More Than Enough!

What was Jesus saying by turning Jewish purification water into wine? Let me give you another hint. What can wash away my sins? (Nothing but the blood of Jesus.) What can make me whole again? (Nothing but the blood of Jesus.) Oh precious is the flow, that makes me white as snow. No other fount I know, Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

The ceremonial washings could not wash away our sins. Nothing can. Nothing, except the blood of Jesus.

When Jesus turned the Jewish purification water into wine he was making a bold statement about his mission. That's why John gave this miracle, excuse me, sign, such a prominent place in his gospel. Jesus was announcing his Messianic mission here.

Jesus knew it, and John came to understand it, but what about the servants, did they have a clue? I seriously doubt that they thought for a moment about what Jesus' request symbolized, they were too bogged down in details. Details like the condition of the water in the pots.

What kind of shape do you think the water was in? Today we drive to church in our cars on paved roads. But what if we walked on dusty roads wearing sandals and we all washed our feet in the same pot, and then washed our hands with the same water, what kind of condition would the water be in? Would you want to drink out of it?

Jesus told the servants to fill up the pots to the top. Notice that he didn't instruct them to empty what was already in them. Pouring more water would cloud the water, bringing the dirt up from the bottom. It was murkier when they finished pouring than when they started. Look at what Jesus tells them to do next: "Draw some out now, and take it to the headwaiter." (John 2:8 NASB) They didn't argue with Him. They didn't question Him. They did it. They took the beverage to him as Jesus said. Like the Disneyland billboard Jesus asked the servants to believe. And they did. They believed that Jesus knew what He was doing, even if they didn't understand it. Jesus didn't disappoint them, according to the headwaiter, this was "the good wine."

You can know that same transforming power that turned "dirty bath water" into fine wine. Like the servants, you must believe enough to follow Jesus' instructions. Like Nikki did. A Jew, raised attending the Temple, Nikki wanted absolutely nothing to do with church. She agreed to attend church with her friend Dana, but just once. The next week she was back. "I never stopped going," she said, "the energy that was present around me was all consuming and actually addictive!"

Nikki was captivated. She wasn't seeking for God, but she did say, "God was constantly seeking me out. I was asking for proof, and finding it everywhere I looked."

She had plenty of questions and went through a lot of confusion, but suddenly realized that "In 27 years of 'being' Jewish, never was I 'being' with God, much less in any sort of relationship with Him." On August 18, 1998 she realized that Jesus was the Messiah and her Savior-by God's grace, she became a completed Jew.

Her life radically changed. "Today, I experience God all around me," Nikki said, "because the hole in my heart is now full of ever-flowing love for God." (Fresh Illustrations http://www.freshministry.org/illustrations.html) To put it another way, Jesus turned her ceremonial water into wine.