Jackson advocate. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1939-current, 1947-01-11

Jesus as the Son of Goo had seen
attested by the divine knowledge OF
Jesus and his personal call to MS
disciples. Now the time had come
for him to declare his authority as
God by an overt at which all men
could see and understand.
It is interesting to note thai 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 ". .. 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:
I. He Commands WV. 18).
He was neither host nor was he
the one charged with responsible
ity for the serving, but when the
time came for him to do his mighty
act 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 to
thee?" in verse 4 really carries the
meaning: '"This is 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!
II. 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 was 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.
Jesus was and is the Creator. He
was present at the beginning OF all
things (note the ''let us" in Gen.
1920, and it is declared that by
him were all things created (Col.
i:16, I'D. In fact, without him
was not anything made" John 1:0.
What he created was good, so
good in fact, that the one 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 excellency.
Some would read verse 10 as
though our Lord were here helping
along a drunken wedding party, but
of course that is not true. The stew
ard was simply recognizing the ordi-
nary rule of serving whereby one
uses the best one has until there is
no more like it, then takes the in
ferior provision. To use this verse
to excuse drunkenness is only pos
sible for those ''eager to mar, ii
by means they could, the image OF
perfect holiness which offends and
rebukes them" (Trench, quoted by
Lenski).
iii. He Controls (vv. 12-16).
After a few days with his family
and his disciples, he went down to
Jerusalem for the great feast OF the
Passover. There he found his Fla.
TIERS house being misused and de-
fled. His holy indignation kindled
he spoke and acted with authority
as he drove these "racketeers" out
of the temple.
People like to hear about Goo
of love, one who knows their weak
ness, and is kind toward their in
firnities. But we must not forge
that God shows his love by grea
and holy hatred of sin, and desire
to deliver us from that sin. Thi!
means that he must and will deal II
drastic fashion with those who per
sist in their sin.
This is a majestic picture. Tn,
Son of God and Son of Man step
into the center of this unholy traffi'
and with mighty, holy indignation
(not anger) drives it out.
Why did these men who were S
deeply intrenched and SO eager t
make money flee before the wrath @
lone man? 1t was only becaus
they recognized divine authority. H
has a right to control men, for h
is God.
It is not a mere matter Of re
form, for here he was cleansing tn
temple, the very heart Of the Lii
of the Jewish people. He dealt wit
q present situation to establish a
eternal principle.
We cannot help but admire thi
magnificent Jesus, but the questio
comes to us today, Has he bee
given his proper authority over an
In our lives?