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We are
going to start with Yeshua’s first "sign."
In this book, a sign is a miracle that has special
significance that points us to Yeshua. This miracle
takes place less than a week after leaving Yochanan
by the Jordan, after Yeshua made His first disciples.
It takes place in Kanah, the hometown of Nathan’el,
some 5 or 6 miles north of Nazareth. Yeshua, His
family and His disciples are all invited to the
wedding.
Marriage
was and is very important among the Jewish people.
Not only is marriage the basis of a good family,
and a healthy society, but it’s also a reminder
of Israel's close relationship to God. God is
the Groom, and Israel is the Bride. And it is
a sign of the Messianic times, when the voice
of the bride and the bridegroom will be heard
throughout the streets of Israel. When King Messiah
comes, and brings restoration, peace and joy to
Israel and the nations, and God and man are reunited
and are joined in eternal intimacy, it is like
a giant and joyous wedding celebration.
Remember
that Yochanan, that great prophet and forerunner
of the Messiah, lived a very austere life. He
was a Nazarite, especially devoted God’s service.
He didn’t drink wine or any liquor made from grapes.
In addition, he lived in the wilderness, clothed
in camel’s hair garments and eating a diet of
grasshoppers and honey.
Yeshua,
the Messiah, is the opposite. His first miracle
is to make wine. He freely mingles with humanity,
sharing our joys and sorrows, entering into family
life and social occasions. You see, He is concerned
about all aspects of human life, not just big
political or "spiritual" problems. He
cares about individuals, families, social events,
marriages. Let’s see what happens:
On
the third day there was a wedding in Kanah of
Galilee, The marriage probably took place
in the family’s home, and the celebration among
the family and friends could last for a week The
marriage was consummated in the bedroom. This
is the origin of the "Chuppah," the
bridal chamber. That’s one of the reasons that
Jewish people are married under the Chuppah.
and
the mother of Yeshua was there; and both Yeshua
and His disciples were invited to the wedding.
Inviting a rabbi would be very common, especially
if he was a friend of the family, which seems
to be true in this case. But a problem
develops at this wedding - the wine ran out. Wine
was and is an important item at a Jewish wedding
celebration. The wine running out would diminish
the joy at the celebration, and be an embarrassment
to the family.
When
the wine ran out, the mother of Yeshua said to
Him, “They have no wine.” Miriam knew about
the problem, and looked to her eldest son Yeshua
to help with the problem. That indicates that
her husband Joseph probably died already. Mary
had confidence in Yeshua, her eldest Son, and
asked for His help.
I don’t
think that she was expecting Yeshua to do a miracle,
since a miracle working prophet hadn't done miracles
in hundreds of years, and Yeshua had never done
one. I think Mary knew that if there was a problem,
Yeshua, her eldest son, could be counted on to
help take care of things. And so she said to
Him, “They have no wine.”
And
Yeshua said to her, “Woman, I’m sure that
wasn’t a derogatory way a talking to His mother.
It was a polite form of address. He used it again
when He spoke to His mother from the Cross -
“Woman, behold your son.” Woman, what does
that have to do with us? What business of
that is ours? Why should I intervene? I need to
concentrate on other things - not helping out
with our family problems like I have in the past.
My hour has not yet come.”
Notice
that Yeshua already knows about His “hour.” He
knows about His death, that He has come to die
in order to make atonement. So, from the very
earliest time of His public service to the Lord,
Yeshua knew that He was going to die, that He
would be God’s Lamb, the Final Sacrifice that
would atone for the sins of Israel, and the other
nations of the world, that would enable humanity
to be reconciled to the God from whom all of us
are alienated.
Yeshua's
response to this request for help indicates some
change in the relationship between Him and Mary.
He is no longer under her parental authority in
the same way He was earlier. Not only is He a
fully mature man, but He had just been immersed
by John, when the Spirit of God descended and
remained on Yeshua, anointing Him as God’s Mashiach.
Mary must learn about her Son in a new way, as
Israel’s Messiah who is now must be about His
Father's business.
But despite
Yeshua’s initial response, Mary was confident
that He would act. And so His mother said to
the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.”
I like that about Mary, that in spite of Yeshua’s
initial coolness toward her request, she persevered.
She still had confidence that Yeshua would help
and take appropriate action. And that’s a good
lesson for all of us about prayer. Sometimes we
may pray, and ask God to deal with a problem,
and it may seem like we are met at first with
some coolness. But that doesn’t mean that we should
give up, or stop praying. There have been many
instances when perseverant prayers have eventually
been answered. If you know that there is a real
need, keep on praying until it is answered! And
that’s exactly what happened here:
Now
there were six stone waterpots set there for the
Jewish custom of ceremonial washings, containing
twenty or thirty gallons each - so we’re talking
about 150 to 180 gallons of water. Now, let me
ask you a question: how much does the Word of
God, the Holy Scriptures, have to say about ceremonial
washings, other than priests washing before serving
at the Temple? Not much. But the Talmud has lots
of rules about washing hands before you eat, and
cleaning vessels. And as you know, religious Jews
to this day still observe ceremonial washings
before they eat. To me, these waterpots for ceremonial
washings represent legalism - man-made traditions,
the teachings of men, that are not required by
the Holy Scriptures. Yeshua will take these waterpots
of legalism, and change them into the wine of
His truth, His love, His grace.
And, that's
what He wants to do to Judaism and Christianity.
There are so many who are involved in Judaism,
and in Christianity, whose religion is based on
the traditions of men, and not on a personal relationship
with God based on His laws. Yeshua is able to
transform their man-made religion, based on legalisms,
into wine - the true joy that comes from a personal
relationship with God.
Yeshua
said to them, “Fill the waterpots with water.”
So they filled them up to the brim. And He said
to them, “Draw some out now and take it to the
man in charge of the banquet.” So they took it
to him. When the man in charge tasted the water
which had become wine, and did not know where
it came from (but the servants who had drawn the
water knew - (and Yeshua’s disciples found
out too), he called the bridegroom, and said
to him, “Every man serves the good wine first,
and when the people have drunk freely, then he
serves the poorer wine; but you have kept the
good wine until now.”
Through
Yeshua, the water was turned into wine - real
wine, not grape juice, as is made quite clear
by the observation of the man in charge of the
banquet, that when people drink wine freely, they
can’t taste the difference between good wine and
cheaper wine. That only makes sense if we are
dealing with real wine. And not only was it real
wine, but it was really good wine - it was great
wine.
Now, most
of you know that your Rabbi likes a nice glass
of wine. I wish I could have been there, at that
wedding at Kanah, and tasted that some of that
water-turned-excellent-wine, but I suppose I will
get a chance soon enough, at another wedding feast,
the great dinner to celebrate our union with God
and the Messiah. When Yeshua returns for us, we
will forever be joined to our Heavenly Bridegroom,
and the celebration of all marriage celebrations
will take place, and I can’t imagine that the
best wine won’t be on the menu!
So, this
is Yeshua’s first sign. This beginning of His
signs Yeshua did in Kanah of Galilee, and manifested
His glory, and His disciples believed in Him.
How about you? He miraculously rescued this newlywed
Jewish couple from a social disaster, showing
that He is the Lord over nature, and able to turn
water into wine. May I speak frankly for a moment?
Some of our marriages need some rescuing. They
need some of their troubled waters to be turned
into good wine. Don’t you think that with Yeshua’s
help, with Yeshua present, it can be done? That
God can’t turn those troubled waters into wine,
and bring some joy back into your marriage? What
should you do? Keep trying, keep working on your
marriage, ask Yeshua to intervene, so that God
to help your marriage.
This first
sign produced confidence, growing trust in Yeshua
among His disciples. John tells us that they saw
a glimpse of His glory - the honor and power that
are part of who Yeshua really is - the Lord of
Glory - but that glory was hidden for the most
part when He was on Earth. Do you believe in Him,
trust in Him, have confidence that He is still
alive, the Lord of Creation, and can still do
miracles, and can help you, save you from your
troubles, and rescue you?
After
this Jewish wedding Yeshua remained up north,
in the Galil. Verse 12 says, After this He
went down to K’far Nachum - the Village of Nachum
- Capernaum, He and His mother and His brothers
and His disciples; K’far Nachum was the hometown
of Matthew, Simon and Andrew, and possibly Yochanan
and Ya’akov - James and John (see Mark 2:15 and
Matthew 8:14). It’s on the north shore of the
Kinneret - the sea of Galilee, which of course
is really a lake. This town becomes the headquarters
for Yeshua and the disciples.
If you
ever get to Israel, and go to K’far Nachum, you
can see part of the synagogue, which is still
standing from the First or Second Century, where
Yeshua and the disciples may have prayed and worshiped.
and they stayed there a few days. Sounds
like a detail recorded by an eyewitness, someone
who was there, who knew exactly where Yeshua went,
and knew who went with Him, and for how long.
That brings
us to our second adventure with Yeshua. It is
the account of those events that took place at
when Yeshua was at Jerusalem celebrating His first
Passover after being anointed by God with the
Spirit. In Kanah, Yeshua showed kindness to a
family in need. In Jerusalem, Yeshua will show
another side of Himself, to a different group
of Jewish people. He will deal with them in a
very different way. Let’s look at verse 13:
The
Jewish Passover was near, and Yeshua went up to
Jerusalem. Now, going up to Jerusalem to observe
the Passover was not new to Yeshua. He had done
it yearly with His family. But this year, having
been immersed by John, and anointed with the Spirit
of God, it will be different.
Let me
ask you another question: what is every Jewish
family supposed to do before we celebrate Passover?
Cleanse our homes of leaven - which is a symbol
of sin, right? Just as we cleanse our homes of
leaven, at the same time we want to rid our lives
of those things which are wrong and keep us from
getting closer to God. Well, the most important
home in Israel was God’s House - the Temple, and
so Yeshua, the rightful Son over God’s House,
will cleanse God’s House, and remove those things
which keep people from the worship of God.
Isn’t
this what the prophet Malachi warned us the true
Messiah would do? “Behold, I (Adonai - the
Lord) am going to send My messenger (John
the Baptist), and he will clear the way before
Me. And Ha - Adon - the Lord (the Messiah),
whom you seek, will suddenly come to His Temple;
and the Messenger of the Covenant, in whom you
delight, behold, He is coming,” says the Lord
of hosts.
God’s
speaking through the prophet Malachi, forewarned
us that He would send the Messiah, who is the
Lord, and God’s Messenger, the Messenger who brings
the New Covenant, and He would suddenly come to
His Temple, His Holy House in Jerusalem, and the
first thing He would do is cleanse it thoroughly.
But
who can endure the day of His coming? And who
can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner's
fire and like fullers' soap. He will sit as a
smelter and purifier of silver, and He will purify
the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and
silver, so that they may present to the Lord offerings
in righteousness.” The Messiah would start
with the leaders of the Temple - the Priests and
the Levites, cleansing them like gold and silver
are purified by the refining fires, purifying
them like dirty clothes are cleansed by strong
laundry detergent.
And
He found in the Temple those who were selling
oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers
seated at their tables. And He made a scourge
of cords, and drove them all out of the Temple,
with the sheep and the oxen; and He poured out
the coins of the money changers and overturned
their tables; and to those who were selling the
doves He said, “Take these things away; stop making
My Father's House a place of business.” His disciples
remembered that it was written, “Zeal for Your
House will consume me.”
The Temple
was being commercialized. Instead of being a place
of worship, contemplation, mediation, with everything
focusing on a holy God, and the way of atonement
He provided through the sacrificial system, the
priests who were in charge of the Temple had allowed
it to become more like a Middle Eastern Shuk -
a loud, noisy crowded Bazaar where profit was
the most important thing.
In fact,
both the Jewish historian Josephus and the Rabbis
both mention the greed, wastefulness and luxurious
lifestyles of the Priests who were in charge of
the Temple at this period of time. “The bazaar
of the sons of Chanan” is mentioned in early Rabbinic
writings as being greedy and corrupt, where extra
profits were made off the worship of God, driving
up the prices of sacrifices.
Now, sacrifices
needed to be offered. Jewish pilgrims didn't bring
lambs, goats, bulls or pigeons from Rome or Babylon
or cities that were far from Jerusalem. They needed
to buy kosher animals at Jerusalem. And, those
who lived outside Israel brought their own foreign
currencies which were converted by the moneychangers
into money that was usable at the Temple, so that
the Temple tax could be paid in the proper coinage.
But, these
sons of Levi had allowed the commercial aspect
of the Temple to crowd out other things, preventing
people from thinking rightly about God. They had
made the Temple a house of merchandise instead
of the only true house of worship on the entire
planet.
And so,
Yeshua cleansed the Temple, using a whip, because
of His great concern, His tremendous zeal and
fiery concern about everything that will keep
men from God. He is not a Messiah who is a pacifist
or a wimp. He will take drastic actions if necessary
on behalf of God’s House, as Yeshua’s disciples
later remembered, especially as they read Psalm
69:9, “Zeal for Your House has consumed me,” which
they applied to the Messiah.
In His
holy zeal, Yeshua cleansed the Temple at the beginning
of His service to the Lord, and at the end of
His ministry. And, Yeshua will do this everywhere
He desires to come into. Don’t be surprised if
we allow the Temple of God’s Spirit to get crowded
out by other things, the Son of God will take
His whip to your life, and my life, to drive out
all those things that will distract us from serving
God, which is our true life.
Now, this
cleansing of the Temple by the young carpenter
from Nazareth, at Passover, when it was crowded
by hundreds of thousands of Jewish people from
all over the world, did not sit well with the
Jewish leaders. It challenged their authority,
it made them look bad, and it cut into their profits.
A confrontation resulted.
The
Jewish leaders then said to Him, “What sign do
You show us as your authority for doing these
things?” “Yeshua, who do you think you are?
We are the Coheneem - the Priests and the religious
leaders of Israel. You are challenging our system
and the chain of command. What right do you have
do to that? Do something, give us some evidence
that you have authority to challenge us. Do you
possibly think that you are greater than us.”
Yeshua
answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three
days I will raise it up.” I won’t do a miracle
on command to prove Myself to a group of faithless
people who are hostile to Me. The only sign for
you, to prove to you that I do indeed have greater
authority than you, is the miracle of My death
and resurrection, which I already know is coming.
But these Jewish leaders didn’t understand what
Yeshua had said to them.
The
Jewish leaders then said, “It took forty-six years
to build this Temple, and will You raise it up
in three days?” If the literal sense makes
sense, seek no other sense. But if the literal
sense doesn’t make sense, then seek a non-literal
sense, a symbolic meaning. Did it make sense that
Yeshua would rebuild the Temple in three days?
No - not really. Not at that time. And so John
clarifies things: But He was speaking of the
temple of His body. He was predicting His
death and His resurrection victory over death.
So
when He was raised from the dead, His disciples
remembered that He said this; and they believed
the Scripture and the word which Yeshua had spoken.
In retrospect, Yeshua’s powerful statement to
these Jewish leaders created belief - faith in
the words of Yeshua and in the Scriptures, both
of which foretold His death. Yeshua’s death and
His resurrection remains the great sign and proof
of Yeshua's authority, that He acted with God's
blessing and approval and authority in all that
He did and said. His resurrection proves that
He was superior to all the Jewish leaders in Israel
- since the Son of the House is greater than the
employees work merely work at the House.
This confrontation
at Passover sets the tone for Yeshua's relationship
with the religious leaders that will culminate
in His death 3 or 4 years latter at another Passover.
The religious leaders will look for ways to discredit
and challenge the authority of Yeshua. And, this
statement would remain misunderstood and remembered
for three or four years, and used against Him
at His trial, which took place close by (see Matthew
26:61).
Let’s
conclude with the reaction of other Jewish people
who were in Jerusalem during this special Passover,
starting with verse 23: Now when He was in
Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many
believed in His name, observing His signs which
He was doing. But Yeshua, on His part, was not
entrusting Himself to them, for He knew all men,
and because He did not need anyone to testify
concerning man, for He Himself knew what was in
man.
Word had
been going around Jerusalem, which meant most
of the Jewish nation that was gathered there,
that Yeshua of Nazareth, the son of Mary and Joseph,
had been doing miracles there. This was very exciting,
since a prophet who did miracles hadn’t come to
Israel in hundreds of years. John tells us that
many “believed in His name.” These miracles produced
some belief, but it was only partial faith, not
full confidence. Belief in Yeshua or His miracles
isn't enough.
“Believe”
means than mere mental affirmation. It means following,
obeying, becoming a persecuted disciple, sticking
with Yeshua to the bitter end. You will meet lots
of people who “believe in His name” or pray “the
prayer of salvation” are baptized, who say that
they are Christians or Messianic Jews, but they
are not true disciples, or genuine believers.
I hope none of us fall into that category. And
so Yeshua, who knows all peoples’ hearts, didn't
entrust Himself to the crowds, who had little
genuine faith, and He never will. Instead, He
committed Himself to a small group of committed
disciples. Let’s be willing to join the small,
dedicated faithful and persecuted minority. Won’t
it be worth it, if only we truly wind up with
God and Yeshua?
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