In John the second chapter, we find the story where Jesus went to a wedding in Cana of Galilee. We know that with any wedding there is going to be planning. For some reason, the master of the event (verse 9) found himself in an awkward situation – they ran out of wine (verse 3). Mary came right out and said “They have no wine.”

Jesus performed a miracle and turned the water into wine. There were six water pots that each held twenty to thirty gallons. It is safe to say that Jesus easily made between 120-160 gallons of wine (verse 6). Did the guests, including our Lord, have even more alcoholic wine to drink now after having already consumed all the alcoholic wine that was available earlier?

I have made the statement on more than one occasion that if anyone thinks Jesus made alcoholic beverages at the wedding feast, they do not know Jesus. By this I mean that they do not know what He taught concerning intoxicating, alcoholic wine. Jesus did not warn people about the abuse of wine, He spoke about drinking it. Christ, speaking through the Holy Spirit to Peter, discussed the three levels of transgression relating to drinking. First was drunkenness, then revelries (i.e. the life of the party) and finally drinking parties (I Pet. 4:3). If there was truly so much alcoholic wine at the wedding feast, would it not fit the description of a drinking party?

Some would argue that the word “wine” in the Bible always refers to fermented grape juice. If this is true, then the Bible is not just permitting us to consume alcohol but encouraging us to consume in moderation. This could not be any further from the truth. The John 2 text should be sufficient to settle that dispute, but we shall consider some other facts.

If all grape juice was fermented, how could the elders in a local church logically be forbidden to drink any wine (I Tim. 3:3)? Would this not mean that they could not partake of the Lord’s Supper (I Cor. 11:23-26)? [Questions about deacons will be dealt with in the second article (I Tim. 3:8)]. The verses regarding elders lead to a logical conclusion that wine in the Bible can be fermented or non-fermented.

A passage that does deal clearly with fermented wine is Proverbs 23. Look what is stated by inspiration of God: “Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaints? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes? Those who linger long at the wine, those who go in search of mixed wine. Do not look on the wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it swirls around smoothly; at last it bits like a serpent, and stings like a viper,” (verses 29-32). This is obviously a warning to those who are interested in alcoholic wine. The message is clear – do not even look at it! If our Savior made close to 150 gallons, it clearly must have been non-alcoholic.

Getting back to the New Testament, some contend that Christians drank fermented wine based upon I Corinthians 11:21. The text speaks about the abuse of the Lord’s Supper and how they turned it into a feast. Some would eat ahead of others while others were hungry and still others were drunk. Then Paul tells them to eat and drink at home (verse 22). The word “drunk” here means “to be filled.” The word can be used to describe one who is intoxicated, but this is not the only use. In context, Paul was contrasting those who had much to eat and drink with those who had little. Lord willing, next week I will devote another article to this subject.

Chuck                                                                                        

I do not mind studying the Bible with anyone. The problem comes when people throw out all common sense when handling the scriptures. Such happened to me this week, and I found it frustrating. I think there are many lessons we can draw from this experience.

I was asked if the event described in John 16:25 had happened to me. The person I was studying with said it had happened to him. “These things I have spoken to you in figurative language; but the time is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figurative language, but I will tell you plainly about the Father.”

I explained that in this text, Jesus is specifically dealing with His apostles. He is describing what is going to happen after the Holy Spirit comes upon them. This was mentioned earlier in the chapter (verse 13). The Lord brought this event up a number of times in the previous couple of chapters (14:26; 15:26).

Did this happen to me? Yes and no. The promise was given directly to the apostles, but everyone after them (including me) benefited from the inspired message that they recorded. In Acts 2:1-4, the Holy Spirit came upon the apostles and then they spoke the word of God (verse 6). Everybody who has heard the gospel of Christ had heard this plain message about the Father described in John 16:25. But did this happen to me in a literal sense? No, I was not alive when Jesus gave this premonition, nor was I in the audience.

However, the message that the apostles spoke was not a mystery. Paul wrote: “How that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I have briefly written already, by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ)” (Eph. 3:3-4).  The reveals that God’s message is plain and understandable by all, which is consistent with John 16:25.

Having said all of this, why did this man ask me the question in the first place? They are many who think mankind needs divine intervention today to help us understand the message given by the apostles (the Bible). This logic is weak – why would our Lord send the Holy Spirit to guide His disciples into all truth if everyone else would not be able to understand the message that the apostles would then be preaching?  

To help this gentleman rightly divide the word, we read I Corinthians 1:26-27. As Paul said, not many mighty, noble or wise according to the flesh would be called. Few of these people would respond to the gospel because they considered it beneath them.  Consider also these words of Jesus: “I thank you Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes,” (Matt. 11:25).

Knowing this, I then answered “yes” to the original question. I can plainly understand the heavenly message. I do not need the Holy Spirit to help me understand what the Holy Spirit revealed. Why? Because the message was revealed in a way that was already understandable to those who are looking for the truth. We already noted that the message is hidden to those unwilling to see it. It is not because they cannot see it – rather because they do not want to!

I finally asked the person if he could pick up serpents and not be harmed as Jesus stated in Mark 16:18. He said that verse was not meant for him. Even though I agreed, it caused me to wonder – why consider the context surrounding the Mark passage but not the John passage? For this man, the only rule is apparently “no rules”.

Chuck

This past week we had a gentleman call after watching our TV program. He wanted to know what Jesus meant when He stated, “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad,” (John. 8:56). To answer this question, we need to get more of this passage’s context to see why Jesus even brought up Abraham.

Earlier in this chapter, Jesus told people they would be His disciples if they would abide in His word. Moreover, they could know the truth and the truth would set them free (verses 31-32). After Christ said this, the Jews stated, “We are Abraham’s descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone,” (verse 33). Therefore, they could not understand why they needed to be freed.

After our Lord explained to them their spiritual condition, they responded again and said that Abraham was their father (verse 39). Christ simply argued that if they were Abraham’s children, they ought to do the works of Abraham. The Jews responded that God is their Father (verse 41). This of course prompted the Lord to say that if they were of the Father they would also love His Son Jesus (verse 42).

The discussion with the Jews went from bad to worse when they accused Jesus of having a demon (verse 48). In defending that accusation, Christ told them that He did not have a demon and honored His Father. Additionally, whoever kept His word will would never see death (verse 51). The Jews then brought up the death of Abraham and the prophets. They thought Jesus must be wrong because those individuals were faithful yet died (verse 52).

It was here that our Lord brought up the question at hand. Why did Jesus say that Abraham rejoiced to see His day and was glad (verse 56)? These Jews knew that Jesus wa not even 50 years old (verse 57), so how could he argue that Abraham had seen Jesus on the earth?  This brings us to a great saying that our Savior uttered. “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was I AM,” (verse 58).

The reason Abraham saw the day of the Lord was by faith. The promise was given to him that through his seed all the families of the earth would be blessed (Gen. 12:3). Abraham and others embraced the promise and walked by faith. The Hebrew writer recorded that Abraham and others back then received the promise having seen them afar off and were assured of them, and embraced them (Heb. 11:8-13).

Now let’s make the connection with the faithful today. In writing to the church at Galatia, Paul wrote, “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise,” (Gal. 3:27-29).

The Jews did not have a closer connection with Abraham than with all the faithful of today. If anything, they lacked that connection with Abraham while they rejected Jesus. After all, you must listen to and abide in Christ’s teachings in order to be an heir to the promises given to Abraham.

Another fact that many Jews failed to grasp was that the promises were made to Abraham before Israel was even a great nation. The law of Moses came 430 years after Abraham (Gal. 3:16-17). This reinforces the promise that “all nations” would be blessed, which was the very thing many of the Jews were unwilling to accept. May we accept all as God’s children and follow Christ today.

                                                                                               Chuck

Do not forget that Jesus was a worker

We should never forget that Jesus lived a perfect, righteous life and then endured a terrible death save the souls of mankind (Heb. 4:15; Rom. 5:6-11). This is why we are admonished to follow His example (I Pet. 2:21). But let us not forget that when Jesus walked on this earth, He was constantly working.

Consider this example from Matthew 11:1: “Now it came to pass, when Jesus finished commanding His twelve disciples, that He departed from there to teach and to preach in their cities.”  The next verse says that when John was in prison, he heard about the works of Christ (verse 2). This indicates how far the impact of Christ’s work spread. What else do we know about how much the Lord accomplished? “And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain all the books that would be written,” (John 21:25).

Many claim to be Christians – do they desire to be workers like Christ? If we sing the hymn “I want to be a worker for the Lord” can we also say, “I am a worker for the Lord, just like the Lord”?  This is a good aspiration to have, but it is not easily accomplished.

It is true that Jesus spent time healing people, which we cannot do. And yes, Jesus performed many miracles that we simply cannot do. However, our Savior did many things which we can do like praying long and often, encouraging and sympathizing, and preaching and teaching. We all need to be increasing in these things as time goes by.

Perhaps Jesus knew that He only had about 3 ½ years on the earth to do these things, so He did as much as He could in a short period. Whether this is true or not, it makes no difference. None of us know how much time we have. If we are earnest about our service and we do not know how much time we have, then we should be even more encouraged to work while we can! Live like Jesus lived, and work like Jesus worked!

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Chuck                                                                                                                                                                    

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever

You may have recognized the title from Hebrews 13:8. This is a great statement and worthy of examination. What did the inspired writer of Hebrews mean by stating that Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever? Here are some valuable lessons to learn:

Jesus has not changed

In a world where technology changes faster than we can keep up, the Lord is a constant. He was our Savior yesterday, He is our Savior today and He will continue to be our Savior in the future (Phil. 3:20). Because Christ continues to be the way and the truth and the life, the way unto the Father will never change (John 14:6). Other “prophets” might wrongly teach other paths, but Jesus remains the same!

Jesus’ authority has not changed

Relating to our previous point, Christ has all authority (Matt. 28:18) and will continue to do so. The Father cried out from heaven that we are to listen to His Son (Matt. 17:5). Whatever was done yesterday, is done today and will be done in the future must be by the authority of Christ (Col. 3:17). This power is as much in effect today as it was after His death – the authority does not pass away with time. Recall that the Hebrew writer started off his book by stating that the Father has spoken unto us by His Son in these last days (Heb. 1:2).

Jesus’ words have not changed

The passing of time will never mean that the Lord’s words need to be updated. Jesus Himself told His followers that they would be guided into all truth (John 16:13). This statement assures us that we have all we need – no additional truth needs to be delivered. Moreover, these delivered words of Christ that were here yesterday, today and forever are the words by which we will all judged (John 12:48). As followers of Christ, we should be encouraged by this consistency. We need to value and remember that fact that our Lord and Savior is the same yesterday, today and forever.                                                                

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     Chuck