Water Pots

John 2:6 Now there were set there six water pots of stone, according to the manner of purification of the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece. 7 Jesus said to them, "Fill the water pots 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." 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 master of the feast called the bridegroom.

Wedding feasts were a very big deal, culturally speaking, (even bigger than weddings of our day,) and so you can imagine the amount of planning and expense that were invested in the proceedings. There was to be joy all around in the celebration, and nothing depicted that joy more than the presence of wine. Historically, for the Jews, wine and joy have always been inextricably linked.

And suddenly, the wine was gone. Mary, Jesus’ mother, became aware of the situation and alerted Jesus to the potential problem. Her concern over the wine may have indicated that she was in some way a participant in the planning of the wedding, or even a close relative of the wedding party.

What happened next is a startling revelation of the work Jesus has come to do on earth, and a picture of the transformation process which takes place in the lives of believers.

It is a simple command, really. "Fill the water pots with water." But for those not knowing what to expect it may not have been so simple. We seem to have a built-in resistance to things which either don’t make sense to us, or are not clearly defined for us. But the servants conveyed Jesus’ exact wishes, and they filled the water pots to the brim.

A.W. Tozer used to say you can have all of The Holy Spirit you will allow. I suppose the opposite is also true. Will you allow yourself to be filled to the brim – or are you hesitant, not really certain of what it might all mean? It is, after all, undefined territory.

Jesus brought about an amazing transformation when those pots were filled, but not before. He changed the water into wine. He turned the mundane into the sublime, and, in so doing, the water pots – and what they contained - became presentable to the master of the feast. Prior to the transformation they would have been unacceptable.

And when the master of the feast tasted the wine, he called the bridegroom. Do you see the picture? Will you allow yourself to be filled at Jesus’ command? - Pastor Bill