Words of Jesus Part 48

John 2:1 And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there:
2 And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage.
3 And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine.
4 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come.

It appears that Mary may have relied on her Son to solve basic problems that come up in daily life. I imagine that Jesus was full of wisdom. However we do not know exactly why Mary expected Jesus to solve the problem of the lack of wine. Very little is said about the life of Jesus before His public ministry began.

Mine hour is not come may mean that His time to reign over the earth was not yet come and if He did many miracles the people would expect that time to come now. We know now that His time to reign on the earth was not yet. It could also have meant that His hour to begin His ministry to preach and teach was not yet the time to start. When He did do miracles it was to show that He was the Messiah promised in the Old Testament and that His first duty was to save us from sin. That is my speculation.

The only miracles recorded that Jesus did to supply a material need were this one, the time He had a disciple take a coin out of a fish's mouth to pay tribute, and the feeding of the five and four thousand. The latter two miracles where to supply a necessary need to those in hunger. He never did a miracle only to draw attention to Himself as a powerful man but only wanted to be seen as a savior from sin.

He did turn water into wine at this time but it seemed like He was reluctant to do so.

John 2:5 His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.
6 And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece.
7 Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim.
8 And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it.
9 When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom,
10 And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now.
11 This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him.

Miracles will cause people to believe but when the miracles cease as we saw in the days of the wilderness wanderings of Israel, doubt and testing comes. We need the word in our hearts to make it through the tough times when we don't see the miracles and have to live by faith. If you remember the time Martha complained that her sister Mary would not help her in serving the guests, Jesus commended Mary for desiring to sit and hear His teachings.

Hearing the word is far greater than seeing miracles. The word will keep us from being deceived and following false teachers. I'm not downplaying miracles, they are to follow all true believers but always have the teaching of the word accompanying any miracles that is done. The word is what will sustain us at all times whether good or bad.

John 2:12 After this he went down to Capernaum, he, and his mother, and his brethren, and his disciples: and they continued there not many days.

Notice that Jesus had natural brothers. Mary and Joseph had more children after the birth of Jesus. She was a natural woman. She was a good woman and blessed to have been used of God to bring the Messiah into the world. We are not to worship Mary or teach that she did not live a normal married life. It is not a sin to marry and have children naturally when one is called of God for a special reason like Mary was. She was not the "mother of God" or the "Queen of Heaven." The queen of heaven was worshipped by pagans long before Jesus was born and before the existence of Mary.

Proof:

Jeremiah 7:18 The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke me to anger.
19 Do they provoke me to anger? saith the LORD: do they not provoke themselves to the confusion of their own faces?

Jeremiah chapter 44 is another place were the worship of the queen of heaven was seen as a great sin against God. Now back to the main part of this teaching from John.

John 2:13 And the Jews' passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem,
14 And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting:
15 And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers' money, and overthrew the tables;
16 And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father's house an house of merchandise.
17 And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.

Even though our houses of worship are not actually the temple that was in Jerusalem, they still are places set aside for the worship of God and for prayer. We should be careful not to be guilty of the same sins that these people did when they were making merchandise in the house of God. I'm not going to make judgments but only say that we need to major in prayer and be very careful not to make merchandise of the gospel. Freely you have received. Freely give.

John 2:18 Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign shewest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things?
19 Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.
20 Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days?
21 But he spake of the temple of his body.
22 When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said.
23 Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover, in the feast day, many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did.

It is wonderful to see and hear of miracles; but we have seen at the end of the ministry of Jesus on the earth, many began to yell, crucify Him. The miracles were soon forgotten. Miracles are to accompany the message of the gospel that will save mankind from sin and bring them eternal life but miracles are not to be looked upon at as proof of spirituality. Jesus taught us that, "Ye shall know them by their fruits." He also warned that in the latter days there would be false signs, wonders and miracles. That does not mean that all modern miracles are false signs because the bible also says that, "Signs shall follow them that believe." The whole word of God will balance out if we listen carefully to all that it teaches and not just take a few verses out of context.

John 2:24 But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men,

Jesus didn't trust in these men because He knew their hearts and motives. He knew whether they temporarily believed when the miracles occurred and the times were good.

John 2:25 And needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man.

An American president will be popular as long as the economy is good and everybody is happy. The minute things go wrong and trouble starts, they can turn on a good president almost overnight. Of course now we have biased media that can steal, kill and destroy even a good president.

True faith lasts when the miracles cease. That is why I encourage us again and again to stay grounded in the word. Feelings, emotions and material things rise and fall. The word however, is steadfast and sure.

2Timothy 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

Words of Jesus Part 49

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