JOHN SERIES Gospel Chapel Ministries HOME SERMONS SERMON NOTES
THE BEGINNING OF MIRACLES, #12
"This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him." (JOH 2:11)
The song we just sang, Lamb of God Our Souls Adore Thee, concludes:
Every knee in heaven is bending,
The Lamb for sinners slain.
Every voice and harp is swelling,
Worthy is the Lamb to Reign.This kingship, this authority of the Lord Jesus Christ, is the central theme of all Gospel messages. If it is not the central theme, it is not the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
It is by the authority of His word that every miracle of grace is performed. It is by the authority of His word that He said unto Lazarus, who was dead, who was lying in the grave, "Lazarus, come forth." So it is with every soul who has received spiritual life, who has been called out of deadness and darkness of the things of life, and has been called into the marvelous light of the gospel. It is by that same authority: the authority of the word of Jesus Christ.
Our Saviour’s first public appearance in His ministry was at a wedding. This is very significant! Many teach that God’s first appearance was to reveal our sins and miseries. Many will teach that in the gospel message: the first point of the message is to teach sins and miseries, and how great our sins and miseries are, and we never get beyond sins and miseries. They begin to preach sins and miseries instead of Christ and the joy that there is in salvation in Christ.
This Scripture passage teaches us that we are to make the gospel message our greatest joy. What is that gospel message? It is the authority that there is in the power of His Word. Knowing how great is the authority in the Word of God should be of great joy.
In JOH 2:1-2 we read, "And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there: And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage."
In this fourth gospel, the beginning of the public ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ is at a marriage.
Jesus’ acceptance of His invitation to this wedding confirms the Scriptural teaching that is so perverted in our day. What is perverted in our day is the teaching of the word love. What constitutes love? I have a message on it in print: Sex Is Sacred. It is the symbol and the emblem of the union between Christ and His church. When you have wandered away from the Lord, it is referred to in Scripture as spiritual adultery. It is a forsaking of that which is sacred.
"Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: [Why? Sexual relationship within the marriage union is sacred. It is not dirty – it is sacred.] but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge." (HEB 13:4) Why? They have fallen into lust rather than the enjoyment of the sacred emblem that is represented by the marriage union.
With the help of the Lord, we will attempt to observe JOH 2:1-11 from a threefold view point: First, let's consider its typical significance. There are types, and there are teachings that we learn from types. Second, let's consider its prophetic application. Third, let's consider its practical teaching.
The Lord willing, we hope to address our first point today (that is, it’s typical significance) and the other two next week. It is important that we understand the real substance of the teaching of this miracle. Then we’ll go into its prophetic nature and its practical teaching (how it teaches in the practical, daily life – how it applies to you.) But for this message, we will be confined to considering its typical significance.
This second chapter of the fourth gospel begins with the word AND. It’s important that we don’t overlook these connecting words. The reason these connecting words are so vitally important is because that which has been spoken before has laid the foundation for what He is teaching here. So we see that it begins with the word AND, which very closely ties its contents to the preceding chapter.
How does the preceding chapter begin? "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made." (JOH 1:1-3) Do you see how the very first breath of the Gospel of John begins with the authority of His word?
I was just reading an article before I came in for this service. It was so interesting I almost became engulfed and forgot to come in. The author made a point that was so powerful: during the Reformation, a man boldly affirmed that we don’t have to argue doctrine. All we have to do is get the inspired Word in the hands of the people and by the authority of the Word, the Lord will convert His church.
I want you to stop and think about something: he went on to explain that after one century Protestantism began to fail because they again started wandering from the authority that was in His Word. They started bartering the Word of God for church doctrine. They started using human reasoning to barter with the Word of God. If our Protestantism would slide back into Catholicism and witchcraft and paganism, it would be because we have forsaken the authority of the Word of God.
I thought this was worth mentioning, because I want you to see that our chapter begins with the word AND. The foundation of everything that is said herein is what was said in chapter one, which began with the authority of the Word.
One of the teachings in chapter one that stands out very prominently, along with the authority of His Word, is the turning from a failed Judaism unto Christ. It is the turning from this authority of the church. What is the most destructive thing that has ever happened to the Christian church? When the authority is in the church instead of in the Word of God. When the church becomes the authority, when we go to some old father, some doctor of divinity, and ask, "What do you believe?" It’s coming to the authority of human reasoning rather than the authority of the Word. This is the prominent teaching that we want to notice here: that Judaism had failed because the scribes, the Pharisees, and the chief priests had become such authorities that there was no authority left in the Word of God. They were teaching the commandments of men, thereby making the Word of God of no effect. That’s predominantly what is being taught in chapter one.
The failure of Judaism becomes most apparent from the ignorance of the Sanhedrin. If you and I learn to understand the Word of God, if you and I will spend our time searching the Word of God prayerfully, and if we come to understand what is meant by "Thus sayeth the Lord," then our foundation becomes the Word. Failed Judaism became apparent in their ignorance of what the Scriptures taught. The scribes, the Pharisees, and the chief priests were the authorities of the Word, yet they were so ignorant of its meaning and of what it said that they didn’t even recognize the forerunner of Christ; they didn’t even recognize the Messiah Himself because of their ignorance. They were so centered on self-made religion, on commandments of men, and on what "we believe," that they totally lost the salvation of God by their ignorance.
"And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests [They didn’t send sinners. They didn’t send people who were unlearned. They sent the priests.] and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou?" (JOH 1:19)
The leaders of the church didn’t even recognize the forerunner of Christ because of their ignorance. When they said unto John the Baptist, "Who art thou?" He replied, "I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord." (JOH 1:23) They didn’t understand that this was prophesied in the book of Isaiah. They didn’t understand that this was the prophecy of the forerunner of Christ. Why? They were so engulfed in their own man-made religion that they never followed or understood the Word of God.
These Jews, together with their scribes and Pharisees, thought that they were the absolute authorities. People should come and bow at their seat to find out the truth. They were the authorities in the Word of God, yet they were not only too ignorant to recognize Christ’s forerunner, but also the very Lamb of God! They never understood that Christ came to be a sacrifice. They were looking for a Messiah that would be elevated upon a throne, who would take away the Roman yoke, and who would have an earthly kingdom. They had not the faintest concept of who the Messiah was: that He was the Lamb of God who came to take away the sins of the world; who came to suffer, to bleed, and to die; who came to be hung upon the cross and to offer the sacrifice for sins to take away the sins of the world. They never understood that, yet they were such authorities. The Word of God had lost its authority.
When they came unto John and asked, "Who art thou?" (JOH 1:19), "John answered them, saying, I baptize with water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not." (JOH 1:26) Do you see how dreadful this is? I want you to see the ignorance of the Jewish nation. He said that there’s one standing among you whom ye know not. Who is that? The Lamb of God. He said, "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world," and they didn’t even know Him.
With regard to the kingdom of heaven, the ignorance of the religious rulers of Israel knew no bounds. They had become such authorities in their own right, with all their interpretations of the law, and with all their commandments of men, that they caused the true Messiah to be rejected. They were the teachers of Israel. They were the ones that were teaching Israel what to expect. Israel was not founded upon the Word, the authority of the Word; they were relying upon the teachings of the scribes and the Pharisees and the priests. They were so ignorant that they neither understood nor recognized the Lamb of God. They caused the Lamb of God - the true Messiah - to be rejected by ignorance.
"He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not." (JOH 1:10-11) Who were "his own"? The children of Israel: the Jews, the chosen tribe of Israel; those who were waiting for the coming Messiah, those who had looked for the promised Messiah ever since the time of Abraham. He came unto His own, and his own rejected Him because He came to reign as king within the heart, and they were looking for one to reign as king upon a throne. For Him to reign as king within your heart means unconditional surrender to the will of God. It means that you take up your cross and follow Him. It means that you crucify everything of flesh. It means that you walk in the way of the cross. They rejected Him.
Judaism had become a dead husk, and its life had long perished. Only one thing remained of Judaism: that it had to be set aside to bring in a better hope. "But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons." (GAL 4:4-5) This is all that was left for Judaism: for it to be destroyed, for it to be moved out, and for a better hope to be ushered in.
The coming of John the Baptist abolished the preaching of the Ceremonial Law. The entire system - the offerings, the burnt offerings, the sacrifices, and all Judaism: all its whole form of religion, which was symbolic – was abolished by the coming of John the Baptist.
Look with me in LUK 16:15-16. "And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God. The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it."
The kingdom of God is to be preached, not all these forms and ceremonies and doctrines of men. They were abolished. They were until the time of John, but "since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it."
You and I must come into the kingdom of God. You can serve your lusts, your fancies, and the things that please the flesh all the days of your life, and you will spend eternity in hell. I don’t care what you believe. I don’t care what you think. When you are not entering the service of Christ, serving under His divine authority so that He becomes the authority of your heart, if you have not entered the kingdom, you will be outside of it eternally.
As I pointed out, the chapter before us for consideration begins with the word AND. This same principle is taught herein. An account of a marriage-feast is brought to our attention, the central theme of which is that of wine that had failed. The symbolic teaching is obvious, because wine throughout Scripture is the typical emblem of joy and rejoicing as we see in PSA 104:14-15. "He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man: that he may bring forth food out of the earth; And wine that maketh glad the heart of man, and oil to make his face to shine, and bread which strengtheneth man's heart."
What was missing was the joy of salvation. They never understood the joy of being delivered from iniquity, being delivered from the power of sin, and serving the Lord Jesus Christ with all their heart, mind, and soul. They never understood the joy in that.
Wine is the emblem of rejoicing. Throughout Scripture wine is the emblem of joy. This is what was missing. There was no wine. Look at JDG 9:13: "And the vine said unto them, Should I leave my wine, which cheereth God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees?" Wine is the symbol and emblem of the cheering and rejoicing of God and man.
The Heavenly Bridegroom had come to prepare His bride for His great wedding feast. He had come to prepare His church for that bridegroom-and-bride relationship, that marriage union , but they never recognized Him.
I want you to see the joy that is taught: that coming into the marriage union with the blessed Heavenly Bridegroom. "Let us be glad and rejoice [That joy was missing], and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready." (REV 19:7)
How does His wife make herself ready? By entering into the kingdom. By entering into His service. By our wills becoming totally dissolved in His will. By Christ being formed in us. This process takes place in the way of sanctification.
I spoke last week about the baptism of the Holy Spirit: how the Holy Spirit came down upon the Lord Jesus Christ in a visible form, in the form of a dove. The dove is the symbol of holiness. You and I need to be baptized by the Holy Spirit, and that holiness has to be visibly seen. It has to be our way of life. It has to be that which the world can see. That’s the grace of God. The divine influence of the Spirit comes upon the heart and is visible in our lives.
What we see here is that rejoicing, because the same Holy Spirit that came down upon the Lord Jesus Christ, and could be seen in His walk of life, that same Spirit of holiness has come down upon the hearts of His children, upon the hearts of His bride. They now have come into a oneness of Spirit and there is such joy. Why? It is to honor the Lord Jesus Christ, to "give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come."
The religious system under Judaism had degenerated into a cold, mechanical routine. They had their mechanical dos and don’ts. They had their holiness of men. They had it all figured out: they could hate their brother, but as long as they didn’t kill him, they were obeying the law. They never understood the spirit of the law. They never understood that if they had an angry thought, they were already committing murder. They didn’t understand the spirit of the law. They didn’t understand the serving of Christ: that is to "love one another, as I have loved you" is what the Lord Jesus tells us in JOH 15:12. It had become mechanical. It had become routine. It had become utterly destitute of any joy in the Bridegroom when He appeared. When the Heavenly Bridegroom appeared there was no joy: they rejected Him. The wine had failed.
The King of kings was not being crowned in the day of His espousals. "Go forth, O ye daughters of Zion, and behold king Solomon with the crown wherewith his mother crowned him in the day of his espousals, and in the day of the gladness of his heart." (SON 3:11) There’s joy in the espousals, in the wedding feast. In that marriage union there is joy unspeakable. Here it is speaking of King Solomon, how his mother had "crowned him in the day of his espousals," in the day of his marriage union, in the day of the gladness of his heart. This is what had failed in Judaism.
The word espousal comes from the root word chathan in the Greek, and it means to give a daughter in marriage. So "in the day of his espousals," in the day that he received his bride, his heart was filled with gladness.
This is what Judaism did not understand: the King of kings had come in the day of His espousals, when He came to receive His bride, and they didn’t know Him. They rejected Him. The King of kings was crowned as their Bridegroom by means of His espousals, and they could not understand the joy of being with their Heavenly Bridegroom! He had come in this life. He had come from heaven and been born of a woman. He had become flesh. He came to receive His bride, and the joy was missing.
"And they said unto him, Why do the disciples of John fast often, and make prayers, and likewise the disciples of the Pharisees; but thine eat and drink? And he said unto them, Can ye make the children of the bridechamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them?" (LUK 5:33-34)
His disciples were having joy. They were eating and drinking. They were in the presence of the Bridegroom. The Jews didn’t understand why He and His disciples were filled with joy. They weren’t fasting. They weren’t after the manner of the Jews in ISA 58:5, "Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the LORD?"
Putting on a scene of soberness and fasting. They were rejoicing in the Bridegroom. This is what was missing in Judaism.
This beginning of miracles was symbolic of the removing of Judaism. It was ushering in the joy of the Bridegroom, of the Bridechamber.
"And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece." (JOH 2:6)
He came to this wedding feast; here were these "six waterpots of stone," and each had a little water in it. It was set there for the purifying of the Jews.
What does that "purifying of the Jews" mean? The purifying of the Jews consisted the commandments of men that knew no joy. Look at MAR 7:3-4. "For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, except they wash their hands oft, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders. And when they come from the market, except they wash, they eat not. And many other things there be, which they have received to hold, as the washing of cups, and pots, brasen vessels, and of tables."
That’s why these six water pots were sitting there: for the purifying of the Jews. This man-made religion was commandments of men. The Lord Jesus removed the commandments of men.
These mechanical orders and commandments of men were being abolished as Jesus began to prepare His bride for "the marriage of the Lamb." He was preaching the gospel of the kingdom that his wife might make herself ready. That’s what is taught in REV 19: 7-8 that His wife was making herself ready. How? By entering the kingdom. By coming into His service. By becoming His bride. By turning away from spiritual adultery.
"Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim. [Not just two or three firkins apiece. He said to fill them, and they filled them to the brim.] And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it." (JOH 2:7-8)
Don’t stand there with your Jewish rituals, washing your pots and pans in these water pots. Bear out the joy, the wine that’s in there: "bear it unto the governor of the feast."
Again we see a symbol of Judaism in that there were six water pots, not seven. Six is the number of a man: they were the commandments of men. All these purifying laws and commandments of the Jews, the scribes, and the Pharisees were commandments of men. Six is the number of a man. It is the number of the man of sin.
"Here is wisdom. [This is talking about the antichrist. It’s talking about the man of sin.] Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six." (REV 13:18)
There were only six water pots standing there, not seven, which is the perfect number. It points to the fact that the purifying of the Jews was strictly based upon the commandments of men. All that was left of Judaism was the flesh: God was not in all their ritualistic and legalistic servitude.
The Jews had defiled the feasts of the Lord which were instituted as "the feasts of the LORD." The feasts - including the wedding feast – were instituted by the Lord and had become defiled by the institutions of men, by all the laws and works of men. The Lord had clearly claimed them as His feasts, by the commandment that they should be declared His feasts. "Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, Concerning the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my feasts." (LEV 23:2) The Lord’s glory is the central theme, not a man, not human reasoning. He said, "these are my feasts."
These hallowed feasts had been so polluted with human rituals that they had become only "the feasts of the Jews." These six water pots had become the purifying of the Jews. The feasts that the Lord had dedicated for Himself had become the feasts of the Jews because of all their rituals.
"And the Jews’ passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem." It doesn’t say the passover of the Lord. It doesn’t say that the feast of the Lord was at hand, but "the Jews’ passover was at hand." (JOH 2:13) They had so humanistically raised all of their rituals over and above the authority of God’s Word that they had become the Jew’s passovers not God’s.
Also notice that the water pots were only of stone. They were not of silver, which speaks of sanctification and redemption, nor of gold which speaks of Divine glory. They were earthen vessels: they were after the fashion of a man.
At the time of our Saviour's appearance in the flesh, Judaism had reached the state prophesied in Isaiah 1:21-23. Isaiah prophesied this: "How is the faithful city become an harlot! [In other words, spiritual adultery: serving man instead of serving God.] it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers. Thy silver is become dross [The water pots were made of stone; they weren’t of silver, which points to sanctification and the holy way of life. They were just stone.], thy wine mixed with water [The wine had been polluted. Their joy was joy in the things of this life, in things that were man-made, serving the commandments of men. They never understood the joy of the Heavenly Bridegroom.]: Thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves: every one loveth gifts, and followeth after rewards [That’s what we found out about the Jews, the scribes, and the Pharisees in MAT 6:1-3. They wanted to do their alms before men that they might be seen of men. Everything was for the promotion of their pride.]: they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them." The prophet Isaiah foretold these times. Judaism had totally failed.
The Prophet Jeremiah saw the pitiful condition of Judaism in his day. "How is the gold become dim! how is the most fine gold changed! the stones of the sanctuary are poured out in the top of every street." (LAM 4:1) The gold, which speaks of divine glory, was no longer there. It had become dim. The joy of salvation had departed from Israel.
It is so strikingly significant that not only were these water pots of stone, but also that they were empty. They didn’t even have wine in the water pots. They had servitude without joy.
The Lord has no pleasure in your serving Him out of compulsion. This is what had taken place under Judaism: all the service of the temple was done in a compulsive, legalistic atmosphere. There was no serving the Lord out of a motive of love. It was all done as a mechanical ritual. There was no wine at this wedding feast. They were empty.
These empty water pots of stone so beautifully portray the condition of Judaism at that time. No wonder the wine had given out!
Therefore, our chapter at once directs our attention to the Heavenly Bridegroom who alone can provide that which speaks of joy. There is no joy apart from that Heavenly Bridegroom. There is no joy outside of that blessed sacrifice of Christ. There is no joy in serving the Lord if you serve out of compulsion, if you serve out of anything outside of the gospel service of the kingdom: gospel repentance, not legalistic repentance.
I talked to a brother a few days back, and he said, "that except ye all repent ye shall all likewise perish." (LUK 13:5) I asked, "What does it mean to repent?" He said that it means to be sorry for your sins, to have remorse over sins, and to see that you could go to hell for your sins. I said, "That’s strange; that’s not the translation I get when I search it out in the original. The word repent means a change of attitude." He said, "I don’t believe it!" So I showed it to him in the concordance and in the Greek dictionary. He said, "I don’t believe it." Why? Because he knows what he believes. He couldn’t care less what the Word of God says.
The authority is in the Word. What I believe means nothing. Put it in the little round file can if it doesn’t correspond to the Word of God.
These empty water pots have no wine in them. These empty water pots have absolutely no joy in the Heavenly Bridegroom. There’s no joy in them. There’s nothing but hanging your head down as a bulrush and sitting in sackcloth and ashes, talking about sins and miseries. There is joy in that blessed service of Christ. This chapter directs our attention to the Heavenly Bridegroom, who alone can provide that which speaks of joy in the God of love, who gave His only begotten Son.
Do you want to know where the Heavenly Bridegroom finds His joy? It is in the love that God has for His people. It is in the Father’s gracious love in giving His Son. You have received the faith view of such love: how He restrained the love He had for His own Son when He was pleading in the Garden of Gethsemane, sweating blood. Pleading, He said, "If it be possible, let this cup pass from me." (MAT 26:39) Can you imagine the pangs of love of the heavenly Father, looking down upon His own Son in such an hour? He restrained that love for the love He had for His polluted bride, who was guilty of sin. When we receive but a taste of such love, it has to give such joy to our hearts. What joy there is in seeing that blessed "Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world."
You get a glimpse of the love of Christ when He came to His Father and said, "Nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done." He had come before His Father pleading that the cup might be removed, but "not my will, but thine, be done." (LUK 22:42)
Are we going to follow in those footsteps? Are we going to be able to take up our cross? Are we going to be able to put our Isaac on the altar? Are we going to be able to take everything of our flesh and lay it at His throne and place it on the altar of sacrifice to serve the Lord? Are we able to sacrifice our own honor? Are we able to sacrifice all these things that make up our own pride? Is our joy in that blessed Heavenly Bridegroom? That’s the joy that was missing at this wedding feast at Cana in Galilee. That’s what the miracle teaches us: that Christ came to fill these water pots – these filthy things of the Jews, these things of human reasoning – to take and fill them with the wine, which is the joy of the bride and the Bridegroom. He came to take away all these rituals and all these man-made things and to fill them with His fullness, with grace for grace.
In JOH 2:9-10, we find that the chapter directs our attention to the Heavenly Bridegroom, and what joy there was as this wine came to that bridegroom and to the ruler. "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, 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."
When the Lord has removed everything that we feel satisfies the flesh, and when we start to understand that blessed joy that there is in the Heavenly Bridegroom, then we can say with the governor of the feast that the best was kept until last. Now we start to understand that it is so superior, so far above the joy that we have in anything of this life. It is so superior because of the joy that we have in our Heavenly Bridegroom.
Thus we see that John 2 teaches how the public ministry of Christ began with revealing the failure of Judaism. You are going to understand the failure of humanistic religion before you ever understand the joy that there is in serving Christ and becoming part of that Heavenly Bridegroom-Bride relationship.
He came working these miracles, "and his disciples believed on him." (JOH 2:11) Do you know what it means to believe on Him? It means that we come in holy, reverent awe of His authority. We come under His authority. We bow to His golden scepter. After they saw, after they got a glimpse of that blessed joy; they came to believe in Him.
At this beginning of miracles, our Saviour was not to share His attraction with His own mother. This is noteworthy. There’s so much worship today of Mother Mary. He was not to share His attraction: eyes were not to be on Mother Mary; they were to be on Jesus Christ, the Heavenly Bridegroom.
Watch this in JOH 2:3-4. "And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come."
He rebuked her, and He rebuked her sharply. He said, "what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come." She was looking to see Him promoted a status whereby He would have the world follow Him and be elevated into ruling an earthly kingdom. He said, "what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come." He came to suffer, bleed, and die. His time to reign over His Father’s kingdom, given as the reward for the price He would pay for our sins, had not yet come. He said, "mine hour is not yet come."
It is noteworthy that Mary is referred to as "the mother of Jesus." She is also referred to as a "woman," but not by her personal name of Mary. It’s important that we understand that, and understand why.
It was through Mary as "the mother of Jesus" that the long promised "seed" of Abraham had come. "Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. [So many people teach that these are the descendants of Abraham.] He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ." (GAL 3:16)
He makes reference to her as "the mother of Jesus," not holding her up as a person: that this is Mary, an object of worship. It was showing a fulfillment of the promise that was made unto Abraham of the coming of the Seed. She was "the mother of Jesus."
It was also this same Mary which God spoke of as "the woman" in pronouncing the curse upon the serpent in Paradise. See that it refers to her as a "woman." Jesus said, "Woman…mine hour is not yet come." He didn’t say "Mother;" he said, "Woman." I want you to see where the title of "Woman" is important.
Look at GEN 3:15. "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." Who was the woman? It was Mary, the mother of Jesus. He put enmity between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent.
John the Baptist was the forerunner of Christ, but Mary was representative in her character. The rebuke our Saviour gave Mary reveals that her actions on this occasion were parallel to those of the nation of Israel whom she represented. She was a representative of the nation of Israel. "And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come." (JOH 2:3-4)
Mary was obviously still attempting to exercise her parental sway over Jesus. We find that the Lord Jesus submitted Himself unto His mother and Joseph as a child, but now He had entered His public ministry. Now He was working as the Son of God. Now He was absolutely not to be subject to her parental authority. As she apparently ventured to tell Him what to do, Jesus said, "Woman, what have I to do with thee?" His mother in the flesh had no sway over Him as the Son of God.
This unwanted advice or interference of Mary, was prompted by the same carnal reasoning as that of His brethren - the other sons and daughters of Mary and Joseph. Mary and Joseph had more children. Only Jesus was conceived of the Holy Ghost. He was not conceived of Joseph, but Joseph and Mary had additional children, who were His brethren, and they on another occasion attempted to do the same thing: to be His counselors.
"Now the Jews’ feast of tabernacles was at hand." (JOH 7:2-5) Remember we’re talking about the Jews’ feast: it was no longer even called the feast of the LORD. It had become so legalized and so humanistic that it was now the Jews’ feast of tabernacles that was at hand. Verse 3 continues, "His brethren [It’s speaking here of those who were also born of Mary.] therefore said unto him, Depart hence, and go into Judaea, that thy disciples also may see the works that thou doest. For there is no man that doeth any thing in secret, and he himself seeketh to be known openly. If thou do these things, shew thyself to the world. For neither did his brethren believe in him."
They were going to be His counselors. They were going to explain to Him by what means He could gain the ascendancy unto the throne. "You do these wonders that you’ve done here, you do them publicly, you come out and you really present yourself, and people will follow you." They were explaining to Him how He could become great. They never understood. They were blind to the fact that He came to sacrifice His life to take away the sins of the world.
Mary showed her true nature as a representative of the Jewish nation by her desire to see Jesus openly reveal His power and glory. Neither Mary, nor the Jewish nation, nor even the very disciples of Jesus understood the true nature of the Lamb of God. The disciples, the apostles of Jesus Christ, did not understand His first coming until the day of Pentecost.
When the Lord Jesus Christ stood on the Mount of Olives to ascend unto heaven and depart, His own disciples did not understand His first coming. They did not understand the sacrifice Jesus came to make even though John the Baptist introduced Him as "the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." (JOH 1:29)
See what His own disciples asked Jesus just before His ascension. There on the Mount of Olives, where He was to be taken up, the last question they asked Him was this: "Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?" (ACT 1:6) They were still looking for an earthly kingdom.
As the Lord Jesus Christ was answering that question from His own disciples in ACT 1 ("wilt thou…[now] restore…the kingdom") He was taken up out of their sight.
Take a look at ACT 1:7-9. "It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up." It was while He was answering this question that He was taken up into heaven.
You see the ignorance of Judaism and you see the importance of understanding that blessed marriage union for which the Lord Jesus Christ came to prepare us.
The Lord willing, next week we hope to expound on our second point and consider the prophetic application of John 2, and how it looks beyond the conditions of ignorance in Israel in a prophetic way. Then we hope to conclude our study on verses 1-11 with regard to its practical teaching. It is so important that we understand the practical teaching that is contained in these verses. Amen.
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