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John 2 - Devotion · The Five Minute Bible Podcast

• 0:00
  Welcome to Five Minute Bible in our journey through the New
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  Testament. In each episode, we take just a
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  few minutes to focus on one chapter of the New Testament,
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  exploring the truths God is teaching us through His Word and
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  expanding our view of who He is. Before you listen, make sure
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  you've gone straight to the source, either by reading
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  today's chapter of the Bible yourself or listening to today's
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  read along episode in this podcast feed.
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  If you haven't done that yet, feel free to pause and do that
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  now. When you're ready, let's dive
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  into God's Word together. In John chapter 2, we see Jesus
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  perform his first miracle at a wedding taking place in a town
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  in Galilee called Cana. Jesus turns water into wine.
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  Let me recap it for you, but make sure you've read it for
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  yourself first. So Jesus and his disciples are
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  invited to this wedding in Cana, and Jesus mother Mary is also
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  there. At a certain point in the
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  festivities, the wine runs out. I'm not sure we quite have a
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  grasp in our western way of thinking of how bad this is.
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  This is a really big deal in this culture.
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  This would have placed a lot of shame on the host, as though
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  they were not able to provide, not able to handle the expense
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  and provision of a proper celebration.
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  Well, Mary doesn't want to see them put to shame, so she tells
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  Jesus that the wine has run out and soon Mary is telling the
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  servants to do whatever it is that Jesus tells them to do.
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  Jesus tells the servants to take the six stone water pots that
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  were used for ceremonial purification and fill them to
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  the brim with water. Now each of these pots could
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  hold between 20 and 30 gallons, so All in all we're talking
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  about between 120 and 180 gallons of water.
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  After the pots are filled with water, Jesus tells the servants
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  to present them to the head waiter.
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  The servants obey, and when the head waiter tastes the contents
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  of these pots, the water has been turned to wine.
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  Jesus first recorded miracle. But the story doesn't stop
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  there. The head waiter, who does not
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  know where the wine came from, calls the bridegroom over and
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  says this to him. He says every man serves the
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  good wine 1st, and when the people have drunk freely, then
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  he serves the poorer wine. But you have kept the good wine
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  until now. Catch that the water that Jesus
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  turned into wine is better than the wine that was originally
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  served at the wedding. Now I think there are a couple
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  of things at play here. 1st, and you can't miss this, Jesus power
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  is absolutely unmatched. This is the God man.
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  There is nothing too difficult for him.
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  To use the language of Mark Chapter 7, Jesus does all things
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  well, but I think there's something that goes beyond the
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  obvious reality that Jesus is powerful.
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  Think about the symbolism at work here.
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  Jars used for purification. New wine that's better than the
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  old wine. Often when wine is used as a
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  symbol in the New Testament, it's in the place of blood.
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  For example, when we as believers partake in the Lord's
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  Supper, we drink wine or grape juice to symbolize the blood of
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  Christ poured out for us. So carry the metaphor out.
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  The wine that Jesus provides is better than the wine that had
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  previously been provided. The blood of Christ, the blood
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  of the New Covenant, the blood that the perfect Lamb of God
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  would pour out on the cross, is better than the blood that had
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  been used all throughout the Old Testament, the blood of animals
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  sacrificed to cover the sins of the people.
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  Listen to Hebrews 10 verses one through 4.
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  It says, for the Law, since it has only a shadow of the good
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  things to come, and not the very form of things, can never by the
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  same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year, make
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  perfect those who draw near. Otherwise would they not have
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  ceased to be offered, because the worshippers, having once
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  been cleansed, would no longer have had consciousness of sins.
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  But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins year by year,
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  for it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take
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  away sins. In other words, the blood of
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  these bulls and goats was pointing to the blood of the
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  perfect sacrifice, Jesus Christ. And it is only by His blood that
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  the people of God can once and for all be purified, washed
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  clean and made right before God. And here at the wedding feast in
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  Cana, Jesus is tipping his hand as to what is to come.
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  To quote John the Baptist from just one chapter before this
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  one. Behold the Lamb of God who takes
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  away the sin of the world. Have your sins been taken away
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  by the perfect Lamb of God? Have you been washed by the
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  blood that was shed once for all by Jesus?
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  If you haven't, let today be the day, and if you have, rejoice in
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  the salvation and new life that He has given you by His blood.