do
miracles it was to show that He was the Messiah promised in the Old Testament
and that His first duty was to save us from sin. That again my speculation. The
only miracles recorded that Jesus did to supply a material need were this one,
the time He had a disciple take a coin out of a fish's mouth to pay tribute, and
the feeding of the five and seven thousand. The latter two miracles where to
supply a necessary need to those in hunger. He never did a miracle only to draw
attention to Himself as a powerful man but only wanted to be seen as a savior
from sin.
He did turn water into wine at this time but it seemed like He was reluctant to
do so.
John 2:5 His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.
John 2:6 And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the
purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece.
John 2:7 Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled
them up to the brim.
John 2:8 And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the
feast. And they bare it.
John 2:9 When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and
knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the
governor of the feast called the bridegroom,
John 2:10 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.
John 2:11 This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested
forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him.
Miracles will cause people to believe but when the miracles cease as we saw in
the days of the wilderness wanderings of Israel, doubt and testing comes. We
need the word in our hearts to make it through the tough times when we don't see
the miracles and have to live by faith. If you remember the time Martha
complained that her sister Mary would not help her in serving the guests, Jesus
commended Mary for desiring to sit and hear His teachings. Hearing the word is
far greater than seeing miracles. The word will keep us from being deceived and
following false teachers. I'm not downplaying miracles, they will follow all
true believers but the word is what will sustain us at all times whether good or
bad.
John 2:12 After this he went down to Capernaum, he, and his mother, and his
brethren, and his disciples: and they continued there not many days.
Notice that Jesus had natural brothers. Mary and Joseph had more children after
the birth of Jesus. She was a natural woman. She was a good woman and blessed to
have been used of God to bring the Messiah into the world but that is all. We
are not to worship Mary or teach that she did not live a normal married life. It
is not a sin to marry and have children naturally when one is called of God for
a special reason like Mary was. She was not the "mother of God" or the "Queen of
Heaven." The queen of heaven was worshipped by pagans long before Jesus was born
and before the existence of Mary.
Proof:
Jeremiah 7:18 The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the
women knead their dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out
drink offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke me to anger.
19 Do they provoke me to anger? saith the LORD: do they not provoke
themselves to the confusion of their own faces?
Jeremiah chapter 44 is another place were the worship of the queen of heaven was
seen as a great sin against God.
John 2:13 And the Jews' passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem,
John 2:14 And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and
the changers of money sitting:
John 2:15 And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of
the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers' money, and
overthrew the tables;
John 2:16 And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not
my Father's house an house of merchandise.
John 2:17 And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine
house hath eaten me up.
Even though our houses of worship are not actually the temple that was in
Jerusalem, they still are places set aside for the worship of God and for prayer.
We should be careful not to be guilty of the same sins that these people did
when they were making merchandise in the house of God. I'm not going to make
judgments but only say that we need to major in prayer and be very careful not
to make merchandise of the gospel. Freely you have received. Freely give.
John 2:18 Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign shewest thou unto
us, seeing that thou doest these things?
John 2:19 Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three
days I will raise it up.
John 2:20 Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building,
and wilt thou rear it up in three days?
John 2:21 But he spake of the temple of his body.
John 2:22 When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered
that he had said this unto them; and they believed the scripture, and the word
which Jesus had said.
John 2:23 Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover, in the feast day, many
believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did.
It is wonderful to see and hear of miracles; but we have seen at the end of the ministry of Jesus on the earth,
many began to yell, crucify Him. The miracles were soon forgotten. Miracles are
to accompany the message of the gospel that will save mankind from sin and bring
them eternal life but miracles are not to be looked upon at as proof of
spirituality. Jesus taught us that, "Ye shall know them by their fruits."
He also warned that in the latter days there would be false signs, wonders and
miracles. That does not mean that all modern miracles are false signs
because the bible also says that, "Signs shall follow them that believe."
The whole word of God will balance out if we listen carefully to all that it
teaches and not just take a few verses out of context.
John 2:24 But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men,
Jesus didn't trust in these men because He knew their hearts and motives. He
knew whether they temporarily believed when the miracles occurred and the times
were good.
John 2:25 And needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in
man.
An American president will be popular as long as the economy is good and
everybody is happy. The minute things go wrong and trouble starts, they can
turn on a good president almost overnight.
True faith lasts when the miracles cease. That is why I encourage us again and
again to stay grounded in the word. Feelings, emotions and material things rise
and fall. The word however, is steadfast and sure.
2Timothy 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth
not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of trut
