First, the story: basically Jesus and his friends were invited to a wedding and whether it was cost, poor planning or some other reason, the hosts of the wedding ran out of wine. Jesus' mother found out and ran to Jesus, unlike the others she knew who He was and that He could make ANYTHING happen. (Jesus had not yet performed any miracles.) When Mary told Jesus the wine was gone she got quite an unexpected response, Jesus had always been the most respectful and loving boy to his parents and wouldn't dream of disobeying... There was that one time they thought He was lost but He just assumed His parents would know He would be in the temple and He came home without question or whimper when His parents asked... This time, however, Jesus told His mother no, he wasn't ready to "go public" shall we say. I'm not sure if it was Mary knowing He would not refuse her or if she was just full of faith but she seemed to completely ignore Jesus' apprehension and told the wedding servants to "do whatever He tells you." So, Jesus told the servants to get all the empty water jars in the place, fill them with water and bring them to Him. The servants did what they were told, although I'm sure it wasn't easy, those pots were heavy on their own and they had to be carried to the well, water drawn up from a deep well, poured into the pots and carried back, still, the servants completed the task. So, when all the pots were filled Jesus prayed and alakazam the water was turned to wine, not just wine, but according to the officials who were there, the best wine of the night! (John 2)
Rev. Cook told us his favorite parts of the story and how we can apply the steps to our own needs. First, Jesus was invited to the wedding... So we need to invite Jesus into every day and situation in our lives, just like the water would not have been wine if Jesus wasn't at the wedding we will not get our miracle if we haven't invited Jesus into our situation. Second, do what He says, when Jesus asked the servants to fill the pots they knew it wouldn't be easy, it didn't even make sense, no one wanted water, they wanted wine... But we don't read that they even questioned, there was no "why?!" Or "awe, but it's hot out, I don't want to drag a pot all the way to the well and back twice as heavy with water!" They just trusted and did what they were asked... We need to just trust God, do what we know He has asked of us and trust He will change out obedience into open doors of miracle! Stan also made the point of Jesus using water pots not wine skins, he thought the reason was most likely just because the pots were empty, available and close by... Jesus uses things -and people - that are close to Him so we must stay as close as we can to Him if we desire to see His work... The empty pots also remind me of a story of a woman with one pot of oil and a preacher who passed through he town told her to collect empty pots from all her neighbours, no specifications on size, cleanliness, color just empty pots and she would have oil to fill them all and to continue to fill them when they were used again.. The woman obeyed and they were filled, but you need an empty pot before it can be filled - much like people - we must empty ourselves of our own will and agenda in order to be filled with His Spirit!
Rev. Cook said his favorite part of the story wasn't that we can see steps on how to see miracles come to pass in our own lives, however, it was that Jesus said it wasn't time, but because his mother insisted and the people obeyed He made it time and gave them a miracle anyway! So that tells us that sometimes, even if timing is off, when we are persistent, we obey and trust, He will give us a miracle! I must admit, that's a pretty good point, I even get excited at the thought that we don't have to just accept bad timing, miracles can happen anytime; still, it's not my favorite part of the story... My favorite part of this story is that the miracle wasn't even a need and Jesus still came through! I mean, really, think about it, what's the worst that would have happened if Jesus had done nothing? The hosts who didn't plan things well enough would have been a bit embarrassed? Someone couldn't have had their fourth glass of wine? They would have had to drink the water? Oh no! Hah! The fact that Jesus performed a miracle that wasn't need-based once again confirms that He cares so much for us. He understands that sometimes even though we know our current situation doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things, even though we know how unimportant it is, we understand this current inconvenience won't be remembered even by us in five years from now but it's still a concern presently for us and because of that He makes it a concern for Him. The fact that Jesus performed this miracle proves that it's okay to ask Him for help with any concern of ours, even if its not an eternal one, even if its not earth shaking or even that important to others... It proves that we should talk to Him and ask for His help about and in every situation! Hey, if it was good enough for Mary, it's good enough for me!
So hey, what is it that's on your mind but you've refused to "bother Jesus with?" Tell Him! Ask for His input and Help... An if you don't get an answer right away, just obey and ask again, you never know, you may just be an empty jar away from your miracle!!
1 comment:
Very good post and a great read
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