Transformed! (part 1)
Day 205
October 7, 2020
The servants must have been nervous as they brought the cup to the Master of the Banquet. There was a crisis. The wine had run out at the wedding and a man named Jesus told them to fill the ceremonial jars with water. Now he told them to take that same water to the Master who was expecting more wine. Upon taking his first sip, he didn’t spit it out but cried out to the bridegroom, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.” (John 2:10)
The mystery of salvation was that God had saved the best for last. Over the course of His dealings with sinful humanity, God had constantly shown himself faithful in providing for man and rescuing man from destruction. From clothing the naked Adam and Eve, to delivering the people from Egypt, to the ways God used judges to rescue Israel, God has always been a God who saves. And so, is it any wonder that now Jesus, whose name means God saves, was the vehicle that God would use to rescue man forever? The sacrifice of the perfect Lamb of God would provide salvation for a fallen world. From death to life!
Just like the miracle of water becoming wine, we too through Christ have been transformed from the common to the holy. And now our deeds, the fruit of the Spirit, testify to the saving work He has done. It is not just acceptable wine, but it is the best it can be. This first recorded miracle from the book of John revealed the glory of God, the Messiah, and also pointed to the transformative work He would do for all humanity. Through Jesus our hope, the Light of the World, we have been transformed from creatures of death to creatures of life.
But those who do not believe stand condemned already. John 3:19-21 states, “And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”
The Master of the banquet did not spit out the wine that had been transformed. However in contrast, we read later in the second chapter of John that Jesus did throw out the merchants from the temple, His Father’s house, because they loved their dark deeds and were more interested in making money than serving God. Despite knowing the one true God, they refused to honor Him and therefore, their own actions condemned them. Jesus, in Revelation 3:15-17, echoes this warning to the church, saying, “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.”
May we not be spit out. Jesus is the ultimate Master of the Banquet. May our lives continue to proclaim the miracle of salvation that He has performed in our lives. May we endure to the end of the wedding feast, and once presented to Him, all our lives be found acceptable and pleasing through the transformation that Jesus himself has done in us.
Read John 2