Brown's Daily Word 2-13-14

  The Lord blessed us with a wonderful Wednesday gathering.  The food was fabulous, the fellowship was sweet, and the Study was provocative.  We looked at John 2, a wedding story.  It was a Jewish wedding.  Jewish weddings during the time of Christ were gala occasions, festive events, and grand parties.  In the story  Jesus came to such a wedding party that lasted for seven days.  During this party, unfortunately and embarrassingly, the host ran out of wine.  Mary, the mother of Jesus, intervened.  Mary said to Jesus, “They have no wine.”  Our Lord said to the servants , “Fill those big jugs out there with water.”  They were really big jugs, holding thirty gallons each, and they were used for the rite of purification.  The servants obediently filled those six jugs right up to the brim, then Jesus said to the waiter, “I want you to take some wine over to the steward, to see what it tastes like.”  The servant took some wine over to the steward He sipped it and said, “That tastes fine.  The groom has saved the best wine until last.”  The steward looked at the six vats of wine and said, “That is a lot of wine.  There is enough wine here for a whole city, maybe for the whole country.”  Then comes a key line in the story that says, “This was the first of the signs that Jesus did in Galilee.  By this sign, Jesus revealed his glory, the glorious presence of the Son of God, and the disciples believed the sign.”

    Immediately, my mind flashed to the previous chapter, John 1, where the Bible says, “We beheld his glory, the glorious presence of the Son of God, and from his fullness, (the fullness of six large vats of wine), we all have received grace upon grace upon grace.”  The law was given through the purification rituals of Moses but grace and truth were given through Jesus Christ.  From His fullness, we all have received grace upon grace upon grace.

    The message is not so much about Jesus turning the water into wine.  It is about the abundance of the Lord toward us.  It is about His extreme generosity in every way.  Six stone jars containing 180 gallons of water were transformed into the best wine.  The wine stands of the blood of Jesus that shed for the remissions of sin of the whole world, that takes away the sin of the whole world.  It is 180 gallons of grace.  There is enough grace  for for the whole wide world.  From God’s fullness of grace, right up to the brim, we all have received grace upon grace upon grace.  I love that line in the text where the vats are filled up right to the brim.  In a very real way there were now 180 gallons of grace, 180 gallons of forgiveness from Jesus.  This awareness is also found in Hebrews chapter ten, where Jesus says that he is the perfect sacrifice for all sins forever.

    The Good News  of Jesus is the Good News of great joy. . .  180 gallons of joy. Being a Christian is like going to a party.  Being a Christian is like going to a Jewish wedding.  The bridegroom is with us, and the bridegroom brings JOY to our lives.

    Jesus told other parables that indicated that being a Christian is like being invited to a party.  One time he told a story about inviting several people to a wedding feast, but they couldn’t come.  They had numerous excuses why they couldn’t come.  For instance, they had to fix a new house or take care of their livestock. Although people had excuses of why they couldn’t’ come to the party,    the point is that they were invited to a banquet, to a party, to a Jewish wedding. Being a Christian is like going to a banquet. 

    In another parable, Jesus talked about ten girls waiting for the groom to come to a Jewish wedding.  Five ladies were prepared for the party and five were not, so five went to the party and five did not.  Being a Christian is like going to a party. The Good News of Jesus makes us free to love, and to be forgiven, loved, and celebrated.  Jesus has prepared 180 gallons of grace for you and 180 gallons of grace for me.  We can, on our own,  never be kind enough, good enough, loving enough, or prayerful enough.  We are always too selfish.  Yet, in spite of it all, there is 180 gallons of grace for you and me.  Jesus is the Host, and He is the Bridegroom.  The party has begun.  Come, Share, Rejoice.

In Christ,

Brown

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