Arkansas State press., 1947-01-10

MEMORY SELECTION 80 whatsoever
10 satth unto you. do it.--JOhn as.
The witness Of John concerning
Jesus rs 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.
II is interesting to note that for
this. the first of mis- miracles. he
chose a festive occasion In the home
He had been invited to be q guest
at wedding ". .. Those who ask
him to he present at their marriage
may confidently expect him to be
present ard 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. l-8).
He was neither host nor was he
DE one charged with responsible
lty for the serving. but when the
time came for him to do his mighty
oct the servants we're ready to
ebey that admonition Of his mother
end do what ne said.
Mary may have had some respon-
sibility for serving the guests. Why
thea had she not looked to the sup
ply Of wine? Apparently she who
knew Of what had taken place at
he baptism Of Jesus and immedi.
atsay after. and having In her heart
re memory Of what occurred at his
birth Luke 2:iD. thought II time for
him 70 do some great miracle.
He was indeed ready to do so. but
= his own way. what IL that to
eAee?" IN verse I really carries the
meaning: This Is a matter which
! must care for in my own way"
and ne did.
We do well to seek grace to be
like the servants who did what
the Lord commanded. even though
q did not seem to be a sensible solu.
ton to I'll the jars with water ODE.
dience without hesitation and with
cut question Is the price Of blessingi
II. He Creates tvv. SID.
The act Of creation was already
done. bu. now the fact came to light.
He had changed the water into wine.
NE Juice Of the grape. This was not
Q case Of adding something or dilut.
ing the remaining wine. Here the
water. ~ he decreed II even with.
cut the use Of spoken word. was
- longer there. but the best Of wine
Jesus was and Is the Creator. He
vas present at the beginning of all
ehings mote the ''let u.s. in Gen.
l:26). and II Is declared that by
aim were oil things created" tCol
1:la. ID. In fact. without him
was not anything made" John l3,
What he created was good, so
good In fact. that the one in charge
II the feast remarked about il. The
Lord never does anything by halves,
nor In . careless or defective way
He made . great quantity of wine
tprobably more than 100 gallons) and
n was Of the greatest excellency
Some would read verse 10 as
Enough our Lord were here helping
along . drunken wedding party. but
sf 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 Il. then takes the In.
ierior provision. To use this verse
70 excuse drunkenness Is only pos
sibis Tor those 'eager 10 mar. II
~ means they could. the image Of
Oerfect holiness which ofYcnds and
rsbukss them (Trench. quoted b,
Lensti).
On. - Csalfels tvv. 1910.
AftsR . lev days with his famil,
end his disciples. he went down TO
Jerusalem ior the great feast Of the
Pass0voe. There he found his Fla.
uher's Aeuss being misused and de
ois1. M heay indignation kindled
~ spoko aa1 acted with authority
% ~ lrsve these ''racketeers" out
a The tsmels.
Peoplo Ne 10 hear about a God
- love, ono who knows their weak.
mesa. anl = kind toward their in
Armltiea. Dut We must not FORGE
hat Cod sAsws his love by a sreaI
and holy hatred Of sin. and a desire
70 deliver ~ from that sin. This
means that b must and will deal In
drastic fAsAion with those who per
stst h tAels Gin.
THIS b Q majestic picture. The
Son Of oo6 and Son Of Man steps
into he center Of this unholy ,raffic
and WITH mighty, holy indignation
mot aneer) drives II out
WY "a these men who were so
deeply intrenched and so eager to
make measy dee before the wrath Of
Isae mani Il was only because
they recognized divine authority. He
he's . right 10 control men, for he
b God
IL b not Q mere matter of re.
sorm. Tor here he was cleansing the
sesnpls. the very heart Of the life
uf The Jewish people. He deal, with
present situation TO establish an
eternal principle.
We cannot help but admire This
magnificent Jesus, bu, the qucsiioo
cDnes 10 VI today. Has he betn
u,vns, hts s,roe,, n,ssl,nviA-. -.