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Devotional For the Week 24th January 2005

New Wine for the New Year
Scriptural Text: John 2:1-11

Jesus changed water into wine. It was not just a gesture to help the embarrassed wedding couple who had run out of wine at their wedding feast. It was a sign of the era Jesus had come to institute ‘miraculous signs’ (John 2:11). It was a sign of something great and supernatural. It was a sign that pointed to the Son of God Himself – who He is and what He came to do. Jesus came to transform us.

Jesus transforms mistakes into miracles

The lack of wine was a disgrace to the wedding couple but Jesus changed all that. He turns problems into possibilities. Psalms 30:11 says of God: “You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy…”

Jesus transforms religiosity into reality

Jesus used the jars for ceremonial washing for the Jews to be filled with the very water that would be turned into wine. The water jar ritual represented the Old Testament law where water was used to wash the ‘outside’. The Pharisees had focused on the wrong things. Jesus teaches in Matthew 20:18 that “…the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man ‘unclean'… Eating with unwashed hands does not make him unclean.” Jesus had come to wash the ‘inside’ - He brought with Him new wine of grace to revive the spiritually dead. He came to change the external rituals of religion into the inner joy and power of the Holy Spirit! Hebrew 8:10-13 state that the covenant of the law became obsolete with the new covenant Jesus instituted.

Jesus transforms scarcity into abundance

Jesus instructed the servants to fill the jars to the brim, although the guests would probably not be able to finish it. 180 gallons of wine was not a small amount! God is an extravagant giver – He gives more than enough. (1 Kings 17:12-16) Jesus says, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” (John 10:10)

Our Response

Dear friends, Jesus’ miracles are signs that point us to who He is and the reason He has come - to transform us. However sometimes we may see a sign and still miss our destination. Let us respond to God today. Let God turn our mistakes into miracles, our religiosity into the reality of being alive in Christ and our scarcity into abundance. Let us step out in faith and experience God’s favour. 2 Corinthians 6: 1, 2 says, “As God's fellow workers we urge you not to receive God's grace in vain. For He says, “In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.” I tell you, now is the time of God's favour, now is the day of salvation.” If we pray, God will hear. If we plow, He will help us. In this New Year, let us ask God for a new anointing. Let us ask Him for new wine!

- Pastor Benny Ho, Arrows School of Ministry

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