The Marriage at ■ :1-2 And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of ; and the mother of was there: and both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage. There is so much more in this descriptive passage of a wedding than at first may be perceived, and at which Jesus, at the start of His ministry performed His first , as He kindly averted an embarrassing situation by turning the water into in a purpose more profound than just quenching thirst, proposing toasts or ordaining blessings. Here is a spiritual picture of the object of Jesus’ ministry, the great blessing of His atonement, His subsequent death, the coming return for His bride, the church, and the marriage supper of the Lamb. We also see the coming end of the Old Covenant and a prophetic picture of the New Covenant in Jesus’ blood. We are looking through verses 1-11 of John chapter 2, but not necessarily all or in numerical order. The Third Day – Verse 1 What was the significance of the third day? In the previous chapter, is quizzed by the Priests and Levites sent from who asked if he was the , and John replied that he was just the voice of one calling in the wilderness make straight the way of the Lord – :23. Day One – Now the next day, John saw Jesus coming towards him and said, ■ John 1:29 …behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! Day two – And again, the next day, John saw Jesus and said, ■ John 1:35-36 … behold the Lamb of God ! Day three – And on the third day ■ John 1:43 The following day Jesus wanted to go to Galilee , and He found Philip and said to him, follow Me. So on day one and day two Jesus was pronounced ‘the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world’ by John the Baptist. Jesus begins to gather His disciples, and on the next day He desired to go to Galilee, because He was invited, with His family, to the wedding along with His recently collected disciples. This was the third day after John the Baptist first met Jesus and made the prophetic pronouncement that Jesus was the Son of God. ■ John 1:34 And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God. ‘The third day’ immediately reminds us that Jesus rose from the grave after three days. ■ :46 Then He said to them, thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day. On the third day Jesus was perfected. ■ Luke 13:32 And He said to them, go, tell that fox, behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I shall be perfected . The prophet Hosea tells us, that on ‘the third day’ our Lord will raise us up, and we shall live in His sight, and at that time we too shall be perfected. ■ Hosea 6:1-2 Come, and let us return to the LORD; for He has torn, but He will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up. After two days He will revive us; on the third day He will raise us up, that we may live in His sight. Now with the Lord a day is as a thousand years; therefore, can we expect ‘the third day’ to occur sometime in the third millennium from Christ’s Advent?

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■ 2 Peter 3:8 But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. ■ Psalms 90:4 For a thousand years in Your sight are like yesterday when it is past, and like a watch in the night. We are already in the third millennium since Christ, but no one knows the time of Jesus’ return except God the Father. Many have made predictions and written books; but they were all left looking foolish when nothing happened! ■ Matthew 24:36-37 But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the of heaven, but My Father only . But as the days of Noah were , so also will the coming of the Son of Man be . In Matthew 24, Jesus talks about the days of Noah and of how they were eating drinking and giving in marriage. ■ Matthew 24:37-38 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be . For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, Another Marriage also reminds us that when Jesus returns there will be another wedding; this time, for His pure and spotless bride, ourselves – the church. ■ Isaiah 54:5 For your Maker is your husband , the LORD of hosts is His name; and your Redeemer is the Holy One of ; He is called the God of the whole earth. We as His disciples and bride will be blessed to be invited to the marriage supper at which Jesus will drink wine with us in the Kingdom. ■ Revelation 19:7-9 Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready. And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Then he said to me, write: blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb! And he said to me, these are the true sayings of God. At the Passover supper with His disciples, shortly before His death Jesus said, ■ Matthew 26:29 I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom. In the Kingdom, we will drink the cup of blessing to the full, as we His bride, are united with our Lord and God, who is also our Husband. Jesus’ comment to His mother ■ John 2:4 Jesus said to her, Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come. What indeed did His mother’s concern have to do with Jesus, a man who, from His youth, was always about His heavenly Father’s business! ■ Luke 2:49 And He said to them, why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business? Mary, His mother, and father, Joseph, had sought the young Jesus everywhere, they were frantic with worry, but Jesus was in the Temple listening and questioning the teachers. Mary was indeed concerned about the situation of no wine at the wedding, but I contend that Jesus already knew, and also knew the outcome of the situation in the same way that He knew of the

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death of Lazarus before He arrived to raise Him to life. And the same way He saw Nathanael under the fig tree. ■ John 1:48 Nathanael said to Him, how do You know me? Jesus answered and said to him, before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you . Jesus knew all things, which He received from His Father. There were no surprises in store for Him at all. And again, in the same way that God instructs us to go here and there and speak to various people, so it was with Jesus, only more so, for He is God’s Son to whom the Holy Spirit was given without measure. ■ :34-35 For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God does not give the Spirit by measure. The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into His hand. In short, Mary had nothing to do with Jesus’ ministry, because He was under the direction of God, His heavenly Father, and Jesus knew He had come to do God’s will. His mother’s will and desire was something else; she could not instigate His actions – only God could do that. For Jesus it was always ‘Thy will be done’, as it should always be with us! ■ Hebrews 10:7 Then said I, lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God. Jesus’ retort When Mary told Jesus they had no wine, Jesus replied that His hour had not yet come . ■ John 2:4 Jesus saith unto her, woman, what have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come. God’s timing is always perfect; for when the fullness of time had come God sent forth His only Son in order to redeem us from the law says Paul. ■ Galatians 4:4-5 But when the fullness 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. The time for the preaching of the Kingdom of heaven had arrived! After John, the Baptist, had been imprisoned by King Herod, Jesus stepped up into his shoes, so to speak, and went out teaching the same message ■ :15 …saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand : repent ye, and believe the . The time had come for us to hear and believe the Gospel of the Kingdom – our time was ready ■ :6 Then Jesus said unto them, My time is not yet come : but your time is always ready . Paul echoes the theme ■ 2 Corinthians 6:2 For He says: In an acceptable time I have heard you, and in the day of salvation I have helped you behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation. And two verses later, in the , Jesus says, ■ John 7:8 Go ye up unto this feast: I go not up yet unto this feast; for my time is not yet full come . Meaning; it was not yet time for Him to go up to the feast just then. However, on the first day of the feast of unleavened bread Jesus said, MY TIME IS AT HAND .

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■ Matthew 26:18 And he said, go into the city to such a man, and say unto him, the Master saith, My time is at hand; I will keep the passover at thy house with my disciples. Here, we have arrived at the – the Passover meal at which Jesus’ time was almost fully come. There He gave them the New Covenant in His blood, which was very shortly to be shed for the remission of our sins, and there Jesus drank the fruit of the vine for the last time with His disciples, until He drinks it with us anew in the Kingdom. ■ Matthew 26:29 But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom. In the world, God has an appointed time when all things come to pass, as Solomon wrote in the book of Ecclesiastes. ■ Ecclesiastes 3:1 To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven: Remember your time is always ready to receive the Gospel – do not miss it! The Waterpots (at Cana) ■ John 2:6 Now there were set there six waterpots of stone, according to the manner of purification of the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece. You will probably ask why there were six very large waterpots; the Jews, at that time, were what we might consider today as having an obsessive and compulsive disorder regarding the ritual washing of hands and feet; indeed they thought that cleanliness was godliness itself! They were even admonished by Jesus for looking only at the outside of the cup, whilst the inside was full of impurities. ■ Luke 11:39 Then the Lord said to him, now you make the outside of the cup and dish clean, but your inward part is full of greed and wickedness. Their religion was of an outward show and their hearts were far away from God. The Jews did not eat with unwashed hands, but poured copious quantities of water over their hands three times before eating etc. by pouring, the water was considered to be ‘living’. It seems that this was a large wedding, because all the waterpots had to be refilled to the brim before Jesus performed the miracle – why? It is reasonable to believe that because of their customs many people had been engaged in hand washing before they commenced feasting, as well as after they had visited the ‘rest room’ – as you probably know, there is always a queue for the loo at a wedding! But why were there six waterpots? The only reason that finds validity with me is that God completed His creation in six days; it was His perfect work in heaven and earth, and all that it contained was finished when God declared, it was good; that is until Adam and Eve sinned and sin, as you know, spoils everything. Now Jesus, being sent by God, was also to do a perfect work on the Cross of Calvary, in which we are mightily blessed to become ‘new creations’ in Christ Jesus, could this work then echo God’s six days of creation being ‘restored’ by the soon coming ability to have a right relationship with God through the abolition of sin? Jesus kept the law in every way; otherwise He would not have qualified to be the perfect sacrifice. He fulfilled it all for us. No man can be justified before God through keeping the Old Testament law – our justification must be through faith in the finished work of Jesus. ■ Galatians 3:11 But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God , it is evident: for, the just shall live by faith. Paul calls the law a weak and beggarly element.

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■ Galatians 4:9-10 But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage? Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. The New Covenant in Jesus’ blood was not about Sabbath keeping or religious washings or anything which the Jews were, and still are, extremely obsessive about, but about faith in God, and receiving His grace and showing love and mercy to our fellow man. We must cease from our own ‘works’ based religion; so that in Christ, and His finished work, we can enter into God’s ‘rest’ of the New Covenant. For when Jesus died on the cross He said, ‘ it is finished ’. Men can genuflect and say ‘hail Marys’ until they are hoarse, and keep all the Jewish laws perfectly, but the only thing that matters is being a ‘born again New Creation’ in Christ, through faith, which was the promise to Abraham. ■ Galatians 3:18 For if the inheritance is of the law, it is no longer of promise; but God gave it to Abraham by promise. The perfection of God’s six days of creation was marred by sin, and death entered into the world, but the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set us free from the law of sin and death. ■ Romans 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. Large containers The six stone waterpots used for religious ablutions contained in total between 120 and 180 gallons of water, depending whether they held 20 or 30 gallons each, which when converted to modern day measurements works out to between 545 to 818 litres. Nowadays, a wine bottle holds 70 centilitres, seven tenths of a litre, so divide by 0.7 and we are talking about 778 to 1168 bottles of wine. Now you can easily see what a staggering quantity of wine it actually was, and no doubt after seven days feasting and drinking there was a lot of staggering going on, as some had well drunk by then! Prefigured in these stone waterpots is our Lord Jesus Christ, as a vessel of mercy whose blood was shed for us, and He was also the profferer of the ‘living water’ as well as being the Chief Cornerstone set straight and true, the Head of the church, and the ‘container’ of the blessings, who said, ■ John 7:37 On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, if anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink . And in the next verse the living water is on offer to those who believe. ■ John 7:38 He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. In Isaiah, there is a prophetic invitation to the thirsty to buy water, wine and milk without money or price – in other words come and get this free gift! ■ Isaiah 55:1 Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat. Yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Isaiah goes on to say, let your soul hear and I will make an everlasting covenant with you. ■ Isaiah 55:2-3 Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and let your soul delight itself in abundance. Incline your ear, and come to Me. Hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you – The sure mercies of David.

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This is a prophecy of the blessings contained in Christ – the living water and the blood of atonement. After Jesus’ death and resurrection, the living water, which brings life eternal, became a spiritual reality to those who believed on His Name. By faith we are saved by His grace and mercy; it is the gift of God, and not by any works, and the washing is performed by the Holy Spirit. ■ Titus 3:5 …not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit. Ezekiel also prophesied of this New Covenant in Jesus’ blood to the Jewish nation. ■ Ezekiel 36:25-27 Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you ; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them. The Filling of the Waterpots Jesus called the servants and ordered that the stone waterpots be filled with water, ■ John 2:7 Jesus saith unto them, fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim. And then Jesus instructed that some be drawn out and taken to the master of the feast. The master of the feast had no idea that just moments ago the wine that he was now tasting had been water, but the servants knew. The master of the feast then called the bridegroom… ■ John 2:10 …and he said to him, every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now! The stone pots containing water represented the coming demise of the Old Covenant when they were suddenly filled to the brim with the best wine. In other words, Jesus might as well have said, this first miracle signifies that the end of your constant rituals is near! No more washing on the outside! I will cleanse you from the inside out! Here comes the new wine of the Kingdom! Jesus is the good wine, which God has kept for us and Jesus is the . ■ :1 the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. He is the true vine who produced abundant quantities of fruit for the wine of the Kingdom, for which He was smitten, afflicted, bruised and crushed so that we can enjoy that for which He laboured and endured on the cross. The six stone vessels of wine represent the abundance and greatness of His blessing, in Christ’s shed blood, even as the six days of creation represent God’s blessings on us to dominate and cultivate the earth; the seed time and harvest, winter and summer never cease, as also the blood of Jesus never ceases to cleanse, even after two thousand years it continues to flow unceasingly from the throne of grace in an unending cleansing stream purifying sinners. An abundance of blessings from an abundant God. ■ Isaiah 53:4-5 Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. In the , wine is called the ‘blood of the grape’ ■ Deuteronomy 32:14 Curds from the cattle, and milk of the flock, with fat of lambs; and rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, with the choicest wheat; and you drank wine, the blood of the grapes.

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I reiterate, Jesus is represented in the stone vessels which contained the blessing – the blood which cleanses from all sin and the spiritual rock from which we all must drink. ■ 1 Corinthians 10:3-4 …all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ. When the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side after His death, there flowed out blood and water. ■ :34 But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. When a natural child is born, water and blood is brought forth. Usually, the mother’s waters break; which is the amniotic fluid contained in a sac which protects the developing child. And after the birth bleeding occurs which cleanses the womb from all the residue of the birth process. ■ 1 :6 This is He who came by water and blood – Jesus Christ; not only by water, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is truth. Jesus was born in Bethlehem to His mother Mary in the same way that we all are: He came by water and blood, and when He died He brought forth water and blood that we could be born again spiritually. As previously stated, the wine, as the blood of the grape is also the witness to the coming new birth of a new creature in Christ through the New Covenant in Jesus’ blood. Therefore, in the waterpots containing the ‘new’ wine, we see a picture of the body of Jesus whose blood was shed for our sins. This is the in Jesus’ blood – a new and better covenant based upon new and better promises! Which sacrifice we remember by taking Communion or the Lord’s Supper, which ever name you are familiar with using ■ Matthew 26:27-28 Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. ■ 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, this cup is the new testament in my blood : this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread , and drink this cup , ye do shew the Lord's death till he come. This is the blood that gives us life eternal. ■ :53-55 Then Jesus said unto them, verily, verily, I say unto you, except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. Jesus was speaking metaphorically; we do not actually eat His flesh and drink His blood, but when we believe on Jesus we receive His indwelling Spirit, feed our souls on the Word of God and our faith in His shed blood cleanses us from every sin and stain – Hallelujah! ■ Revelation 1:5 …and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. TO HIM WHO LOVED US AND WASHED US FROM OUR SINS IN HIS OWN BLOOD…

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Conclusion We are currently awaiting ‘the third day’ in which Jesus will raise us up to live in His sight. Then we shall be His bride at the marriage supper of the Lamb. Jesus is our husband, and we should not forget that He is coming back for a pure and spotless bride. Note; the bride must make herself ready by being pure and holy wearing the white garments of salvation. Then we shall drink wine in the kingdom with Christ anew and love, admire, praise and be with Him forever. In future, when anyone uses the saying ‘you cannot get blood from a stone’ you know otherwise. The Chief Cornerstone, the Rock of ages cleft for us, who not only confounded the Pharisees with their ritual washings, which could never make them clean, but made vast quantities of wine, the blood of the grape, to show the abundance of the blessings contained in Christ, and before His death instituted the New Covenant in His blood, where we drink the cup of blessing, and remember His amazing sacrifice as we partake of the Lord’s Supper. Jesus is the true vine of blessing and His Father the vinedresser, who not only watched over and cared for Jesus whilst He was on this earth, but who also, watches over and cares for us too, for we too as new creations have been grafted into the heavenly vine, and are waiting in faith, with fervent hope until we are perfected in His coming Kingdom on the third day. * * * * *

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