THE WEDDING IN CANA

THE STONE WATERPOTS FOR PURIFICATION AND THE GOOD WINE

© Carlos Padilla, August 2011

Jesus Christ turned the water into wine, one of the most famous of His miracles. In this story we can receive a complete spiritual teaching about our attitude when we come, not at a wedding, but before God. We will see in the stone waterpots for purification of the wedding in Cana, a reflection of the Wedding of the Lamb, the wedding of our soul with Christ and the entry into the Kingdom of the Lord. The stone pots are souls filled with ritual water of religious tradition; when we receive Jesus Christ they are turned into faith in the blood of Christ, in the best wine ever known in those same pots, the blood-life of Christ in our lives. In the Text of John 2 we find this precious story which, under the light of the spirit, we could see as follows:

¹ On the third day (end of times, the return of Jesus Christ) there was a wedding in Cana (wedding of the Lamb) of Galilee (land of Gentiles, every nation, the rapture),  and the mother of Jesus was there (Israel is present, since Jesus Christ will return in Zion). ² Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding (Christ - His Words, the prophets and the apostles - are received by Jews and Gentiles at the end of times). ³ And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.” ⁴ Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come.” ⁵ His mother said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.”⁶ Now there were set there six waterpots of stone, according to the manner of purification of the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece. ⁷ Jesus said to them, “Fill the waterpots with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. ⁸ And He said to them, “Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the feast” (pastor, priest, levite). And they took it. ⁹ When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew) (the servants = those who have witnessed the glory of the Lord), the master of the feast called the bridegroom. ¹⁰ And he said to him, “Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!” (the wine was so good that it was better than the first one - which the master of the feast had tried - this is the man who pastors the sheep, who is used to the things of the Lord but who is blessed by the glory of Jesus Christ to drink it with Him at the end of times in the last supper in the Kingdom with us)  ¹¹ This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him. John 2.

After John the Baptist baptized Jesus "...This is the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world..." John 1:29, Jesus teaches that beyond purification by water, which is a symbolic but provisional ritual that comes from religious tradition, we come to the purification of wine-blood for the final purification, since washing hands in the stone waterpots is something that is done continuously, because traditional rituals need to be forever repeated, for they do not provide ultimate purification. This is not so in the baptism in water, which is the open and public confirmation of the fact that we have received the Gospel, and therefore it comes after the baptism of the Spirit which is Who convicts us of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. The blood of Christ does cleanse us for once and for all.

In the wedding of Cana, Jesus turns the water in the stone pots into wine of a quality that is not known to the man of God who looks after the members of the spiritual congregation or people; prophet, priest, apostle or pastor, elder or bishop of the church, the 'master of the feast'. The 'Father' of the 'bride' had served the best wine 'Torah', but the wine of conversion 'Faith' was better. The wine that we men serve, the one of the tradition of the law of God, blood of animals through rituals that have only a temporary effect, but Law does not convert us - it only allows us to know and acknowledge sin. Christ offers the wine in the stone waterpots that were to be used for the custom of purification, therefore He teaches us the purpose of the Law for purification, no longer following the system of continuous atonement, but in the one that He would fulfill for once and for all on the Cross giving His own life for our sake.

We are the stone waterpots, in spirit, soul and body. They are made of stone because they represent the faith we need to receive to change the water of tradition for the wine-blood of Christ, without our merits, religious deeds or personal effort for salvation. The text in John 2 says that each pot would hold twenty or thirty gallons. This represents our three parts that we shall use to love God: with all our soul, with all our heart and with all our strength. The Lord fills us up to the level we love, if we are able to love Him with twenty or thirty gallons, or parts of our being, He provides without measure. In the stone waterpots for purification Jesus teaches us why He has turned the water into new and excellent wine, in a new wine that is unknown to tradition, unknown to the master of the feast, unknown to the pastor who must turn the Living Word into solid spiritual food, by the Holy Spirit. A wine that is also unknown to the guests, Israel and the Church in its theological growth until they understand that salvation is through faith, on the work of  Jesus Christ on the Cross, without works of the Law. Galatians 2:16.

Jesus wants us to understand that we no longer have to turn to tradition against His Word, man-made traditions, and even the Law given by the Father, once we have received the Grace of God, the Gift of Faith on the work of His Son on the Cross for purification, salvation and to enter into the wedding of the Lamb for the Kingdom of the Lord. Being born again from the Spirit by the Word of the Gospel is what cleanses and purifies our consciences of dead works.

Jesus' mother is the provider of His flesh, of His ethnical, religious and national origin. Jesus was a Jew, from the tribe of Judah, from the nation of Israel and from a family according to the Law of God, followers of the Torah and who took part in Israel's religious tradition. Mary symbolizes tradition, which is why she asks Jesus for wine, and Jesus Christ replies: “Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come.” Jesus was referring to His blood, which He would pour for the sin of the world - not the wine. Mary would not understand these Words at the time, but she would keep them in her heart. Just like Israel has not understood these Words but they will do so at the end of times, when the time of Jesus Christ comes, Yahshua the Messiah as King of kings, in His glorious second coming to establish the Kingdom of the Lord for eternity, thus fulfilling the prophecy. The first time that His hour came on the Cross He had victory over death and sin, so that through faith both people - Jews and Gentiles, that is to say every nation - can enter the Eternal Kingdom of the Lord. The access to the wedding of the Lamb which every soul is invited to, and not to attend just as a simple guest to drink wine but to marry the Son of God and to drink and eat from the Tree of His Life throughout eternity.

Christ changes the daily ritual of purification for the daily memory of His death for us, and when we take Holy Supper we drink His blood in our souls, the new wine in the stone waterpots. Jesus raises us to His spiritual level, since He is going to marry us, and because living a life that depends on daily rituals is death, whilst living everyday next to Him is life. People perform rituals without thinking or considering their meaning in depth, they do not know God; whilst those who know God, study the Word of God and have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, they receive revelation of the meaning of daily spiritual life with Christ with the Holy Spirit and they are known by their fruits.

God gives us the good wine at the end of times on the return of Christ. Also throughout the years that we live as Christians, the Lord reveals His treasures to us, jewels that He had reserved for the years of spiritual maturity. The stone pots, when they are filled with the new wine, the ones that "can hold twenty or thirty gallons" are the born again Christians who are invited to the Wedding of the Lamb through the New Covenant of Jesus Christ with man, in the Blood of Christ as salvation, fulfilling the Great Commission and leaving behind the Old Covenant of the Law to which man added tradition. The good wine is reserved for the end of the spiritual search of those who sincerely search for God through faith on His Son Jesus Christ.

Finally, Jesus Christ comes down to Capernaum with His family and disciples together, an example of Christian life that stands the initial rejection of the Gospel but continues to have a relationship with His family whilst living with his friends in Christ, who set the example, and that will translate into many of them receiving the Lord and believing the Gospel by seeing our fruits in Christ.

The story goes on to teach us another lesson of the Lord about purification, describing His entrance in the Temple, which at the same time is a symbol of the soul of man, our interior temple of the soul. Men and women in Christ need to be cleansed through the work of the Holy Spirit in us, of every tradition that is against the Gospel, of our own concepts of religion and salvation through our own merits, efforts and penances. We cannot cleanse or purify ourselves on our own before we invite Jesus to come into our heart, this is one of man's biggest mistakes and sins, what all of us would do if the Gospel had not been preached to us. We do not have to mention indulgences or any other type of business of the false church of pagan tradition dressed as Christianity, like hypocrite scribes and pharisees - whitewashed tombs - used to do with people, calling them cursed because they did not know the law, John 7:49. When Christ enters the temple, our soul, where they worship God, making the whip of cords, Christ throws out of our soul every devil, principality and power of darkness to establish the admirable Light of His holiness, changing and cleaning our conscience, our mind, our heart and transforming our life. This is how we establish worship to God in Christ, through the Gospel inside our temple, where the Holy Spirit lives now for our spiritual wedding with Christ in the wedding of the two Temples of Jerusalem.

We can only have a purified heart if we are born again, like Jesus Christ teaches Nicodemus in John 3:3. We can now fully comprehend this verse in the Beatitudes: ... Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Matthew 5:8.

JESUS CHRIST IS OUR BRIDEGROOM

Jesus Christ, our spiritual bridegroom, asks us to marry Him spiritually and eternally. As prince heir to the throne and bridegroom He has signed the marriage convenant, the document that certifies the wedding, and He has done it with His blood, because the Law also had - for the Lord - the meaning of a covenant, the old covenant, and it was a marriage covenant between Yahweh and Israel. Now under the new regime of the Spirit, when we are no longer under the old regime of the Letter, we can come to the presence of the Lord through faith, without featt, covered by the Blood of Jesus Christ which cleanses us of sin, being now the Church of "Jews and Gentiles in Christ" the bride of the Lamb.

For your Maker is your husband, The LORD of hosts is His name; and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel; He is called the God of the whole earth. Isaiah 54:5.
 

Our maker is Jesus Christ (Hebrews 1:2 and 11:3), as well as husband and redeemer, the One who saves us, who marrries us in the wedding of the Lab, the Holy One who is Spirit and Holy.

Return, O backsliding children,” says the LORD; “for I am married to you ... Jeremiah 3:14.

...My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the LORD. ³³ But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. ³⁴ No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.” Jeremiah 31:32.

Again, we see the Lord revealing  to us as Father, Husband and Saviour. God has never given up seeking us, throughout the history of the Bible and humanity, we cannot ask for more.

...Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast?” ¹⁵ And Jesus said to them, “Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast. Matthew 9:15.

Jesus Christ is the bridegroom.

For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. 2Corinthians 11:2.

Jesus Christ, the husband, again.

Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready. Revelation 19:7.

In the Old Testament, the Lord reveals Himself to us as the husband, and although He is the Father, He is really the Son, but is one and only being, One that reveals Himself to man, but He did not need to send His essence, His Son. But he did it for us, He came away from the Father to make creation and the relationship with humankind, and every thing that was to exist, His project, that was in His mind, His Logos, His Son, the Living Verb, reveals Himself to us as husband of our souls from now until eternity.

... I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. Isaiah 61.

God Himself dresses us with heavenly garments, of salvation, of righteousness, of holiness, of God's love, and this is the way He sees us when we are born again, dressed in Jesus Christ. The Lord clothes us, as preparing us for the wedding.

THERE IS PRAISE IN HEAVEN FOR THE WEDDING OF THE LAMB

... Then a voice came from the throne, saying, “Praise our God, all you His servants and those who fear Him, both small and great!” ⁶ And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, “Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns! ⁷ Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.” ⁸ And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. ⁹ Then he said to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!’” Revelation 19:5.

THOSE WHO REFUSE THE INVITATION TO THE WEDDING

And Jesus answered and spoke to them again by parables and said: ² “The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son, ³ and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they were not willing to come.

The Lord feels rejected by men who do not receive the invitation to His eternal Kingdom, which is through the Gospel of His Son Jesus Christ preached by those of us who announce His Kingdom.

 ⁴ Again, he sent out other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “See, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatted cattle are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the wedding.”’

The oxen and the fatted cattle are a symbol of the threshold to Christ, who was sacrificed for us, just like fatted cattle were sacrificed to fulfill the Law. So we just have to accept Him as our Saviour and come to the wedding, to our wedding with Him.

⁵ But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business. ⁶ And the rest seized his servants, treated them spitefully, and killed them. ⁷ But when the king heard about it, he was furious. And he sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. ⁸ Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. ⁹ Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.’ ¹⁰ So those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good. And the wedding hall was filled with guests.

The servants are now sent to preach to the Gentiles since those from the literal Israel, from the Law, did not accept their Saviour. Both good and bad who accept Christ are invited to the wedding.

¹¹ “But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment.

The wedding garment is essential. Are you spiritually dressed with a wedding garment? The answer is whether you have accepted to be covered by the Blood of Christ that He poured on the Cross to pay for your sins, that you are covered with the life of Christ. Otherwise, you will not be allowed to come to the wedding.

¹² So he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. ¹³ Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’¹⁴ “For many are called, but few are chosen.” Matthew 22:1.

Naked truth. We announce the Kingdom of the Lord to many, but only few receive it in their hearts and change their lives. You will know them by their acts.

THE PARABLE OF THE TEN VIRGINS

... “Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.

We, human kind, are the the ten virgins whose purpose in life is finding God - even if many do not know it.

² Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. ³ Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, ⁴ but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.

The wise ones are those who, looking for God, have not closed their ears to preaching or, if they have not been preached, they have considered looking for God outside the organized religion that has not allowed them to know Him, and out of society, repenting and awaiting full of hope for the coming of the day of the Lord.

The lamps, our souls, need the Spirit of the Lord. The vessels are the souls that have become receptacles for the oil of the Spirit of the Lord. Oil is obtained by crushing olives, the fruit of the olive tree. In Getsemane, the olive orchard, was were Jesus was crushed in His pain and sorrow, and drinking the cup of our sin He distilled oil so that we were anointed with the Holy Spirit. Now we must also make an effort now that the way is open by His sacrifice and resurrection to give fruits worthy of Him, having faith, praying continuously, preaching, helping others and fasting. Read 2Peter 1:5-15. To avoid that our lamps do not become vessels and we cannot hold the oil, and the light in our lamps is put out we have no light when the Bridegroom comes.

⁵ But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept.

As it happens in life, it seems like The Bridegroom, God, is delayed and we become desperate, we are absorbed by our daily duties, we slumber and go to sleep, but in His hope, because the Lord is not delayed, He does everything in His time, in God's time, and does not want anyone to be lost but to come to repentance.

⁶ “And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!’ ⁷ Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. ⁸ And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ ⁹ But the wise answered, saying, ‘No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’

The Bible says "at midnight", before the night is over, the period of spiritual darkness that humankind suffers in its history without God. A cry was heard; ... for the trumpet will sound ... 1Corinthians 15:52, the voice that the Bridegroom is coming, at the last trumpet. Then all the virgins, the whole of mankind, gets ready to receive the Husband, the Lord. Then the foolish ones, those who have not wanted to receive or look for God, ask the others to give them their part of their oil, of their anointment, of their salvation, of their faith. But this is a question of spiritual life or death. We cannot give this to any other, because it is by faith and individual. Go and buy from those who sell oil, who preach faith in Christ, in a God who receives those who repent from sin of living without God and miss God.

¹⁰ And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut. ¹¹ “Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ ¹² But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ Matthew 25:1.

Too late, no more selling, no more preaching, the time for looking for God is over. Repent, the Baptist preached, may the Lord bless this brother greatly. The ones who repented entered the Kingdom of God. Beloved brother, don't be left outside, but oil for your lamp now, look for the Lord and repent, maybe this is your last day and you have no more time left, repent now and Receive Jesus Christ as Saviour. He will cleanse the pot of your soul with the wine of His Blood and will receive you as bridegroom so that you are allowed to come to the Wedding of the Lamb, in the Kingdom of God, and the Kingdom of God is among us, the bride Church, who waits for the Bridegroom, ...  For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16.

CONCLUSION AND BIBLE TEXTS ABOUT SPIRITUAL PURIFICATION

... Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction. ¹¹ For My own sake, for My own sake, I will do it; For how should My name be profaned? And I will not give My glory to another. Isaiah 48:10

... Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, ²⁶ that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, ²⁷ that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. Ephesians 5:25b

... God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, ² has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; ³ who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, ⁴ having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. Hebrews 1:1.

... But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. ¹² Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. ¹³ For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, ¹⁴ how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?. Hebrews 9:11.

... Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, ²⁰ by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, ²¹ and having a High Priest over the house of God, ²² let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. ²³ Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. ²⁴ And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works,²⁵ not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching. Hebrews 10:19.

... Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. ² Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. ³ And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. 1John 3:3.

The Wedding is near, we are called! Let our stone pots of faith be souls full of the life of Christ in our three measures: the spirit, soul and body. Let the oil of anointment of our beloved Holy Spirit fill our lamps-souls, so that we walk in the Light and as we shine in His Light, as a bridesmaid dressed for her Bridegroom, we can access the eternal Kingdom, in the Wedding of the Lamb of God, when the Husband comes, when we will take the new bread and wine of eternity. Amen.