By Rev Charles Seet

Preached at / Published Life BPC 10:45 am service, 2007-06-24

Text: John 2:13-25

We have already seen in chapter 1 of John's Gospel that Jesus is the Word of God (1:1), the Lamb of God (1:29, 36), the long-awaited Messiah of the Jews (1:41), the Son of God, and the King of Israel (1:49). We have also seen in chapter 2 how Jesus began to prove the accuracy and truth of all these descriptions when He worked His very first miracle during a wedding feast in Cana. 

Now we will see Jesus continuing to demonstrate the truth of these descriptions by purifying the Temple. What Jesus did at that Temple in Jerusalem showed that He was truly the King no one could oppose, the Son who was zealous for His Father's House, the Messiah who came to restore the spiritual life and purity of His people, and the Lamb who was to be slain for our sin. 

What a glorious picture of Jesus Christ this whole event reveals to us! Let us read this passage (Read John 2:13-25)

I. Sanitising the Temple at Jerusalem (vv.13-17)

A. The Pollutions that Christ Found (v.14)

The first thing mentioned in the passage is what Jesus found in the Temple - things which should not be found there. He found stalls where oxen, sheep and birds were being sold for sacrifices. He also found money-changers sitting at their tables. All this made the temple resemble a commercial bazaar or shopping mall rather than a place of worship. The sound of praise and worship was mixed with all kinds of noise: The jangling of coins being poured out, the bleating of the sheep and lowing of the cattle, and all the sounds of haggling over prices combined together to make such a din, that worshippers in the temple would find it most difficult to pray and commune with God amidst all that noise.

But why were they there and not outside the Temple? The animal sellers had initially been allowed to set up their stalls within the Temple courts only for the ease and convenience of Jewish pilgrims who came from afar to celebrate the Passover and who could not bring sacrificial animals with them to the Temple. And since all animals for sacrifice had to be free from blemishes, those that were sold at the Temple cost much more than those that were sold in the market. Now, this convenience was soon abused and turned into a thriving money-making business. But the chief priests who were the Temple authorities did not mind this abuse at all. Why? Because the rent they collected from the stallholders brought in plenty of revenue to fill their coffers. 

Perhaps you may be wondering why there were moneychangers as well. They were allowed into the Temple also for the sake of convenience: Every year thousands of Jewish pilgrims from foreign lands came to the temple to offer sacrifices there. Some came from Egypt and Syria, others came from Greece and Asia Minor and some came from as far as Babylon and Persia. With thousands of coins of different currencies pouring in from all these places, the animal sellers would need the help of moneychangers to convert them all into the local coinage. Since there was a service charge for each transaction, the moneychangers brought additional revenue into the Temple coffers. 

Now, the moneychangers also had another function. They were authorised to collect the annual Temple tax from every pilgrim. This tax was only half a shekel (which is about 50 cents in our currency) but the moneychangers were allowed to charge 10% commission for collecting the temple tax on behalf of the chief priests. And since the temple shekel was the only kind of currency that could be used to pay this tax, pilgrims also had to pay for currency conversions. From all this we can see what a money-spinning business these money-changers were enjoying there, and what immense revenue they must have brought into the coffers of the Temple authorities. It is estimated that their profits amounted to the equivalent of about S$100,000 a year!

Unfortunately all these sales and money transactions were not being made at a bank or a commercial centre where they should be found, but within the House of God where they should not be found. And with all the accompanying corruption and abuses that resulted from human greed and coveteousness, it became a terrible scandal and desecration of the Temple. To make matters worse, the chief priests were exempted from paying any temple tax, but they were using the collections to live luxuriously like kings. Such was the moral decadence that our Lord Jesus found in the Temple when He came to Jerusalem for the Passover. And it stirred up His resolve to rid the Temple of these pollutions.

B. The Purification that Christ Effected (v.15)

According to v.15, He made a whip out of some cords and drove all the animal sellers and money changers out of the temple. He also overturned the tables of the moneychangers. We can just imagine what great pandemonium there was with all the sheep and oxen rushing out of the temple and people shouting and scurrying everywhere to pick up the coins that fell to the floor.

You will notice that Jesus did this single-handedly, with no help from anyone and yet no one attempted to stop Him or arrest Him. Perhaps everyone there could sense the authority with which He carried out His purifying work. And the whip which Jesus wielded may also have helped. In ancient times the whip was a recognised symbol of royal authority. Here then was Jesus asserting His rights as the true King of Israel!

What is even more interesting is that His act of purifying the Temple had been foretold in the Scriptures 4 centuries before it happened. Let us turn our Bibles to Malachi 3:1-4 'Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts. 2 But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap: 3 And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness. 4 Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the LORD, as in the days of old, and as in former years.'

Dearly beloved, the day is coming when Jesus will wield His royal authority once more. And this time He will come as the King of kings and Lord of lords to purify the whole world of all sin and unrighteousness. Are you ready for His coming? Or will you be among the many unsaved who will not abide the day of His coming? The Lord Jesus calls you to repent and be saved now, while there is still time to do so.

C. The Principle that Christ Stated (v.16)

And whenever Jesus speaks we must obey. In v.16 of our text we see Him speaking His first public words during this visit to the Temple. He said to those who were selling doves there: 'Take these things hence; make not my Father's house an house of merchandise.' I want you to take note of the words 'my Father's house' in this verse, for they reveal that Jesus cleansed the temple not only as a King, but also a Son - the only begotten Son of God! When He was at that same temple 18 years earlier, He had said to Joseph and Mary, 'Wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?' (Luke 2:49) Now, here He was in His Father's house again, occupied with His Father's business! And who can tell what a father's interests are better than a son can?

As God's beloved Son, Jesus would naturally love His Father's House and be most concerned about its use or abuse. And since we have now become God's children by adoption, we should be just as concerned about our Father's house as Jesus was. We should love the proper use of God's House for worship, prayer, communion, instruction and fellowship. And conversely we should have a great dislike for the improper use of God's House like commercial, money-making ventures. 

Jesus stated an important principle in v.16 - that God's house must never be made a house of merchandise. Nothing deserves greater contempt than the commercialisation of religion for selfish purposes! And yet such horrible abuse has happened again and again in church history. In the 16th century it was the sale of Indulgences for Rome. A monk named Johann Tetzel even created a catchy little jingle to boost his sales 'When the coin in the coffer rings, the soul out of Purgatory springs!' In recent times it has been the sale of miracles of healing. The so-called 'seed money' solicited from thousands who want healing has financed the expensive lifestyle of charlatan evangelists. Therefore whenever such abuses are found within God's House, they must be totally and quickly removed. 

Perhaps you may ask, 'How about the sale of Sunday lunch coupons or Christian books in the church premises?' These are fine as long as they are run as a ministry where no one in our church stands to gain a single cent from them. But if someone in our midst makes some profit out of them, it is no longer a ministry but a business. Let us ensure that we always uphold the principle that God's house must not be made a house of merchandise. 

One way that this principle is violated is when people come for worship on Sundays to find more potential clients for their own businesses or even to execute their business transactions. One brother who is in the insurance business has told me that he makes it a point never to approach any fellow worshipper to buy insurance policies from him. But if someone in church happens to know that he sells insurance and approaches him for it, he will only do the transaction with him on weekdays and not in church. I thank God for what this brother told me, and I trust that we may each do our part to keep the church from becoming a house of merchandise. 

Let us us have the same zeal for God's house that our Lord Jesus had, as recorded in the words of v.17 'The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.' Now, the words, 'eaten me up' in this verse may have an additional sense - not only to be consumed with zeal, but also in the process, being consumed because of that zeal. This leads us now to the next part of our message which is about a different kind of temple from the one in Jerusalem.

II. Sacrificing the Temple of His Body (vv. 18-22)

The act of cleansing the Temple instantly created a deep rift between Jesus and the chief priests who exercised authority over the Temple. This rift was widened further when Jesus did it again after His triumphal entry into Jerusalem (which we commemorate as 'Palm Sunday'). This time, our Lord was even less sparing with His rebuke to them. 

Let us look at the account of this as given in Mark 11:15-18 'And they come to Jerusalem: and Jesus went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves; And would not suffer that any man should carry any vessel through the temple. And he taught, saying unto them, Is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer? but ye have made it a den of thieves. And the scribes and chief priests heard it, and sought how they might destroy him'

Notice that v.18 says that the scribes and chief priests now 'sought how they might destroy Him.' Doesn't that remind us of what Jesus had said to them when they had asked Him for a sign? He said 'Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.' As the omniscient Lord, Jesus already knew more than 3 years beforehand that these chief priests and scribes would seek to destroy Him and that they would succeed. This verse shows in no uncertain terms that Christ was already heading toward Calvary's Cross from the very beginning of His public ministry. It confirms that His purpose in coming into the world was to be the Lamb of God to die for sinners. And He never shrank from fulfilling that purpose.

Dear friends, here is something you must think about: Jesus came to offer Himself as a sacrifice for sinners like you and me. But have you put your trust in Him to be your sacrifice? If you have not, please realise that it is an inexcusable sin not to trust in Christ, because of all that He has done to give up His life for sinners. 

Now, Christ willingly submitted to being arrested, tried unjustly and handed over to the Romans to be crucified. But since His life was absolutely perfect and sinless, the chief priests had great difficulty coming up with a suitable charge that can be used against Him. But they finally found one by using the words which Jesus had said to them in v.19 - 'Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.' (cf. Matthew 26: 61). To them it is utterly unthinkable that the temple building should be destroyed.

But Jesus was not speaking about the Temple building at all. Verse 21 makes it clear that the Temple He was speaking about was His body - The earthly body which He possessed from the time He was born into this world. Why did Jesus call His body a Temple? Actually every living person is like a house. You have a body which is the physical part of you, and a soul which is the spiritual part of your being. Throughout your earthly life, your body is the dwelling place of your soul. 

In the same way, the body which Jesus had was His bodily dwelling. Since the word 'temple' means a place where God dwells, and since Jesus is God Himself, the body of Jesus is truly a temple. In fact, all the furniture and parts of the Temple in Jerusalem pointed to Jesus Christ and were designed to teach God's people about Christ and His ministry - E.g. the huge curtain which separated the Holy place from the Holy of the Holies represented His flesh (Hebrews 10:20). And this curtain suddenly ripped into two from top to bottom at the very moment when Jesus died on the cross (Matthew 27:51)!

Coming back to our text in John 2:19, I would like you to observe that when Jesus said, 'Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.' He was replying to a request from the Jews for a sign that would prove His authority over the Temple. Now, how did this answer their question? It did so in at least two ways. 

Firstly, the authority that the Jews claimed to have over the Temple was very limited. In Israel's history, even King David was denied the right to build it. God gave His son, King Solomon the right to build the Temple, and the priests from the tribe of Levi were authorised to serve God inside it. But because of sin, God sent the Babylonians to destroy the Temple in 586 BC, and the Jews had no temple to worship in for about 60 years. It was only when God authorised Zerubbabel and Jeshua, to to rebuild the Temple that it was raised up again. Hence we see that all authority over the temple of Israel came from God. 

This helps us to understand why Jesus said to the religious leaders, 'Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.' This statement showed them up as having no real authority over the Temple buildings. None of them had any poweror authority to build or raise up a temple, let alone decide on what should be allowed within its courts. But Jesus had every right and authority to do whatever He wished to do in the Temple because He is able to raise it up!

Secondly, whatever jurisdiction the Jews could claim was only over a building. Jesus is so much greater than them because His jurisdiction is over His own body which is a far greater temple than the building. In the building the Jews worshipped a God they could not see. But through the body of Jesus sinners could meet God face to face. 

In the building the Jews offered their sacrifices repeatedly to atone for their sins. But in the body of Jesus, sinners have a perfect sacrifice that was made once and for all time! Therefore if the Lord Jesus is able to raise up the superior temple of His body from destruction, then surely He must also have every right and authority over the inferior temple building to dictate what should or should not be allowed within its courts. 

And this is something that no human authority can ever claim to do, because it means raising one's own dead body back to life. The best that men can do is to raise up dead physical structures like tall buildings and huge bridges, but no man has power to give life or to raise the dead back to life! That power belongs to God alone. And God's authority exceeds every other authority in this world and beyond. This verse, John 2:19 contains the earliest prediction made by Jesus Christ about His own resurrection 'in three days I will raise it up.' This is where He first revealed what was to become the greatest miracle of all time: His resurrection on the third day after His death on the cross. It is the miracle that settles any question about His authority.

And the authority that Christ has by virtue of His resurrection must lead us now to consider the authority He has over our lives. Dearly beloved, by virtue of His resurrection from the dead, Jesus claims authority over your life! If you were to ask, 'What right does Jesus have to demand my trust and obedience?' the answer is found right here: Christ died to be your Saviour, but He rose victorious from the dead to be your Lord and Master. Will you submit to His authority? Will you surrender your will to do His will? 

Just as Jesus rightfully purged the Temple of all its pollutions, He has every right today to come to you and demand that you put your sins away. He has every right to demand the removal of all the idols you have laid up in your heart. He has every right to demand that you forsake everything that should not be found in the temple of your heart. 1 Corinthians 6:19 says, 'What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?' This brings us to the third temple of God that we want to consider this morning.

We have already seen that the first two temples of God were the temple building at Jerusalem which Jesus cleansed. and the temple of His own body which Jesus sacrificed later on. Now we come to the 3rd temple of God, which is your heart.

III. Searching the Temple of Men's Hearts (vv. 23-25)

The heart is the seat of the soul, and Proverbs 4:23 tells us that out of it are the issues of life. Romans 10:10 tells us, 'For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness' It is only by believing in Christ with all your heart that you are saved. But there is vast a difference between believing that Jesus can save you and believing in Jesus to save you. It is the difference between having a professing faith and having a possessing faith. Dear friends, what we need is a possessing faith. 

In v.23 we are told that many people in Jerusalem believed in the name of Jesus Christ 'when they saw the miracles which He did.' The last part of this verse reveals that their belief was prompted by what they saw. Perhaps they had seen Jesus healing the sick, or opening eyes of the blind, etc. And if anyone were to ask them for their opinion about Jesus, they would perhaps answer without hesitation that He is a great prophet or teacher who has come from God (cf. 3:2). 

But v.24 tells us that Jesus did not commit Himself unto them, because He knew all men. Something about their faith caused Him to refrain from trusting Himself to them. Perhaps He could see that their belief was merely a professing faith, a faith based on the miracles they had seen. They did not have a possessing faith, a faith that demands no miracles to substantiate it and sustain it. Perhaps Christ could also see their motives for coming to Him and professing to believe in His name. Some may have done so with the most selfish motives. 

According to verses 24-25, 'Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men, And needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man.' Dear friends, let us learn an important lesson from these words. If you belong to Christ He is dwells in the temple of your heart. He sees and knows everything in your heart, and nothing can be hidden from Him. He knows you better that anyone else - even better than you know yourself! 

Are there any motives in your heart that are unworthy of Him? Are you tolerating sins in your life that grieve Him? How long will you allow them to reside with Him in your heart? Please do some necessary 'house-cleaning' and put them away now, or else Christ Himself may one day have to do the house-cleaning for you - and it may not be a very pleasant experience for you when He does this. You may feel the painful but loving lashes of his scourge of small cords driving out all the sins that you have not dealt with.

By Rev Charles Seet

Preached at / Published Life BPC 10:45 am service, 2007-05-27

Text: John 2:1-11

In March this year we embarked on a study of the Gospel according to John. Thus far in our study of John's Gospel we have completed chapter 1 where the main emphasis was on identifying Jesus. We have seen Christ identified in several ways: as the Word in the first verse of the book (1:1), as the Lamb of God by John the Baptist (1:29, 36). In 1:41 Andrew identified Him as the Messiah. In 1:49 Nathaniel further acknowledged Him to be the Son of God, and the King of Israel. 

In our passage for this morning we will see how the Lord Jesus Christ begins to prove that all these descriptions and designations about Him are indeed true. This we shall see, was the actual purpose for all His miracles: They were not designed primarily to meet the needs of the sick, the blind and the physically handicapped people of His time, but rather to demonstrate that He is truly the only begotten Son of God. And our response to the miracles of Jesus is that we should trust Him fully and give Him the rightful place He deserves as the supreme Lord of our lives. It is my prayer that this whole series of messages from John's Gospel will lead all of us to a better understanding of what Jesus should be to us, and all the implications that this should have on our lives. Let us read John 2:1-11 (Read).

We shall first summarize briefly what happened in this passage. This miracle took place in a little village in the hills of Galilee called Cana, which was just about 14 km north of Nazareth, the place where Jesus had grown up. The occasion for this miracle was a wedding that He and His disciples were invited to attend. What happened was that the wedding host unexpectedly ran out of wine during the wedding reception. This means that the guests would have nothing to drink. The host the reception had either overestimated the supply of wine, or underestimated the drinking capacity of the invited guests. To them, as also to us today, this would be a source of great embarrassment to the host of the wedding. In a rural village like Cana where a wedding would probably involve the entire community, failure to provide adequate refreshments for the wedding guests would be a major social disaster! But when this problem was brought to Christ's attention He solved it quietly by providing an abundant supply of the best quality wine. 

The important thing about this miracle is that it was the very first one that Christ performed. Verse 11 makes this very clear, as it says, 'This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth His glory; and his disciples believed on Him.' This verse puts to rest once and for all, all claims and speculations that Jesus had performed some miracles during His childhood years in Nazareth. 

Many fanciful but false legends have sprung up about the early years of Jesus (found in the 'Infancy Gospel of Thomas'), because the four gospels are silent on these childhood years, except for the episode of how He was inadvertently left behind at Jerusalem by His parents when he was twelve. It is alleged that even when He was a 5-year old boy Jesus was already performing the most fantastic miracles. In one legend Jesus is said to have made 12 sparrows out of clay, and then turned them into real flying sparrows (and Joseph, His father allegedly rebuked Him for doing this on a Sabbath day!). 

In another legend, Jesus was playing on the flat roof of a house with some other boys, when a boy named Zeno accidentally fell from the roof to the ground and died. Jesus allegedly jumped off the roof to where Zeno's dead body was lying and miraculously raised him back to life. Another interesting legend describes that when Jesus helped Joseph in the carpenter's workshop, and Joseph was frustrated because he had cut one piece of wood in a pair too short to make a bed, Jesus was able to miraculously stretch the short piece of wood until it was the same size as the other!

Now, what should we make of all these fanciful legends? Well, according to verse 11 of our passage we ought to disregard them because none of them ever took place. Christ did not work a single miracle in His life until this very first one recorded in John 2:1-11. It was therefore the first miracle of Christ because it marked the beginning of His public ministry as the Messiah. You could say that this act of turning water into wine really was really the inaugural miracle of our Lord Jesus. This brings us to the first point of this morning's message:

I. The Occasion for Revealing His Glory (vv.1-4)

The passage begins with v.1 'And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee.' This provides the setting for the time when Christ began to manifest His glory on earth. It is significant that our Lord should choose a wedding to be the occasion for His first miracle. Jesus could easily have chosen a different situation. Why did He not choose for instance, a great miracle of healing, or of resurrecting the dead to life? Why did He choose a wedding? One possible reason is that a wedding is a time of rejoicing, and not of pain and sorrow. By choosing a joyful occasion to manifest His glory, Christ would show that His mission as the Messiah of Israel was destined to bring unspeakable joy into the lives of men, through the salvation He brings.

But His deliberate choice of a wedding for His first miracle had a far greater purpose than this. It showed His approval and blessing on the institution of marriage. Now, marriage is actually the oldest institution given by God to man. God Himself performed the very first wedding in the Garden of Eden. This divine origin of marriage is something that needs to be emphasized very strongly today in a world where marriage is no longer held to be as important and binding as before. The marriage institution has certainly fallen on very hard times. Some regard it merely as an option that can be dispensed by cohabiting couples. Others take marriage as a passing fancy to play with. Just 3 years ago the pop superstar Britney Spears made a terrible mockery of marriage by filing for annulment just 2 days after she married her childhood friend. 

To me, the saddest day for marriage as an institution was when homosexual marriage was made legal in Holland just 6 years ago. Since then thousands of same-sex couples have tied the knot, 6 more countries have legalized homosexual marriage, and 19 countries have recognized what they call same sex civil unions, which are really no different from marriage! 

We pray that this will never happen here in Singapore despite the increasing pressure to move towards it. Only one week ago a Mediacorp survey of 300 heartland Singaporeans that was published in the newspaper showed that 11% of them agree that homosexuality should now be made legal in Singapore. You may think this represents only a small segment of society, but it is certainly a growing one. And this should be a matter of concern for us. The day may come when because of our goal to achieve economic progress, because of increased popular demand and the quest for more creativity and talent, our nation may follow the rest of the world. This may happen in our generation or in our children's generation. When it happens, family life and moral values as we know them will change.

Change is not necessarily a bad thing, but there are some things that should never be changed for they stand at the very foundations of life itself. Marriage is clearly one of them. God has ordained marriage to be a covenant union between one man and one woman who must remain faithful and committed to each other for the rest of their lives. God has defined the husband's leadership role as well as the wife's submissive role. He gave the first couple a divine mandate to be fruitful and multiply. He designed marriage to be a blessing to mankind, to meet our basic human need for companionship, and to be a remedy against immorality and sexual sin. And God blesses every Christian couple who is committed to obey all the instructions that He gave in the Bible concerning marriage.

The Lord Jesus came to the wedding at Cana for the same purpose. He blessed the marriage instution forever by manifesting His glory there. I believe that as the omniscient God, Jesus had already foreseen the hard times on which this institution would fall in our time. His first miracle at that wedding in Cana stands therefore as a clear signal for all time, that God's people must uphold and honour biblical marriage! If you are married you must keep your marriage vows well and be faithful to your spouse. If you are a husband you must exercise loving leadership to your wife. If you are a wife, you must be submissive to your husband's leadership. If you are not married, you ought to pray about the will of God concerning marriage - Does He want you to marry? If he does, then whom should you marry and how should you marry? And when you do marry according to God's instructions, you can be greatly blessed by the thought that Jesus is present at your wedding and giving His divine approval on you, just as He had shown His approval at this wedding in Cana by supplying the wine that was lacking.

Let us continue now with our study and read what happened in v.3 'And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto Him, They have no wine.' Please notice now how Jesus responded to her in v.4. He said, 'Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come.' Was Jesus unhappy that His mother had brought up this need to Him? Was He saying 'No' to her? Did He perform the miracle reluctantly just to please her? Not at all. Please note that addressing one's mother as 'Woman' in those days was not rude or unkind. In Jewish culture this was actually a respectful and polite form of address. In fact, Jesus used the same term to address His mother when He spoke to her from the cross, 'Woman, behold Thy Son.' (John 19:26)

What then do the words, 'What have I to do with thee' mean? The best way to understand them is this: 'Your concerns and Mine are not the same.' He was reminding Mary that the purpose of His coming to earth was not primarily to work great miracles to help people. He did not want Mary to have the idea that if He did as she had asked, she could keep on asking Him to do things like this for her. Think of how convenient it is to have a son who could solve any problem in the house by supernatural means! The reply of Jesus to Mary made it very clear to her that whatever He did as the Messiah was independent of Her will. No one, not even His own mother, can dictate when and how He should use His divine power.

Now, another phrase in verse 4 which shows this is the phrase: 'Mine hour is not yet come.' That hour is the hour when He would finally accomplish the purpose of His whole ministry on earth: to die on the cross for sinners. The word 'hour' here cannot be referring to the time when He would begin to perform miracles, since He went on to perform His first miracle just after He said it. But later on, when He was just about to be crucified Jesus prayed, 'Father, the hour is come; glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son may also glorify Thee:' (John 17:1)

The reply of our Lord to Mary teaches us that no person on earth, not even those who are closest to Him, can dictate what or how or when He should act in accomplishing His work of God's Kingdom. He alone must do this. Here, He was about to work this miracle not under Mary's authority, but under His own authority. 

This passage can be useful if you have friends and loved ones who are Catholics. The Catholic Church encourages its followers to bring their petitions and requests to Mary instead of Jesus, because she is supposedly more gentle and tender-hearted than Him. Being the mother of Jesus, 'Mother Mary' is thought to have a rather strong influence over Him. It is reasoned that because of filial piety, a good son can never say 'no' to his own mother, and Jesus will have to do whatever she asks of him, even if he has to do it reluctantly.

But the words that Jesus replied here in v.4 reveal that the very opposite is true. Jesus was stating that what He was about to do had nothing at all to do with her request. He turned water into wine not to please her but to manifest His own glory as the Son of God so that His disciples may believe in Him. On His own He had already determined beforehand that He would work this great miracle at that wedding. It was the first of the 'greater things' that he had promised to Nathaniel in John 1:50. The next few verses now go on to demonstrate:

II. The Power of His Glory Revealed (vv.5-8)

There are some interesting observations about the way Christ worked this miracle. First of all you will notice that all that was needed was a spoken word from Him. In v.7 He said, 'Fill the waterpots with water.' and then in v.8 He said, 'Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast.' That was sufficient to turn the water into wine! No man on earth can do any thing like that. It reminds us of the way that God created the heavens and the earth: He did it entirely by His spoken word alone: 'Let there be light...and there was light.' (Genesis 1:3) This at once reveals that the power of Christ is nothing less than the power of the omnipotent God Himself. One writer described this miracle in a rather poetic manner: He said that the water in the pots beheld their Creator and then blushed!

Another observation about this miracle is that Jesus used the most common objects in the house to do it: Six ordinary stone waterpots filled with water. In those days when houses had no piped water supply, water had to be drawn from a well or spring and stored in large vessels at each house. And since the Jews, according to their purification laws, used plenty of water to wash their hands, feet and utensils everyday, they needed to keep many vessels in each house for storing water.

These humble stone vessels were chosen by Jesus used as His means to manifest His glory. There is an interesting biblical principle for us here. We believers are referred to in the New Testament as vessels used by God (see 2 Corinthians 4:6,7 and 2 Timothy 2:20,21). Although we may only be humble earthen vessels, we are blessed when we let Christ fill us with the water of God's Word. For when it is poured out from us, it becomes the sweet wine of the Spirit which brings blessings upon the lives of those around us! Dearly beloved, if you really want to be a blessing to others, please take time to fill your mind with the Word of God. Read it daily, meditate on it and memorise it well. You will soon be able to bear much fruit for God's glory.

Another interesting observation about this miracle was the scale in which it was done. According to v.6, the waterpots each contained 2 or 3 firkins, which is about 100 litres. Six of them would therefore contain about 600 litres of water. Now, that's a lot of water - enough to fill up about 80 pails or 300 large bottles! When all this water was turned into wine, it would be much, much more than enough for all the guests for the rest of the wedding feast. The newly married couple would be able to sell whatever surplus wine they had at a good price, and use it to start their married life well with God's blessings!

The large scale of this miracle shows that there is really no naturalistic way to explain how it happened. God's power was definitely involved in it. We know that good wine takes months to produce by any human effort. The grapes have to be picked by hand from the vine at the right time, crushed in a winepress to yield its juice, and then processed and carefully stored away in special containers to keep it from going bad. If you were to make just one wrong step in the process, you could end up with vinegar instead of wine! And yet our Lord Jesus Christ produced about 600 litres of the best quality wine in just a moment, in a twinkling of an eye! 

Now one question that you may want to ask is why did Jesus need to have the 6 waterpots filled with water? Could He not instantly create all the wine out of nothing by the word of His power as He had done in creating the heavens and the earth? Yes, He certainly could. But if He had done that here, the servants at the wedding would have had no opportunity to learn what it means to have faith in Him and obey Him. These servants were the ones who served wine to the guests and so they were the first to know about the urgent need for more wine. But where could they get more wine at such short notice? According to v.5 they were told to obey Jesus: 'Whatsoever He saith unto you, do it.' 

And Jesus then told them to do something that they would usually do as servants - Fill the waterpots with water. Obeying this instruction probably meant making many trips back and forth between the nearest spring or well and the house with pails of water. It would have taken them quite a while to get 600 litres of water. And while they worked at this they may have wondered how this would solve the wine shortage at the wedding. Were the wedding guests supposed to drink only water for the rest of the feast? What a disappointment that would be! In those days it was actually preferable to drink wine rather than water, for health reasons (cf. 1 Timothy 5:23 'Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake and thine often infirmities.')

We can only imagine the servants' amazement when they suddenly discovered that all the water they had used to fill up the 6 waterpots had turned into sweet tasting, thirst quenching wine! And since there was now more than enough wine for everyone, these humble servants would also get to enjoy drinking it, thankful that they had obeyed the word of Jesus. From now on, there is no doubt at all that they would do anything that He told them to do. 

Dearly beloved, the lesson you can learn from this comes from the instructions that Mary gave to the servants: 'Whatsoever He saith unto you, do it.' This is the very best way for you to handle any problem that you face in life. We must be like those servants - ready to do whatever our Master says to us without any hesitation or delay! Why? Because this will show that you trust completely in His Power to solve the problem. And this is the same power that worked this first miracle of His. But that is not all that this miracle revealed. We shall now go on to see:

III. The Excellence of His Glory Revealed (vv.8-11)

In v. 9 we see that the governor of the wedding feast testified to the excellent quality of the wine. When the wine was brought to him and he tasted it, he was puzzled as to why it had not been served first. According to custom, guests would always be served the best wine first, since after they had taken that and their senses had been dulled, they could be served a poorer quality wine without really noticing the difference.

The passage does not tell us whether the governor of the feast ever knew where the wine he tasted had come from and what had really happened. This miracle had been done quietly behind the scenes during the festivities. Perhaps it might not have been known at all, if it were not for the testimony of the servants who had filled the water pots and drawn out the wine.

But what is most important to us here is the thought that Jesus did not just fulfill the barest minimum requirement in this miracle. He did not just produce plain ordinary wine, but very good quality wine, the best wine. We can be assured that whatever Jesus does will always be nothing less than the best. Fanny Crosby put it very well in her hymn, 'All The Way My Savior Leads Me.' In the last part of the first stanza she wrote, 'For I know whatever befall me, Jesus doeth all things well.'

Doesn't it bring you the greatest assurance and comfort to know that if Jesus can be depended on for the best quality work in solving a domestic problem, surely He can be depended on for the best quality work in saving you from sin and preserving your soul to the uttermost? If Jesus can supply so well for a momentary need of a wedding reception, can He not supply well for your present needs to sustain your spiritual life, your love and your service to Him?

There are times when we are beset by many seemingly impossible problems and trials in life, and we lose our sense of confidence and assurance. And we ask, 'Will Christ really be able to keep me through this? What if He cannot?' When such thoughts beset you, look at the Scriptures and be admonished from it: Jesus doeth all things well! He will never fail! His love has no limit; His grace has no measure. His power has no boundary known unto men! Surely He will keep you to the very end. And now you must respond to this by putting your full confidence in Him - the confidence to do all things well!

There is one more response to knowing that Jesus does His best for you. That is to ask yourself: Are you doing your best for Him? If Christ strives for excellence for you, is it too much to ask that you would also do the same for Him? Doesn't He deserve your very best? And yet what do you give Him? Are you giving Him only the leftovers of your time, talents and treasures? Is that the best you can give? Let us not treat our Saviour in this way. But let us resolve to do whatever He tells us to do, and do it with the very best efforts we can give.