SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/2/2016
10:44 AM
My Worship Time
Focus: The Scene
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: John. 2:1-2
Message of
the verses: “1 On the third day there was a wedding in
Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there; 2 and both Jesus and His
disciples were invited to the wedding.”
The phrase “on the third day” goes back to the call
of Philip which is seen in 1:43-51. This
the last in a series of time indicators beginning in 1:29, 35, 43 and this “suggest
the events from John the Baptist’s interview with Jewish authorities (1:19-28)
to the wedding in Cana took place within the span of one week.” Cana was about nine miles north of Nazareth,
close to where Jesus grew up and thus He and His family were probably familiar
with the ones getting married as we also see that His mother was there too.
In his recent sermon on this section, the one that I
quoted yesterday John MacArthur talks about how important a social event a
wedding was in those days. When we
studied the book of Revelation we also spoke of how this wedding ceremony fit
into the all the events of Jesus’ first and second coming along with His reign
in the Millennial Kingdom. MacArthur
writes “The wedding marked the culmination of the betrothal period. During that period, which often lasted for
several months, the couple was considered legally man and wife (Matt. 1:18-19
refers to Joseph as Mary’s husband during their betrothal period), and only a
divorce could terminate the betrothal (cf. Matt. 1:19). They did not, however, live together or
consummate the marriage during that period (Matt. 1:18). On the night of the ceremony (usually a
Wednesday), the groom and his friends would go to the bride’s house. They would then escort her and her attendants
to the groom’s house, where the ceremony and banquet would be held (cf. Matt.
25:1-10). The whole celebration ended
with the actual wedding.”
Let’s go back to the sermon mentioned and get some more important quotes from it. “I want to give you a footnote to think about though. The fact that our Lord did His first miracle at a wedding emphasizes the sanctity of that covenant. Weddings matter. Public covenant matters. The ceremony matters; it always has, it always has. People are not married who just live together. People are married who make public covenant before God and before people.
“Marriage is a condition of life designed by God, ordained by God, and authenticated in an open, public covenant. It is the highest and noblest and best of all human relationships. No other human relationship is as wonderful as marriage. It is called in the Bible “the grace of life.” It is the most wonderful and most blessed of all common graces. And we talk about common grace. What we mean by that is a grace gift from God to all people without regard to whether they believe in Him. That’s a common grace. And of all the common graces--the beauty of the world, a sunset, sleep, health, a good meal, falling in love--of all the common graces, the epitome of common graces is marriage. It is the best gift that God can give to humanity in general without regard to whether they know Him at all. Any society that honors marriage, any society that elevates marriage--a life-long commitment openly; a covenant made and kept between a man and a woman who rear children in the bond of that love--any society that honors marriage will be blessed temporally. It will prosper. It will be safe. It will be secure. It will know peace. It will have a minimum of crime.
“On the other hand, any society that fails to honor marriage as a covenant, open covenant between a man and a woman for life, in which children are reared and cared for; any society that diminishes marriage, that fails to honor marriage, is corrupt, is doomed to chaos, turmoil, evil and judgment. Where marriage for life is not honored, where the covenant vows between a man and a woman are not kept, immorality abounds. Immorality overruns the culture, delinquency overruns the culture. The fabric of society is shredded and even escalates. Our Lord honored marriage by attending and doing His first miracle at a wedding.”
In our next SD “The Situation” we will talk more about the mother of Jesus and here role in this wedding, and how Jesus handles her request.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: It is wonderful to review what God tells us about marriage.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Remember my responsibility in marriage.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible question: “The third day” (Genesis 1:9-13).
Today’s Bible question: “Who is the wild olive tree referred to in Romans 11?”
Answer in our next SD.
1/2/2016 11:21 AM
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