The Omaha guide., 1947-01-11
THE AUTHORITY OF JESUS

LESSON TEXT-John 2:1-16.
MEMORY SELECTION - Whatsoever
he saith unto you. do it.-John rs.
The witness Of John concerning
Jesus as the Son Of God had been
attested by the divine knowledge OF
Jesus and his personal call to his
disciples. Now the time had come
for him to declare his authority as
God by an overt act which all men
could see and understand.
It is interesting to note that for
this, the first Of his miracles, he
chose a festive occasion in the home.
He had been invited to be a guest
at a wedding ". o. Those who ask
him to be present at their marriage
may confidently expect him to be
present and to add greatly to the
real joy of the occasion.
The authority of our Lord shows
here in three different ways:
/. He Commands wv. 1-8).
He was neither host nor was ho
the one charged with responsible.
ity for the serving, but when the
time came for him to do his mighty
Get the servants were ready to
obey that admonition Of his mother
and do what he said.
Mary may have had some respon-
sibility for serving the guests. Why
then had she not looked to the sup
ply Of wine? Apparently she who
knew Of what had taken place at
the baptism of Jesus and immedi.
ately after, and having in her heart
the memory of what occurred at his
birth duke 2:14), thought it time for
him to do some great miracle.
He was indeed ready to do SO, but
in his own way. "What is that tc
thee?" in verse 4 really carries the
meaning: This is a matter which
I must care for in my own way"
and he did.
We do well to seek grace to be
like the servants who did what
the Lord commanded, even though
it did not seem to be a sensible solu-
ton to fill the jars with water. Obe-
dience without hesitation and with
out question is the price Of blessing!
III. He Creates wv. Gid.
The act of creation was already
done, but now the fact came to light.
He had changed the water into wine,
the juice Of the grape. This vas not
a case Of adding something or dilut-
ing the remaining wine. Here the
water, as he decreed it even with
out the use of a spoken word, was
no longer there, but the best Of wine.
I Jesus was and is the Creator. He
was present at the beginning of all
things mote the ''let US" in Gen.
and it is declared that by
him were all things created" (Col.
1:16, I'D. In fact, without him
was not anything made" John 1:3),
What he created was good. So
good in fact, that the n in charge
Of the feast remarked about it. The
Lord never does anything by halves.
nor in a careless or defective way.
He made a great quantity Of wine
(probably more than 100 gallons) and
it was of the greatest e~xcellency.
Some would read verse 10 al
though our Lord we're here helpinl
along a drunken wedding party, but
of course that is not true. The stew,
ard was simply recognizing the ord
nary rule Of serving whereby ond
uses the best me has until there il
no more like it, then takes the III
ferior provision. To use this verst
to excuse drunkenness is only pos,
,sible for those "eager to mar, Il
by means they could. the image 4
perfect holiness which ofends ami
.rebukes them" (Trench. quoted IA
LenskD.
iii. He Controls (vv. 12-16).
After a few days with his famiIt
and his disciples, he went down &
Jerusalem for the great feast of t (:
Passover. There he found his F.,
Tiers house being misused and de-
Tiled. His holy indignation kindled
he spoke and acted with author,
Jas he drove these ''racketeers'' OIL
Of the temple.
People like to hear about a Gel
Of love, one who knows their weali
ness, and is kind toward their III
frmities. But we must not fore !
that God shows his love by a gre !
and holy hatred of sin. and a desill
to deliver us from that sin. TIL /
means that he must and will deal \.
drastic fashion with those who PEI.
sist in their sin.
This is a majestic picture. TIL
Son of God and Son Of Man ste /
into the center Of this unholy trait
and with mighty, holy indignation
mot anger drives it out.
\. Why did these men who were I,
deeply intrenched and SO eager n
make money fee before the wrath il
4 lone man? 1t was only becausl
hey recognized divine authority. Hi
as a right to control men. for HI
5 God.
1t is not a mere matter Of re.
form, for here he was cleansing tie
temple, the very heart Of the life
Of the Jewish people. He dealt with
a present situation to establish al
eternal principle.
We cannot help but admire Till.
magnificent Jesus, but the question
comes to US today, Has he beer.
given his proper authority over and
in our lives2
Man Womon 0vov M