THE FIRST MIRACLE
CANA AND JERUSALEM

John Chapter Two

The second chapter of the Gospel according to John tells the story of two feasts. One was at Cana and one at Jerusalem. The feast at Cana was a wedding Feast and the feast at Jerusalem was The Passover Feast.

THE FIRST MIRACLE

The third day there was a marriage feast at Cana. A most unusual thing happened at that feast—a mind-boggling thing, ac-cording to today^'s standards. The people who were getting mar­ried had the good sense, the intelligence and the gumption to send out an engraved invitation to Jesus of Nazareth and not only to Jesus, but to His disciples as well. They invited Peter, Andrew, James, John, Nathanael and Philip. Whether it be a marriage that you are planning or any other kind of a merger, it is always a good idea to invite Jesus and His disciples. When you consider that through these men He would give His inspired Word, there is no way that you can separate the Lord from His disciples, both those who were inspired then as well as those who are not inspired now.

When the wine failed, the Mother of Jesus told Him, "They have no wine." He said, ^"Mine hour is not yet come." He meant the hour of his death, but there were other great hours in His life, too. The hour of His birth had already come. For a long time He had looked forward to being born. This is something that we could not do. No one of us ever looked forward to being born. He was divine. He lived before He was born. He could say, "Before Abraham was born, I AM:"

There was another hour that had not come and that was the hour when He would start the Church. The Day of Pentecost; that would be a glorious hour when the terms of pardon would first be proclaimed and men would be given the terms of pardon. Another hour that has not yet come is that hour when He will come in power and great glory, His Second Coming!

Mary gave the servants some advice that is good for us all. In fact, it could be used as a rule of thumb for a success in life. In fact, it is the best preparation for going to Heaven. "WHATSOEVER HE SAITH UNTO YOU, DO IT!" That is it, "WHATSOEVER HE SAITH UNTO YOU, DO IT!" That is it. Whatsoever He saith unto you DO IT, DO IT. DO IT!!

With this bit of advice, the servants were ready for action. Jesus saith unto them, "Fill the water pots with water." And they filled them up to the brim. I don^'t know who these servants were, but if they were living today they would be called "legalist." They filled the water pots up to the brim. A legalist is someone who does things legally. A person who does not do things legally is an illegalist.^" He is an outlaw. Thank God, I am a legalist. A person who does not believe that you have to be immersed for the remission of sins is a spiritual gangster.

Note here that Jesus never does anything for us that we can do for ourselves. We could have worked the miracle without any help from the servants. This was something they could do, so He said, "Fill the water pots with water." I heard a new Christian say that as she was driving along, her car stopped. She bowed her head and prayed and then the car started. The Lord has not pro­mised to be our divine mechanic. This comes under the heading of careful maintenance of the car. God has not promised to fill your car with gas or anti-freeze. He has not promised to be your caddy or your porter to carry your bags. We must do all we can do and then when we have done what can he done. He will step in and do the rest.

The filling to the brim is good to remember. How big is your Church building? Perhaps you say that it will seat one thousand. If you want to see a miracle in your area, fill it up to the brim. Then fill it up to the brim on Sunday night. Then fill it up to the brim on prayer meeting night. Then fill it up to the brim on revival nights. Do this week after week and month after month and it will not be long till you see a miracle. Crowds will come that you never expected to see. People will be accepting Christ that you never expected to see and the Church will make a real impact on the area that you never dreamed possible. FILL IT UP TO THE BRIM. FILL IT UP TO THE BRIM!

While you are at it, fill the offering plate up to the brim. In an area-wide revival one time some Church of Christ preachers in­vited a high-powered denominational preacher to come in and preach. I was not there and I am glad that I wasn't. The preacher made light of the offering plates. He said you preachers would not let people give if they wanted to. He then reached in his suitcase and brought out some offering plates that had a sack under them. He took the offering in those plates, put them back in his suitcase and left.

How big is your offering plate? If it is only two inches deep, it is deep enough. Just fill it up to the brim. Put a layer of five dollar bills on the bottom, then a layer of tens on top of that and a layer of twenties on top of that. FILL IT UP TO THE BRIM. FILL IT UP TO THE BRIM. FILL IT UP TO THE BRIM!! You will see a modern-day miracle take place.

We cannot help but note that this is the first miracle that is worked in the Bible, since the reading of the handwriting on the wall at the Feast of Belshazzar. Belshazzar^'s Feast was a drunken feast. The Feast at Cana was not. The ruler of the feast tasted the water now become wine and recognized the fine flavor. He said that most places he had been served the best first and then when men had well drunk, they served the worse. He told the bride-groom that he had saved the good wine until now. This indicated that he was still sober and that the wine used here was not intoxi­cating. However, we will not argue the point. If you can find an excuse from this story to booze it up, go ahead and may God have mercy on your drunken soul.

However, there are some now who can bear witness to the fact that the Lord still works this miracle today. Many have seen Him turn the wine into shoes. He turns the beer into money in the bank. He turns the vodka into a new car payment. He turns the brandy into milk for the babies. He has turned the booze into all kinds of good things.

No wonder the ruler of the feast said, "Thou hast saved the good wine until now.^" The devil usually serves up the best first. I doubt that anyone will get a cancer in the lungs from the first cigarette. It takes about thirty years but it will come. I don^'t sup-pose that anyone gets to be a drunken sot with one drink, that comes later, but it will come. The devil always serves the best first and the worst later. Jesus on the other hand served the best last.

I like to go to services. I love to go up to the House of the Lord and take the Lord^'s Supper. There is nothing like it. But this joy will not compare with the great meeting that will take place when we assemble at the Wedding Supper of the Lamb. In Reve­lation 19:7-9 we read, "Let us rejoice and be glad for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His wife has made herself ready. And it was given unto her to array herself in fine linen bright and pure and the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. And He saith unto me, 'Write, blessed are they that are bidden to the marriage supper of the Lamb: " On that day we who assemble there, will say unto the great Bridegroom as the ruler of the Feast at Cana, "THOU HAST SAVED THE GOOD WINE UNTIL NOW."

THE PASSOVER FEAST

After the Wedding Feast at Cana, we learn about the Passover Feast at Jerusalem. Jesus cleansed the temple at the First Passover Feast of His public ministry. Twice during His ministry He would cleanse the temple—once at the beginning and once at the close. We need to cleanse the temple today in like manner; not once, but twice and as many times as needed. Perhaps some would say, "Where is the temple today?^" We are not left in doubt about that. We have a temple today. Paul tells us about it in Ephesians 2:19,21 "...but we are fellow citizens with the saints and the household of God on the foundations of the Apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together is grow­ing into a holy temple in the Lord."

The temple today is the Church of Christ. Not the building where you attend, but the real building is the people. Each of us is a stone in the building. Of our earthly building we could no doubt someday say:

These walls which now are crumbling lime. Could not withstand the urge of time. The wood has rotted round the doors, The rain has ravaged roof and floors. And yet because men worshiped here, Something holy and austere,

Lingers on and fills the air,

Like echoes of a quiet prayer.

Let it be remembered that Jesus did not die for one nail, one pane of glass, one board or one shingle. It was for us, the living stones, that sacrifice was made. We who are living stones. The temple needs to be cleansed. We need to clean up our act. One preacher is trying to raise help for the "GOD IS JUST A PRAYER AWAY^" radio broadcasts in a western state and was told, "Why should we help the Christians in the Ohio Valley? They have plenty of money,^" The preacher told them that the first item on the agenda of evangelism was to reconvert the Church of the Ohio Valley. He was right; we need to cleanse the temple now and then cleanse it again.

When asked why He was cleansing the temple, Jesus told them, "Destroy this house and in three days I will raise it up.^" His disciples in this exchange remembered that it was written, "ZEAL FOR THY HOUSE DID EAT ME UP." This is what we need to remember. May we have a zeal that will eat us up. May we have the zeal of Jesus. That is what it will take to get the job done. LET ZEAL EAT US UP!

I don't know much about video games, but one can^'t help hearing about the well-known Pac Man. He gobbles up everything. May we become Christian Pac Men. Let us gobble up everything for the Lord and His Church. Go ahead and schedule time for ball-games and other endeavors and then if a conflict comes in regard to the Church, cancel the ballgame. Cancel the lodge meeting. Cancel the little league meeting. Be a Christian Pac Man for the Lord. Let the world learn the lesson that it needs to learn. There is something more important in this life than a ballgame. There is something more important in this life than a lodge meeting. Gob­ble it up, Gobble it up. Until we have the zeal for the House of God that Jesus had, the Church is not going to make much of an im­pact on the world for God.

Let your zeal prevail over all. EAT IT UP! EAT IT UP! l repeat—little leagues, lodges, super bowls, world series—EAT IT UP! EAT IT UP! EAT IT UP! Ladies and gentlemen, CHEW ON THAT ONE FOR AWHILE!^!