John 2:1-11 And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there:… Some people think that the age of miracles has passed; everybody knows that that of marriages has not. I. JESUS NOT ONLY TOLERATES THE SOCIAL USAGES OF LIFE — its festivities among the rest — BUT ENCOURAGES AND SANCTIFIES THEM. Some gloomy people frown upon the common signs of cheerfulness, but for this habit we have here the eternal antidote. II. WE NEED CHRIST AT SEASONS OF SOCIAL FESTIVITY AS MUCH, OR EVEN MORE, THAN AT OTHER TIMES. Pure religion is never unseasonable. If we think we give our worship to God, and stop the devil's mouth by an occasional indulgence, the devil will soon get our worship too. There is no more fatal mistake than to think that if we pay our dues in the House of God, we may please ourselves in the house of man. Jesus should be always bidden at our seasons of joy; for be sure that if we do not send Him our invitation, the devil will come without one. III. THERE IS AN EXQUISITE TENDERNESS IN OUR LORD'S BINDING HIS DISCIPLES TO HIM at this marriage feast. He does not speak to them of the cross as yet. He speaks as they are able to bear it. Coming after His long fast in the wilderness, He breathes no asceticism. He who had been so hardly pressed for bread, turns water into wine. He will train us as we need to be trained. IV. IF CHRIST IS SHUT OUT FROM THE HOUSE OF FEASTING, WE MUST NOT WONDER AT HIS ABSENCE FROM THE HOUSE OF MOURNING. (Harry Jones, M. A.)The ministry began at a marriage festival which ended on Calvary, and its glory was manifested by both. I. THE FUNDAMENTAL, ORIGINAL, AND ULTIMATE CONDITION OF LIFE IS BLESSING. Life begins in Eden, passes by Gethsemane and Calvary, and ends in heaven. It is God's will that man should be everywhere and always blessed. Misery lies not in God's making, but in the devil's marring. II. OUR LORD SOUGHT TO SEVER HIMSELF AT ONCE AND ABSOLUTELY FROM THE ASCETIC SPIRIT. He came to add to the mirth of all feasts, the brightness of all homes, the gladness of all songs. He was absolutely free from the monkish idolatry of sorrow. He simply went about His Father's work in whatever direction it might be. III. CHRIST REVERSED THE DEVIL'S UNIFORM METHOD AT FESTIVALS. Did ever any one get the best of the world's wine, or the devil's, at the end of the banquet? But whatever He gives has an infinite store behind it. Hence we are saved by hope. The pain and toil are for the moment, the joy grows into eternity IV. CHRIST SHOWED THE TRUE SPIRIT OF SELF-SACRIFICE. The joy sympathetic with the joy of the Lord. (J. Baldwin Brown, B. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there:WEB: The third day, there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee. Jesus' mother was there. |
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