As I study the second chapter of the Gospel According to John, I am amazed at how many people doubt Jesus' miracle of turning water into wine. Some claim that the wine is non-alcoholic wine, some claim that it is some unfermented juice, and some even go as far as saying that it was water turned into water.
Here is one example of the text being explained away: Leslie Weatherhead proposes that, "The wine runs out. Water is served. Why that's the best joke of all! They lift their wine cups, as we do in fun when we shout, "Adam's ale the best of all!" The bridegroom is congratulated by the master of ceremonies, who carries the joke farther still. "Why you've kept the best wine until now." It requires only a servant going through the room into the kitchen for a wonderful rumor to start!" (Weatherhead, It Happened in Palestine, p.50)
Friends, a proposal such as the one above takes more faith than believing the Word of God! And the only authority is the author's own imagination. Help thou our unbelief!
As I read and as I meditate, I pray that God would help my unbelief. How often do we find ourselves attempting to explain away the Scriptures? Not just this text, but any text that confronts us with the will of God: Sabbath keeping, sacrificial giving, a circumcised heart. The wedding at Cana is the classic example of the difficulties that we find in our own heart to believe the Word of God.
May we be hearers of the Word, and doers also.
3 comments:
LOL! My Baptist church just listened to a sermon on that same passage in John and I was delighted to hear him say that it was not about to "drink or not to drink?" at all. And yes, I do believe Jesus turned water into wine...and I also think that the Lord's Supper would preferrably be done with wine instead of grape juice. :)
explaining away this verse has always bothered me. People can't seem to accept the Word as it is.
Weatherhead's explanation is the most bizarre I have ever heard!
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