New Transformation
– John 2 – Wedding at Cana
Jesus and His disciples joined a wedding
in Cana to which they were invited on the third day. The third day has
spiritual meaning in scripture. On the third day, the following took place:
·
At creation, God did a miracle involving
water on the third day. He gathered the waters so dry ground would appear. He
called the dry ground “land, and the water “seas.” (Genesis 1:9) Jesus
too did a miracle involving water on the third day at this wedding at Cana. Jesus
will show His transforming power by turning the water into wine. The
transformation of the water into wine will be the first of seven miracles Jesus
will perform in the Gospel of John. His public ministry begins at the earthly
wedding on the third day (3) and will end
with the eternal spiritual wedding on the last day – the 7th day –
in Revelation at the marriage supper of the Lamb. On that day, all will be
perfected and complete in fulfillment and holiness.
·
· It was on the third day that Abraham
lifted his eyes and saw the place of the Messiah’s crucifixion afar off. (Genesis 22:4) The
Angel of the Lord stopped Abraham from offering his only spiritual son – Isaac
– as an atonement offering in obedience to God. The Angel of the Lord saved
Isaac from death. Jesus is God’s Promised Son. Jesus fulfilled Isaac’s
willingness to die as a sacrifice through His death on the cross atoning for
the sins of the whole world. All who believe in Him are saved from eternal
death. Jesus is the One who saves!
·
It
was on the third day that Joseph set his brothers free from Egypt to return to
their father Jacob with a bag of grain to feed his family and save them from
death by starvation. (Genesis 42:18-20) Joseph
and his life is a type and shadow of Jesus and his life. God uses the “natural”
to speak “spiritual” truth. Jesus is the Word of God (grain) that feeds
His spiritual family and saves all from eternal spiritual death. Joseph not
only saved his family (Jews), but also
the Egyptians and the surrounding nations (Gentiles). Jesus
too came to earth to save both the Jews and the Gentiles. He feeds our
spiritual man with the spiritual food of the Anointed Word. Jesus in the
parable of the Sower and the Seed showed us that the seed is the Word of God.
Believers must feed on the Word to nourish their spirit man, just as we feed on
physical food to nourish our natural man.
·
On the third day, God descended upon Mount
Sinai to initiate a marriage covenant with Israel. God’s people said “we will” to their
Husband God that they would do everything He said. Their heart was right but
the weakness of their flesh would fail them. God made a vow with the Israelites
that if they would obey Him fully, they would be His treasured possession. (Exodus 19:5-6) This
was a vow the Israelites would not be able to keep. Needless to say, the
Israelites quickly broke their vow to God. God was not taken by surprise! Our
all-knowing God knew that no human could completely live up to His high and
holy standard. God knows the heart of man. He knows that we will think that we
can do all that He asks of us and more
than likely take some of the glory to ourselves that belongs solely to God. God
will do what no man can. Jesus will come in the flesh to die for our sins so
those who believe in Him will be able to approach our Holy God. Jesus fulfilled
the vow of the Israelites perfectly and completely for them and for us. Because
of God’s love through Jesus, we all – both Jew and Gentile – are restored to
right relationship with holy God. This is the heart of God. He has no
favorites. We are all equal – equally guilty and equally loved by God whether
Jew or Gentile.
·
Joshua and the Israelites crossed over the Jordan River into
God’s Promised Land on the third day. This was God’s timing for the Israelites
to begin to receive His promise of the inheritance of the land He had promised
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. This was an earthly land that pointed to an Eternal
Heavenly Land.
·
On the third day in the New Testament, Jesus was resurrected
and crossed over the waters of the heavens into the Heavenly Promised Land in
fulfillment of God’s promise to both the Jews and the Gentiles. This would be
the beginning of all believers in Jesus receiving the promise of a Heavenly
Promised Land for all eternity. Followers of Jesus will inherit a spiritual
Promised Land – The spiritual Kingdom of God. Then the King will say to those on His right, “Come you who are blessed
by My Father, take your inheritance, the Kingdom has prepared for you since the
creation of the world.” Matthew 25:34 What God did in the “natural,” Jesus
did in the “spiritual.” The third-day resurrection of Jesus was also
foreshadowed in the resurrection of Jonah from the belly of the Great Fish on
the third day.
Like everything else in scripture, the
third day is double-edged. It not only represents resurrection life; it also
represents the Day of Judgment. On the third day, Pharaoh of Egypt restored his
chief cupbearer but he put the chief baker to death by hanging. (see Genesis 40:20-22) Jesus is both
Savior and Judge. He will judge righteously. Those who receive Jesus’ love and
grace and believe in Him will be saved to eternal life. Those who do not,
choose eternal death. We don’t have a choice in the first life or death, but we
do have a choice on the second one. (see Revelation 2:11) It behooves us to
choose wisely.
The Gospel of John begins with a
wedding supper at Cana of Galilee. Jesus
and His disciples left the Jordan Valley (low
place) to go higher to Cana. Cana of Galilee is a village near Nazareth
where Jesus was raised. The population of Cana was made up of both Jews and
Gentiles. It had been influenced by Greek culture because many Greeks lived
there along with the Jews. Jesus is spreading His ministry beyond Jerusalem and
Judah. Jesus came to the Jew first to fulfill scripture, but He quickly went
into other areas to also reach the Gentiles. He came to save the world. He will
have a Bride made up of both Jews and Gentiles.
Mary, the mother of Jesus, was already at this wedding which
indicates that she was probably a close relative who had involvement in the
preparation. She was the one who realized they had run out of wine and brought
the need to Jesus.
This Jewish Wedding would be between a new bride and a new
husband. Could it be that God is using this wedding to speak of our New Husband
Jesus and His New Bride? The host of this Jewish wedding was not ready. He ran
out of wine that Jesus would eventually provide. All of the wine of the Older
Testament was earthly wine that can run dry. Jesus, the Host of heaven, will
never run out of wine! Jesus poured out the new wine of heaven – the pure,
supernatural wine of His blood, just as this earthly wine that Jesus provided was
from heaven because Jesus is God and from heaven. Jesus’ wine will be an
everlasting wine that never runs dry.
Jesus reveals His transforming power to His mother, His
disciples and the servants at this wedding. The Bible ends in Revelation with
the wedding supper of the holy, eternal Christ and His holy, eternal,
transformed Bride. Between the first wedding of the holy Man and Woman in
Genesis and the last wedding of the holy Man Christ and His Bride, a
transformation takes place. The first wedding in scripture was between holy
Adam and the holy Woman. When Adam/Man was created by the Godhead, he was holy,
and because the Woman was taken out of a holy Man, she too was holy in the
beginning. No sin had yet entered God’s Garden. The first Woman was made holy
through a holy Man. The Second holy Woman (Christ’s Bride)
is made holy through a Holy Man – Jesus—and will attend a heavenly wedding
feast when all scripture is fulfilled completely. God’s ways do not change!
The wedding at Cana and the transformation of
the water into wine is a picture of the “new creation” of Jesus’ followers
through the transformation of the water of the Word, the Holy Spirit and the
blood of Jesus. Through our transformation, Jesus wants to take us higher and
transform us into His own sweet fragrance and holiness. “For we are to God the sweet fragrance of Christ among those who are
being saved and among those who are perishing.” 2 Corinthians 2:15
Waterpots for Cleansing
The earthen vessels at this Jewish wedding
were used for cleansing. They would be full of dirty water that guests had used
to cleanse their hands and feet according to the Law of purification. However,
the Word says that these pots were empty. Believers in Christ are His earthen
vessels full of dirt (sin), empty of
spiritual life and joy. As we hunger
and thirst after righteousness, Jesus pours out the water of His Word and Holy
Spirit to bring us to a “new creation” who radiates His sweetness and
light. First we must be emptied of our
fleshly ways and life so the sweet fragrance of Jesus’ life and holiness can to
be seen and diffused to others. “Now
thanks be to God who always leads us to triumph in Christ, and through us
diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.” 2 Corinthians 2:14 It
is the knowledge of God through His Anointed Word and doing it that diffuses
Christ’s fragrance and Light to others. It is in doing the Word that it is
established in us and sends its sweet fragrance to a lost and dying world, not
just hearing and knowing it.
At the wedding feast at Cana, Jesus will show His
disciple-servants His transforming power by turning the water of cleansing
according to the Law into the new wine of grace and truth in Christ. This
miracle was reserved for His servants only. The wedding guests did not see the
miracle. They only saw its benefits. The transformation of Christ’s followers
is also a miracle that is unseen. It is done secretly and inwardly by the
Godhead and is then shared with others. Others reap the benefit of this
transformation.
Wine
Wine and blood in scripture symbolize new spiritual life and
joy through the blood of Jesus. As we abide in Christ, we are spiritually
infilled with wisdom, love and joy unspeakable by the power of Christ’s blood,
resurrection, Word and Holy Spirit. Christ’s “new” wine can have the same
effect as natural wine. When the Holy Spirit came down upon those in the Upper
Room who were in one accord, the onlookers thought they were drunk “with new wine.” Acts 2:13 , Jesus’ new wine will come through purity not
degradation!
In Jesus’ parable of the old and new wineskins, the “new”
wineskins (believers) were able to
contain the “new wine” of His abundant, fruitful, spiritual life and anointing,
and pour it out to others. Old wineskins are not flexible enough to hold the
new wine. The Pharisees and scribes are an example of this. They were content
with the old.
Jesus came to build a “new” temple in
a “new” covenant and a “new” way, not built of earthly stones like the early
temples, but in the hearts of His true followers by the power of love, the Holy
Spirit and Word. The “new” covenant will not fit the mold of the old covenant.
The New Covenant is a better covenant with Jesus as the High Priest. (Read Hebrews 8) “By calling this covenant
new, He has made the first one obsolete, and what is obsolete and aging will
soon disappear.” V13 This was illustrated on the Mount of Transfiguration
when Moses and Elijah appeared in a cloud of glory with Jesus. In Luke 9:36, Moses who represents the Law
and Elijah who represents the Prophets faded out of the picture leaving only
Jesus. The ministries of Moses and Elijah were a picture of the fulfillment
through the ministry of Jesus. Scripture tells us that the “the Law is our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified
by faith.” Galatians 3:24 The Law should be taught showing Christ and His
fulfillment, not bringing us backwards but forward to faith in Christ. Jesus
fulfilled the Law perfectly and completely for us so we are no longer under its
penalty of death for disobedience.
In the very short time span that Jesus walked on earth, He taught
His Jewish Apostles His ways of grace (love)
and truth. Why did Jesus start with Jewish apostles? God had given the
covenants of the Older Testament to the Jews. Since God’s ways are perfect, He
would have to begin the New Covenant with the Jews so scripture is fulfilled.
All of the Older Covenants were given by God’s grace in spite of transgression.
They must be removed by God’s grace through fulfillment in Christ. The
Israelites did not “earn” the various covenants God made with them because they
were good. They failed God time and time again, just as Christians do because
we have the weakness of sinful flesh. Only God is good! So all that God has
done for mankind from beginning to end is because of His goodness not ours –
whether Jew or Gentile.
New
Bride
In the Older Testament, God referred
to Himself as Israel’s Husband. (see
Ezekiel 16:7; Isaiah 54:4-5) God pledged Himself to Israel, and He wanted
Israel to pledge themselves to Him in a covenant oath of marriage – oneness.
When God thought that Israel was old enough for love and marriage, He covered
her nakedness (sin) with the corner
of His garment of righteousness and Israel became His. God also said in Ezekiel 16 that He bathed (cleansed) Israel with water and washed
the blood from her and put ointments (sweet
fragrance) on her like one does a newborn baby. When Israel was old enough
for love and marriage, God wedded her and adorned her with costly garments,
with gold jewelry and put a crown on her head. She was beautiful. Israel’s fame
spread among the nations because of the beauty and splendor that GOD lavished
upon her. She was God’s Queen (Bride), but
Israel was unfaithful to God and began chasing after other gods and trusting in
her own beauty. Unfortunately, the Law had no provision or power to remove
unfaithfulness or sin, so God had to do a “new” thing. In His unfailing love
for Israel and all of humanity, God sent His Son as a new beginning for all –
both Jews and Gentiles. What Israel and
the Gentiles could not do for themselves, God did for us. Jesus would come to
earth as the New Divine Man and a Jew to reverse the curse of the Law of death
for disobedience. God gave the Law to the Jews; therefore, it must be a pure,
fully obedient Jew who could remove the curse of sin and its penalty of death. It
is important for us to understand that Jesus is God and will ever be God along
with the Father and the Holy Spirit. It is not His Jewishness that is to be
exalted but His deity.
Christ’s new Bride will be all inclusive – Jew, Gentile, male,
female, bondservant, free, young and old.
God did not discard Israel. Quite the contrary! He included her in the
new Bride of His chosen and precious Son. All – both Jews and Gentiles – are to
now walk in the Light of Jesus Christ reflecting His Light and ways to a world
that is lost and in darkness and sin. In spite of the weakness of flesh and its
sinful nature, God will work through this Bride to bring others to Jesus and
eternal life, just as He continued and will continue to work through sinful
Israel.
The God of all humanity is all-inclusive. What the Law
excluded, Jesus included. Jesus removed all of the barriers (partitions) and made us all one in
Christ. God who is the Father of all will not abandon Israel or His mostly
Gentile Church. In Christ, God’s love and grace know no bounds. We are all
chosen whether Jew or Gentile so none of us can boast. To God be the glory for
the great things He has done. “For I am
convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the
present nor this future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything
else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is
in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38-39
Jesus will do with His Bride what God
did with Israel in the Older Testament. (see
Ezekiel 16:5-19 ) He will cleanse and prepare His future Bride for His
wedding feast. He will take our garment of flesh and turn it into a garment of
righteousness and beauty by the blood of Jesus and the continuous washing of
the water of the Anointed Word. God promised Israel that He would come back for
her. He did. He sent His Son to die on the cross to release them from the Old Covenant
and establish the New Covenant of marriage through the blood of pure Jesus. In
the “natural,” the shed blood of a pure, virgin bride would seal the covenant
of marriage. In the New Covenant, it is the shed blood of the pure Jesus who
sealed the covenant of marriage between Him and His Bride. Under this New Covenant, only the Godhead can and
will do the work. Man will take no glory in it. Jesus is the Bridegroom Messiah
that the Jewish prophet John the Baptist revealed. (see John 3:29)
Every human is precious in God’s sight
because we are created in His very own image and likeness. It is God’s heart
desire that none should perish but have eternal life through His precious and
chosen Son Jesus. God provided the gift to all, but we must choose to believe
that Jesus is who God says He is. As Joshua told the Israelites, “Choose this day whom you will serve.”
Joshua 24:15
Just wanted to say Hello.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your encouragement and edification. I pray blessings over you. Sandra King
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