JESUS CHANGES A MISTAKE INTO A TRIUMPH
Sakkie Parsons
Translated from Afrikaans
Translator: Robin Barker
I want to share something, which I had already learned, but has been shown to me afresh and it is the following:
If you have Jesus in your life, or in the situation which I am going to show you, if you have invited Jesus to be part of your life, in other words, if He forms part of your situation/lifestyle, it is never truly a problem if you have accidently made an error or have just made a mistake.
Read the following now, unfortunately you need to read the whole section and not just a portion thereof, so that you can see the full picture.
JOHN 2:1-11
1 On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there,
2 and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding.
3 When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.”
4 “Woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.”
5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”
6 Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.
7 Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim.
8 Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.” They did so,
9 and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside
10 and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.”
11 What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.
In those days the bridegroom had to make all the arrangements for a wedding and that included the drinks.
Clearly this bridegroom and completely human, he went a little over board with his guest list, or maybe a little under budgeted for the food and drinks. Whatever it was, as my wife would say, he “messed up” a little with the arrangements and then he ran out of wine for the wedding. Luckily he was friends with Jesus and had invited Jesus to join him and be part of his celebrations. It could have been catastrophic for him, if it had become known that there was not enough for people to drink. Much more so if you remember that in those days a wedding ceremony would last up to seven days.
Now this is the wonderful, glorious truth of being a child of God, of which I have experienced so many times in my life.
Now remember I am not talking about deliberately being mischievous, because a child of God should not be mischievous in his heart. No, I am speaking of mistakes because you are only human.
I must invite Jesus into my life and my circumstances, because this is exactly what the bridegroom had done:
JOHN 2:2 and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding.
Jesus was there, amidst the bridegroom’s circumstance and situation.
Look at how Jesus changed the bridegroom’s dilemma into, you can actually say a glorious triumph.
Not only did Jesus give him wine but it was superior to the wine he had supplied.
JOHN 2:9 and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside
JOHN 2:10 and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.”
He provided it in abundance; I think the people spoke of that wedding for months, if not for years and how wonderful that we can read about it today.
It is written in the ‘HAT’ (Afrikaans dictionary) third edition 2003, that an anchor is a type of barrel/jar that holds approximately 36 litres.
We read:
JOHN 2:6 Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.
JOHN 2:7 Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim.
If my calculations are correct, then Jesus provided the bridegroom, between 432 and 648 litres, of the best wine there was.
I want to shout:
“Shoo! What a wedding!!!”
It is my experience with Jesus in my life that I want to share with you:
I have made many mistakes, actually I must say, just “plain” messed up but if I really feel terrible about it I turn to Jesus and ask Him for forgiveness and ask Him to help me and He does not just help me, but He has help me to reverse my mistake, to my advantage.
So, I want to encourage you. Make Jesus part of your life and then you can actually look at your circumstances and very often like Paul, can ecstatically cry out in jubilation.
ROM 8:35-39
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?
36 As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,
39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
All that you need to do, is to open your heart to Him. He wants to be part of your life and it is never too late.
You can do it just where you are sitting reading this email.
He is also now saying to you, if you have not done it yet.
REV 3:20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.
REV 3:21 To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne.
Greetings,
Sakkie,