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August 1924
T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
unto you, do it.” They obeyed; and it proved to be just the right thing. To speak to that friend, or relative, or pos sibly a stranger, about accepting Christ; to write that let ter, to send that tract, may seem to you foolish, or use less, or offensive. But if He is bidding you do it, it is just the right thing. “Whatsoever He saith unto you, do it,” and leave the consequences with Him. As at Cana that day, needs will be supplied and hearts will be made glad. But above all, prompt, unquestioning obedience to Him will give Him an opportunity to manifest His glory and lead others to believe on Him. “ Faith drew out the miracle, and the miracle drew out faith, and both met in glory.” Jesus at a Wedding John 2:1-11 Memory Verse.— “Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.” John 2:5. Approach.^—How many of you boys and girls know what a wedding is? Yes, It is the uniting of a man and woman as husband and wife. God said a long time ago that mar riage was His plan, but He makes it ver^ plain in His Word, . that He wants a Christian woman to ELEMENTARY marry a Christian man, and a Christian Mabel L. Merrill man to marry a Christian woman. So you see if men and women would obey God, there would not be any homes where one parent was a Christian and the other one not a Christian. God wants both father and mother to belong to Him (Jesus), and then the children would be taught to love Jesus too and serve Him. Let us bow our heads and thank God for the Bible and our Sunday School. Lesson Story.— Do yqu help mother at home? Harry you tell us about some helpers Jesus chose to help Him when He was down here on earth. (Review last week’s lesson). Have any of you ever been to a real wedding in a home or a church? Now in our story for today, Jesus and His dis ciples and His mother were invited to a wedding in the town of Cana of Galilee. They all accepted the invitation and our story begins with these words. “There was a mar riage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there: and both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage.” How happy the people must have been to have Jesus as a guest at the wedding, and we love to think of Jesus at this wedding, for it shows us He approved of mar riage and the forming of homes. The homes make the nations, and just the kind of homes we have, is the kind of a nation we will have. God wants all homes to be Chris tian homes. If we can not have Christ with us at the wedding, and in the home life after the wedding, we should not get married. Now something happened that was very embarrassing at this marriage feast, for they did not have enough wine. When the mother of Jesus knew this she told Jesus about it. You see His mother knew where to go to get help, and she believed her Son had power to help. She told the ser vants of the home to do whatever Jesus asked them to do. There were six large empty jars, and Jesus asked the ser vants to fill them full of water, and they did so. Then Jesus told them to draw out of the jars and take to the governor of the feast, and they did so. Now when the governor of the feast tasted the water that was made wine, he noticed that it was very good. He did not know where this wine came from, but the servants knew. The governor called the bridegroom, and told him how surprised he was to have such fine wine at the last, for
tests His glory, then the wine of joy will not fail. Better things are promised and better things will come, when that blessed day appears. But “ His hour is not yet come.” It will surely come,-—A. C. Gaebelcin. V. 2. It is not surprising that Christ’s first public work was to give His witness of approval to a marriage. For the making of family life is the making or marring of the world. If you cannot have Christ with you at the wedding, and in the home life after the wedding, you had far better not undertake that business at all.—-Rev. J. G. Greenhough. V. 4. The fact that our Lord on the cross addressed His mother by the same term, “woman,” at the most tender moment of His earthly life, shows that the word is as re spectful as the term “ lady,” and scarcely less affectionate than the term “mother.”— Pract. Com. We must rest in the certainty that Mary was not offended; if she had been, she would not have spoken as she did in v. 5.— Peloubet. This reproof is a conclusive argument against the notion that the mother of Jesus can intercede for us with her Son, and , use authority with Him.— Spurgeon. If our Lord would not allow His mother even to suggest to Him the working of a miracle, we may well suppose that all Roman Catholic prayers to the Virgin Mary, and especially prayers entreating her to “ command her Son” are most offensive and blasphemous in His eyes.—-J. C. Ryle. In my Father’s business I have to do with Him only. ‘Twas a gentle rebuke for officious interference, entering a region from which all creatures were excluded, (cf. Acts 4:19, 20).— J. F. & B. Christ’s “hour” was the right time for working the miracle and “ showing His glory” (vs. 11), In a number of instan ces (cf. Jno. 7 :8 ; 12:23; 17:1) we see that Christ did not wish to anticipate it or delay it by a minute, but to act precisely when the Father told Him to. Moreover, “my hour” in Christ’s mouth usually refers to the hour of His death, which every miracle brought nearer by intensifying the opposition to Him.— Canon.Mozley. V. 6. The firkin was a measure of about nine gallons, so that each jar held from eighteen to twenty-seven gallons — we are to suppose that they were of different sizes. The total amount of water therefore was from 108 to 162 gal lons, say 135 gallons— a very large amount. So much was needed because, as was customary, the wedding feast lasted for a number of days, and there may have been many guests.— Peloubet. V. 8. The governor was a sort of a caterer, employed not so much to provide all the viands as to manage the feast in detail.— Griffith. V. 10. “Drunk abundantly” (as Song of Sol. 5 :1 ) speak ing of the general practice. V. 11. He who made wine in the waterpots is no other than He who every year makes it in the vine..—Augustine. The first miracle Moses did, was turning water into blood, typical of the ministration of the law unto death; the first miracle of our Lord turns water into wine, which is typical of joy and the ministration of Grace which is unto life.— Gaebelein. “Whatsoever He saith unto you, do it,” because it will be exactly the right thing, although it may not seem so to us. When He told the servants to fill the waterpots with water and take them to the governor of the feast, they might have thought that He was asking them to DEVOTIONAL do a foolish thing. They might have said, COMMENT “Wine is what they want, not water. To J. A. Hubbard take water to the governor will be mock ery, and will bring down his wrath upon us.” But they had heard the word, "Whatsoever He saith
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