T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
June, 1941
217
of men and women! How careful we as Christians should be to recognize its sanctity! At this wedding, the mother of Jesus also was present. That fact would sug gest that she was well acquainted with the family. In fact, she seems to have had a certain measure of responsibility. We notice the conversation between Jesus and His mother. We read: “When they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine, Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come. His mother saith unto the serv ants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.” A Practical Need That Christ Supplied We shall not go into any lengthy dis cussion about the use of wine in the country of Palestine. Let it suffice to say that the wine in those days differed from that in use today. The word “oinas” was used to cover various kinds of products of the vine. We read of new wine, wine that maketh glad the * heart of man, and also of wine that is a mocker., Wine was the common drink of the people where the water could be used only sparingly because of its pollu tion. We hear Paul saying to Timothy, "Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach’s sake and thine often infirmities” (1 Tim. 5:23). Many Un old toper likes to point to that pas sage as his authority for using wine as a beverage. The trouble is that these old reprobates already have been using too much! “A little wine” would do(their stomachs no good at all, for already they have been burned up with over- indulgence. The apostle was writing to a young man who was not given to the use of wine. Before you try to apply that particular Scriptufe passage to, yourself, you had better be very sure that your name is Timothy and that your suffering is the same as his. The word "wine” covers just the pure grape juice. You remember the words: "As the new wine is found in the cluster, and one saith, Destroy it not; for a blessing is in it” (Isa. 65:8); that is, there is a blessing in the wine that is in the cluster, not the wine thaf has undergone fermentation. It was this unfermented beverage that was used commonly among the people at their fegsts. They were also in the habit of using sour wine which had only begun to work and was no longer very pal atable. We do not know what was used here, but we are quite sure of this: When our Saviour made wine, i t ,would not poison anybody. We are told that the supply of wine was giving out. The mother of Jesus turned to her Son and said, “They have no wine.” We can believe that she al ways had longed to see Him manifest His power. She had been waiting for the time that *this wonderful Being, whom she had carried beneath her heart aa a babe, should manifest Himself as
indeed the Son of God, and it is very probable that she saw here an opportu nity for Him to do this. But Jesus turned to her and said, “Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come.” Some people have thought that the Lord spoke a little bit roughly, but we may be sure He never did that. We may be quite certain that He never said one word to His mother that the most duti ful son might not have said. What He did say loses a little by our translation. We distinguish between “lady” and “woman.” “Lady,” at one time, was simply the wife of a lord or knight. The word “woman” in our day has come to seem a little less respectful than the word “lady,” and thus we think of the Lord’s saying, “Woman, what have I to do with thee?” as though He were reproaching His mother. The term He really used was one that any woman might glory in. He said to her, “My lady, what have I to do with thee?” or really, “What is there between thee and Me?” That is, “What is it that you would have of Me? What is the thing that you have in your hieart?” And then He adds, “Mine hour is not yet come” (v. 4). A Coming “ Hour” That Christ Foresaw All through this Gospel, He has be fore Him this “hour.” He had brothers after the flesh; arid one time His brothers wanted Him to go up to the feast, but Jesus said to them, “My time is not yet come: but your time is always ready” (John 7:6). And we read in John 8: “These words spake Jesus in the treasury, as he taught in the tern-' pie: and no man laid hands on him; for his hour was not yet come.” And again: “Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of ¿nan, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things.” They were going to lift Him up, but the hour had not yet come. Then in John 12:23, when the Greeks had come, saying, “We would see Jesus,” He answered: “The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glori fied.” In their coming to Him, He recog nized the beginning of the hour when His glory was to be manifested follow ing His crucifixion. In chapter 13, when He was about to wash His disciples’ feet, we are told: "Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father.” And in chapter 17, where He spoke to the/ Father, we read: “These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that ,thy Son also may glorify thee.” He had in mind the hour in which He was to go to the cross, when He was to bear the sin of the world, when He was to be raised up upon the tree, and following that, when God was to
Le, I Am With You Always By MARTHA SNELL NICHOLSON “ Lo, I am with you always.” Softly the promise steals Like sunlight into my shadows, And brightens and warms and heals; Heals my anguish of spirit, And horror of loneliness, Flooding my heart’s darli chambers— Words that comfort and bless. “Lo, I am with you always.” He, my Saviour and King, Making my heart His palace! I, though a broken thing, Am housing my blessed Master; Together we sup and dine, Together we hold sweet converse Over the bread and wine. And always He goes before me On my thorn-strewn paths of pain, Never will He forsake me Nor leave me alone again. Sweet is His voice in the twilight As the evening shadows blend: “Lo, I am with you always, Even unto the end!” raise Him from the dead and glorify Him openly. It is clear, then, that the occasion at Cana of Galilee was not His “hour.” To His own dear mother who was try ing to press Him to act ahead of time, as it were, He said in effect: “What is there between thee and Me? Mine hour is not yet come.” It is evident that His mother, know ing His general attitude toward her was not the least disturbed over His answer to her. She turned to the serv ants and said to them: "Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it,” May we point out to those who pray to the Virgin and ask her to intercede for them, that her own Son did not immediately grant to Mary th§ petition she asked of Him. And, accepting this refusal, Mary said to the servants: “Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.” In other words, the mother of Jesus does not serve as a mediator; she claims no part in the matter, but turns us away from herself to her blessed Son, Jesus Christ. Glimpses of Glory That Jesus Gave We read: “And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, contain ing two or three firkins apiece.” Each one held about a barrel of water. They had to do with Jewish ceremonial cleansings. They were connected with outward purification. They were all [ Continued on Page 245]
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