Blog In Audio:
Greetings,
What a wonderful weekend we had here with the 4th of July and the celebration of our 250th year as the United Stated of America. We had a great time with family and with our church family yesterday. God is good and life is good as we embrace the path of changes and destiny. I hope you are blessed also in your journey in Christ.
Jesus revealed the Father to those that followed Him. His influence in His world was an influence of the Father. If we look at what Jesus did, we see a testimony of what the Father was doing—even the type of things the Father will do in and through our lives today.
Jesus’ first miracle was the miracle of turning water to wine. We can find prophetic principles in what He did, but if we simply look at what He literally did we see something of the Father’s heart. Jesus and His disciples were at a wedding feast, and they ran out of wine. In that culture the wine was not simply meant to serve as a refreshment. It was a testimony to the great celebration of a wedding feast. It was a celebration of the covenant of a man and a woman as a husband and wife that were embarking upon the journey of family, family life, family celebration, and family purpose.
John 2:1 On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 2 Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. 3 And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.” 4 Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come.” 5 His mother said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.” 6 Now there were set there six waterpots of stone, according to the manner of purification of the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece.
This must have been a large wedding, and I am sure they were not planning to run out of wine. I don’t know how long the celebration had been going on, but they were no doubt in a celebratory mood and testimony when the wine ran out. Jesus gave instructions to fill the vessels that had been used for washing with fresh water. Those vessels contained twenty or thirty gallons apiece.
John 2:7 Jesus said to them, “Fill the waterpots with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. 8 And He said to them, “Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the feast.” And they took it. 9 When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom. 10 And he said to him, “Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!”
This was not grape juice. It was the best wine! If you calculate the capacity of these vessels the volume equals 600 to 900 bottles of wine. This is not conservative. This is extravagant. The people at this celebration had run out of wine so they were likely feeling the effects of drinking wine. They now received another 750 bottles of wine (more or less) and the party continued. I don’t believe that the lessen of the story is one of morality. I don’t believe it’s a story of what is proper. It’s a story of extravagant life and celebration. It is a celebration of relationship—of covenant! The Father desires life—He desires relationship. The story depicts a relationship with Christ and the body of Christ. It depicts the foundation of our covenant with God as our Father. It is established in love and celebration.
This is not a story endorsing drunkenness, but a story that very graphicly depicts the celebration of the Spirit. Jesus came to reconnect us to love and to the testimony of an eternal covenant—an eternal provision where the best wine is always now! Jesus didn’t simply come to remove shame from our lives by dying for our sins. He came to reconnect us to the celebration of love and life by giving the life of His blood for us to receive the better wine of the New Covenant—the life of Holy Spirit.
When you see Jesus, you see the Father. The Father values love, life, and celebration in the context of covenant family. The Father is not interested in washing the outside. He wants us to know the love and life of relationship that comes from our hearts.
Blessings,
Ted J. Hanson
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