A Human Jar – Part 2
Now there were six stone waterpots set there for the Jewish custom of purification, containing twenty or thirty gallons each. Jesus said to them, “Fill the waterpots with water.” [John 2:6-7]
Jesus used the miracle of changing water to wine to teach invisible spiritual truth. This was common with the Lord. In fact in the Bible, both Old and New Testaments, God made it a point to employ visible physical realities to teach invisible spiritual truth. Let’s interpret what invisible spiritual truth Jesus taught by His miracle of changing water to wine.
We would serve ourselves well if we first enumerate the several items involved in the miracle. Each one holds significance in our interpretation of the miracle. Here they are:
• six stone jars
• water
• wine
The “stone” jars were earthenware. They were baked clay. Clay comes from the earth. It is soil, dirt, dust. The clay is molded into the shape of a jar, then baked in an oven to transform it into “stone” of sorts. In the Bible man’s body is represented as an earthenware jar. We have this treasure in earthen vessels [2 Corinthians 4:7]. Jesus employed the six earthenware jars as a type of the human body.
This understanding is corroborated by the number of jars which were filled with water. There were six earthenware jars, not seven or twenty-three or two. The number “6” in Scripture is the number of the natural man. Man was created on Day 6 of God’s creation of nature. The number of the natural man and the composition of the natural man’s body combine to identify what the six earthenware jars represented.
The servants filled the jars with water. Since the jars represented the natural man, the man of the earth, the water inside the earthenware jars symbolized the life of the natural man. This should be self-evident and need no more elaboration.
What did Jesus do with the life of the natural man? Answer: He transformed it to wine. In the sacrifices and offerings of the Old Testament, drink offerings consisted of wine. The wine typified blood. Wine has the appearance of blood. Wine is known as the blood of the grape. The wine typified blood.
In the same way that the life of the animal was offered up to the Lord, so too was the offerer’s life symbolically offered to the Lord by the act of wine poured out on the altar in the form of a drink offering. The Word of God teaches that the life of man and animal is in the blood. By pouring out the blood, the life is offered to the Lord. Blood cannot be poured out apart from life being taken, i.e., without death occurring.
At the Last Supper Jesus employed wine as the same symbol. He identified the wine as His blood, which He would soon shed as payment for the penalty of man’s sins. He would not again drink the wine with His disciples until they did so in His Kingdom. In His Kingdom the wine would serve as a type of His blood (i.e., His life) in the resurrection. This means the wine also signifies the new life, the resurrection life.
In the context of the miracle of John 2, did the wine symbolize the natural life or the new resurrection life? Answer: it symbolized the new life. How so? Well, the contrast was between the water and the wine. Remember how the servants would not fare so well, should they serve the wedding guests water? Water was an unacceptable liquid to drink at the wedding celebration!
Spiritually speaking, what is unacceptable to God is the life of sin, man’s natural life. This is what the water typified. Hence the wine, the transformed water, symbolized a changed life. The wine was a type of the new life we receive through faith in Christ Jesus. It is eternal life, the resurrection life which Jesus imparts to His kids.
Mama Mary wanted to use her natural relationship as mother, in order to influence Jesus to perform a miracle. When Jesus entered His ministry, however, the rules of the natural life were no longer in force. His parents didn't direct Jesus how to conduct His ministry. The Word of God and the Holy Spirit did.
The miracle of changing the water to wine was a picture story to teach this invisible spiritual truth. We cannot see this truth with the natural eye. It requires the eye of faith to envision it. Let’s spend time alone with the Lord Jesus now. Maybe He has some more goodies to teach us.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Leviticus: Volume 3 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Jesus used the miracle of changing water to wine to teach invisible spiritual truth. This was common with the Lord. In fact in the Bible, both Old and New Testaments, God made it a point to employ visible physical realities to teach invisible spiritual truth. Let’s interpret what invisible spiritual truth Jesus taught by His miracle of changing water to wine.
We would serve ourselves well if we first enumerate the several items involved in the miracle. Each one holds significance in our interpretation of the miracle. Here they are:
• six stone jars
• water
• wine
The “stone” jars were earthenware. They were baked clay. Clay comes from the earth. It is soil, dirt, dust. The clay is molded into the shape of a jar, then baked in an oven to transform it into “stone” of sorts. In the Bible man’s body is represented as an earthenware jar. We have this treasure in earthen vessels [2 Corinthians 4:7]. Jesus employed the six earthenware jars as a type of the human body.
This understanding is corroborated by the number of jars which were filled with water. There were six earthenware jars, not seven or twenty-three or two. The number “6” in Scripture is the number of the natural man. Man was created on Day 6 of God’s creation of nature. The number of the natural man and the composition of the natural man’s body combine to identify what the six earthenware jars represented.
The servants filled the jars with water. Since the jars represented the natural man, the man of the earth, the water inside the earthenware jars symbolized the life of the natural man. This should be self-evident and need no more elaboration.
What did Jesus do with the life of the natural man? Answer: He transformed it to wine. In the sacrifices and offerings of the Old Testament, drink offerings consisted of wine. The wine typified blood. Wine has the appearance of blood. Wine is known as the blood of the grape. The wine typified blood.
In the same way that the life of the animal was offered up to the Lord, so too was the offerer’s life symbolically offered to the Lord by the act of wine poured out on the altar in the form of a drink offering. The Word of God teaches that the life of man and animal is in the blood. By pouring out the blood, the life is offered to the Lord. Blood cannot be poured out apart from life being taken, i.e., without death occurring.
At the Last Supper Jesus employed wine as the same symbol. He identified the wine as His blood, which He would soon shed as payment for the penalty of man’s sins. He would not again drink the wine with His disciples until they did so in His Kingdom. In His Kingdom the wine would serve as a type of His blood (i.e., His life) in the resurrection. This means the wine also signifies the new life, the resurrection life.
In the context of the miracle of John 2, did the wine symbolize the natural life or the new resurrection life? Answer: it symbolized the new life. How so? Well, the contrast was between the water and the wine. Remember how the servants would not fare so well, should they serve the wedding guests water? Water was an unacceptable liquid to drink at the wedding celebration!
Spiritually speaking, what is unacceptable to God is the life of sin, man’s natural life. This is what the water typified. Hence the wine, the transformed water, symbolized a changed life. The wine was a type of the new life we receive through faith in Christ Jesus. It is eternal life, the resurrection life which Jesus imparts to His kids.
Mama Mary wanted to use her natural relationship as mother, in order to influence Jesus to perform a miracle. When Jesus entered His ministry, however, the rules of the natural life were no longer in force. His parents didn't direct Jesus how to conduct His ministry. The Word of God and the Holy Spirit did.
The miracle of changing the water to wine was a picture story to teach this invisible spiritual truth. We cannot see this truth with the natural eye. It requires the eye of faith to envision it. Let’s spend time alone with the Lord Jesus now. Maybe He has some more goodies to teach us.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Leviticus: Volume 3 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
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