To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to gain, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to throw away; a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.
Eccl 3:1-8 NKJV
A time for every purpose under Heaven. Every purpose. Whose purpose? God’s. In one of my former blogs [Of Law, Grace and First Fruits (Part 3 – God’s original design, and the unveiling of Grace)], we discussed the concept of original design. We found that all Creation was designed and built under a perfect plan; and having a perfect designer, all of Creation must be operating perfectly as designed. And it must be operating under – and for – the purpose for which it was created. God’s purpose.
So if, indeed, Creation is operating as intended, then Solomon was right – there is a time for every purpose under Heaven. There is a predestined “hour”.
On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.”
Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come.”
John 2:1-4, NKJV
In my last blog, we discovered that this wedding rightly happened on the third day, a day of new beginnings. We also found that this was the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry. He was beginning the work that He had come to this earth to do. So what did He mean that His “hour” had not yet come?
Let’s examine the statement that lends context to this unusual response. “They have no wine.” This seems like a harmless sentence. Very matter of fact, it appears to be a statement rather than a request. But Jesus took it otherwise, replying, “what does your concern have to do with Me?”, as if Mary were drawing Him into a drama that He wanted no part of. And, indeed, she was.
“They have no wine.” Weddings are special events. As presented in my last blog, they represent a new life; two individuals becoming one. And quite often, wine is an important part of the wedding. When taken in moderation, wine brings joy and gladness. In fact, our Lord is preparing wine for the coming Feast we will partake of in His kingdom:
And in this mountain, the LORD of hosts will make for all people a feast of choice pieces, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of well-refined wines on the lees.
Isa 25:6, NKJV
Wine has long played a special role in weddings. However, it is especially important in the holy rite of a Jewish wedding. Wine plays an integral part of such weddings. Let’s examine the “Sheva Brachot”, or Seven Blessings that are recited during a Jewish wedding:
ברוך אתה ה’ אלהינו מלך העולם, בורא פרי הגפן.
“Blessed are You, LORD, our God, sovereign of the universe, who creates the fruit of the vine.”
ברוך אתה ה’ אלהינו מלך העולם, שהכל ברא לכבודו.
“Blessed are You, LORD, our God, sovereign of the universe, who created everything for His Glory.”
ברוך אתה ה’ אלהינו מלך העולם, יוצר האדם.
“Blessed are You, LORD, our God, sovereign of the universe, who creates man.”
ברוך אתה ה’ אלהינו מלך העולם, אשר יצר את האדם בצלמו, בצלם דמות תבניתו, והתקין לו ממנו בניין עדי עד. ברוך אתה ה’, יוצר האדם.
“Blessed are You, LORD, our God, sovereign of the universe, who creates man in your image, fashioning perpetuated life. Blessed are You, LORD, creator of man.”
שוש תשיש ותגל העקרה, בקיבוץ בניה לתוכה בשמחה. ברוך אתה ה’, משמח ציון בבניה.
“May the barren one exult and be glad as her children are joyfully gathered to her. Blessed are You, LORD, who gladden Zion with her Children.”
שמח תשמח רעים האהובים, כשמחך יצירך בגן עדן מקדם. ברוך אתה ה’, משמח חתן וכלה.
“Grant perfect joy to these loving companions, as you did your creations in the Garden of Eden. Blessed are You, LORD, who grants the joy of groom and bride.”
ברוך אתה ה’ אלהינו מלך העולם, אשר ברא ששון ושמחה, חתן וכלה, גילה רינה, דיצה וחדווה, אהבה ואחווה, ושלום ורעות, מהרה ה’ אלקינו ישמע בערי יהודה ובחוצות ירושלים, קול ששון וקול שמחה, קול חתן וקול כלה, קול מצהלות חתנים מחופתם, ונערים ממשתה נגינתם. ברוך אתה ה’, משמח חתן עם הכלה.
“Blessed are You, LORD, our God, sovereign of the universe, who created joy and gladness, groom and bride, mirth, song, delight and rejoicing, love and harmony and peace and companionship. Soon, LORD our God, may there ever be heard in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem voices of joy and gladness, voices of groom and bride, the jubilant voices of those joined in marriage under the bridal canopy, the voices of young people feasting and singing. Blessed are You, LORD, who causes the groom to rejoice with his bride.”
These blessings are pronounced over a cup of wine. In fact, notice the first blessing, which explicitly credits the Lord God with creating the “fruit of the vine”.
A wonderful treatise on the Jewish wedding is provided by www.Chabad.org
(please see http://www.chabad.org/generic_cdo/aid/448424/jewish/Marriage.htm).
I would like to highlight part of the author’s examination of the ceremony, and the importance of wine:
The wedding meal is followed by the Grace after Meals and the recitation of the Sheva Brachot, the same seven blessings recited beneath the chupah.
The seven blessings which draw divine blessings for the duration of the couple’s married life are recited over a cup of wine. There exists a deep mystical connection between wine and marriage.
Wine gladdens the heart. But in order to produce this heart-gladdening beverage, a grape must be crushed. Married life is full of crushing moments — the key is to together overcome those challenging occasions, which leads to new levels of love and happiness.
Before the Grace after Meals, two full cups of wine are prepared; one for the individual who leads the Grace, and the other for the Sheva Brachot blessings. After the grace is completed, six of the guests are invited to recite the first six blessings of the Sheva Brachot. Each of the honorees recites the blessing while sitting and holding the Sheva Brachot cup.
After the six blessings are recited, the person who led the Grace after Meals recites aloud the hagafen (wine) blessing and sips from his cup. The wine in the two cups are blended, and the groom sips from one cup and the bride from the other.
Notice that the wine plays an important part in not just the wedding ceremony, but the actual blessings that undergird the ceremony. Now, imagine Jesus attending a wedding. Remember – He is fully God and fully man. That means that He is prescient; that is, He sees and fully understands what will happen in the future. Is it possible that, as He contemplates the blessings, He is recognizing their true implications? Think carefully… to whom are each of these blessings addressed? Not to the bride and groom; they are the hopeful recipients of the reflected blessings on their married lives. No, they are addressed to the Creator. And whom is the Creator?
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.
…
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
John 1:1-4 and 14, NKJV (italics added for emphasis)
The Creator is none other than Jesus Himself! Let this sink in for a moment. Our Lord, Jesus, was at a wedding, and assuming that the Sheva Brachot was recited, these holy blessings were being unwittingly directed at Him. What did Jesus see? How did this pre-history work upon His emotions?
In order to get a better sense of this, let’s examine another aspect of the Jewish marriage. It’s called the “Ketubah”, or marriage contract. It is a pre-nuptial agreement that is binding in Jewish law. The Ketubah is an agreement entered into by the Bridegroom and the Father of the Bride. Long beforre the wedding ceremony, it is written and signed. The Ketubah outlines the terms of the marriage contract. In essence, it delineates the price that the Bridegroom must pay for his bride.
In the second blog in this series, we found that marriage is a picture of the relationship that God wishes to have with us. In fact, we also found that we, the Church, are the bride of Christ Himself. But if we are the bride, there must have been a contracted price – a “bride price”. And what was that contracted price? A perfect and sinless life.
By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us.
1 John 3:16, NKJV
And what about the wine of the wedding ceremony? As the wine was running out, could our Lord have been looking forward to that fateful night…
Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.”
Matt 26:27-29, NKJV
“They have no wine…”
“Blessed are You, LORD, our God, sovereign of the universe, who creates the fruit of the vine.”
Can you imagine the flood of emotions? Our Lord realizing that His was the blood of the new covenant – the new and final Ketubah – the price to be paid for His wife, the Church. Could His soul have been in anguish as He visualized His place in the ceremony? Is it any wonder why He responded the way He did? “Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come.” But His hour would soon come.
To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die…
By the way; there are many other wonderful traditions in the Jewish wedding, all of them full of meaning. As an example; after the recitation of the Sheva Brachot, the Bridegroom places the wine cup on the ground and crushes it with his heal. Jewish tradition teaches that this brings to mind the fact that, while the wedding is very joyful, it should never be forgotten that the holy Temple is destroyed and that Jerusalem is being trampled underfoot by gentiles. A sobering reminder during the joy of a new marriage. But I wonder if that is truly the real meaning…
And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”
Luke 22:19, NKJV
Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him;
He has put Him to grief.When You make His soul an offering for sin,
He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days,
And the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand.He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied.
By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many,
For He shall bear their iniquities.Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great,
And He shall divide the spoil with the strong,
Because He poured out His soul unto death,
And He was numbered with the transgressors,
And He bore the sin of many,
And made intercession for the transgressors.Isa 53:10-12, NKJV
It pleased the Lord to bruise (crush) Him… Selah.
In my next blog, we will examine the stone waterpots. What is the significance of them? How do they relate to our Lord and His ministry?
May the Bridegroom give you peace and joy as you study His Word!
YouJi