Greetings Friends,
So much is to be gained when we say yes to Jesus.
When we accept Him as our Savior with all that we have, and “do whatever he tells you.”
Did you ever wonder why the first miracle, the first sign Jesus did to demonstrate His divinity was to turn water to wine, at a wedding? Me either.
Each week, I watch Pastor Nettie faithfully demonstrate what saying yes to Jesus looks like; this changed the course of my life. But it would not have happened, if I had not said yes and personally accepted Christ as my Savior.
I now have new habits, such as reading scripture daily and participating in weekly Bible studies, which both helped develop my new “biblical lenses.” They provided me a much clearer image to the phrase “you get out what you put in.”
Isaiah 62:5 As a young man marries a young woman, so your builder will marry you. As a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will God rejoice over you.
The Lord God reveals himself to Israel here. He reveals Himself to us as well, in an extraordinary way. He is announcing that He wants to marry us. Crazy right! God wants to enter the most loving, most intimate relationship with us. Builder of the universe wants to be united with us. Think of the electric energy that whirls around the room at a wedding. How the bridegroom looks at his beloved bride as she walks down the aisle and the potential before them. To think that that is how God looks us and that potential is available to us. Talk about realizing your worth in an instant. This is why Jesus’ first miracle was at a wedding.
Remember the sermon Pastor Nettie gave about the Bible and us being pieces to a puzzle when we say yes. Trust and do. The marriage between God and humanity takes place in Jesus! Jesus is the bridegroom and we are the bride.
In our Tuesday Bible study, Ronnie Lafferty has a habit of asking us to identify the who, what, where, when, and why when reading scripture.
John writes so intentionally.
John 2:1, On the third day a wedding took place in Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there and Jesus and His disciples had also been invited to the wedding.
Why: To demonstrate His divinity, Jesus’ first sign, His first miracle is to change water into wine.
What: A wedding took place…This is a story about our being united, married to our creator…the beginning of our resurrected life through Jesus.
When: On the third day… The third day is Christs’ resurrection day
Yahweh wants to marry His people, marry YOU!
Where: In Cana of Galilee…Jesus said to His disciples “after the resurrection I will go ahead of you into Galilee”, this is resurrection country.
Who: Mary the mother of Jesus and the disciples of Jesus…That’s the church! That’s us.! The church is the new Israel. The new covenant.
You can’t make this stuff up! And here’s the thing
The wine running out is not a minor problem. This alcoholic beverage is key to the festivity. Wine lifts up the spirits of the people. Wine running out means the party will come to an end. The lifting of the spirit is symbolic to our divine life. Thus, running out of wine is Israel in its sin; It’s the human race in its sin. It’s being divorced from God, divorced from the divine life. Running out of wine is running out of grace.
And as Nettie so often says, “the thing is”, we determine the success of the marriage, the success of our union with the God. John 2:7 Jesus says to the servants, “Fill the jars with water, so they filled them to the brim. We are “the water.” When we say yes, and bring all we have to be in union with God, He embraces us where we are, perfects our nature, and perfects our life.
In John 2:5 Mary says to the servants, “do whatever he tells you.”
It’s the key to living a divine life.
In Christ Jesus,
June