The Word | Daily Bread - March 18, 2017 |
| Written by Pastor Mark Spitsbergen |
| Saturday, 18 March 2017 10:18 |
|
John 2:5 - His mother said to the servants, if he says something, whatever it is, do it. The Seven Miracles of Jesus Described in the Gospel of John Introduction: The Gospel of John records seven miracles of Jesus. There is a reason why the Lord chose to highlight these specific miracles among so many. It is important to recognize that these reports are given to us so that we might know what to expect from Jesus and how to cooperate with Him in the working of miracles today. If we want to know how to move with the Holy Spirit in the working of miracles, then we must receive the wisdom that He alone can give. The First Miracle: Water into Wine (John 2:1-11) When Jesus turned the water into wine, there were several people involved in participation with this miracle. To begin with, this was a miracle that was initiated by Mary, the mother of Jesus. Mary presented the need to Jesus by simply saying, "they have no wine." The response of Jesus was shocking, as it appeared as if He was not interested in being involved, and effectively points to a timing issue (John 2:4). Jesus was committed only to doing what the Father showed Him to do; but this did not stop Mary, who persisted in her desire to provide the needed wine for the wedding. Mary, as it were, ignored what Jesus said, and persisted by instructing the servants to do whatever Jesus required of them. Jesus then told the servants, who were evidently waiting for His instruction, to fill the six water pots with water and then, afterwards, to take the water and present it to the governor as wine. The six water pots combined would have furnished a generous amount of wine totaling roughly 108 to 180 gallons. Each stone jar would have been about 18 to 30 gallons, weighing up to more than 200 pounds each. Once the water was supplied, it is not clear if the water was made wine while it was sitting in the water pots, or at the time of the drawing of the water by the servants, or at the time that the governor actually tasted of the water. The people that participated in this miracle were: Mary, who initiated it and insisted that it take place; Jesus, who instructed how the miracle would transpire; and the servants, who were willing to obey the instruction given to them by both Mary and Jesus. The total number of servants involved would have been numerous, because the jars themselves would have been of an enormous weight. Therefore, they would have had to either carry the containers weighing around 200 pounds, or continuously carry smaller buckets until the jars were full. In either case, there would have been a significant amount of work involved in the performance of this miracle. The persistent faith of Mary cannot be regarded as a minor factor in this miracle. Although it was Jesus who did the miracle, it was the idea and insistence of His mother that moved Jesus to do the work. Jesus, however, would not do the miracle without the labor of the servants, who would have to obey the commands of someone they were not obligated to obey; and, furthermore, He issued a ridiculous request to supply an enormous amount of water for wedding guests that were not in need of water in the first place. Mary showed us how to move in faith. She made her request to the Lord and then prepared to receive the miracle. She showed no signs of wavering or doubt. She made her request, but did more than just leave it in the hands of the Lord to work it out. She immediately set the servants to wait upon Him until they received the specific instructions on how the miracle would take place. If those who were waiting upon the instructions of the Lord were unwilling to follow through with divine instruction, there would have been no miracle. There was also a similar pattern of interaction observed with the woman who was from the nation of Jezebel, a Syrophenician (Matthew 15:21-28; Mark 7:26). In both instances, a request was made which was met by a rebuke from Jesus that was then followed by His assistance. The most outstanding characteristic of the faith exhibited by both Mary and the Syrophenician woman was that neither of them were willing to take "no" for an answer. While both seem to interrupt the divine commission - one who was asking Jesus to do something before His time and the other who stood outside those to whom Jesus was sent - their faith changed the order of things. While many important points could be made here, the most outstanding one is that faith does not say, "if it be thy will." Rather, as Jesus points out elsewhere, faith places a demand on those things that we know a loving and generous God is willing to supply (Luke 11:5-13, 18:1-8). |
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