It’s time for something new
by Joey Carroll Corinth Missionary Baptist church
It’s time for something new. What we have is thoroughly broken. And try as we might, it cannot be fixed. As Christians, we need to be reminded that the “new” that we long for lies just around the corner.
In Revelation 21, John tells us that all will be made new on that day. There will be a new heaven, a new earth, and a new holy city. In the midst of all this newness will be our new experience of the unhindered presence of God. An experience without tears and sorrow, one without pain or death. An experience marked entirely by joy, peace, and everlasting abundance.
In the Old Testament, this new day was marked by a promise, as recorded by the prophet Jeremiah. The promise was given to the people of Israel who depended on farmers, shepherds, and vine-growers for their livelihood. “They will come and shout for joy on the height of Zion. And they will be radiant over the bounty of the LORD—over the grain and the new wine and the oil, and over the young of the flock and the herd. And their life will be like a watered garden, and they will never languish again,” (Jeremiah 31:12, NASB).
When our Lord first appeared publicly, He marked the beginning of all this newness with His very first miracle. The “water into wine” miracle has been the pun of jokes for ages, but for someone who truly understands what the Lord did that day, it should bring tears of joy to the eyes of every Christian.
The account is generally well known, but if you need to remind yourself of the details, read John 2. Apparently, Jesus’ mother was somehow involved in preparing for all the wedding festivities, which usually lasted for seven days. Sometime during that week, the celebration ran out of wine, and Mary told Jesus about the situation. Now Jesus always understood the spiritual significance behind every situation, and this time John allows us a glimpse of Jesus’ understanding.
At the wedding, John tells us that there were six large stone waterpots that served the purpose of purification. The Jewish people would have used the water in those pots for handwashing before meals, washing of the utensils and serving vessels, and possibly to wash the feet of the guests as well. When Jesus was asked by His mother to remedy the embarrassing situation of running out of wine, He had the servants draw water from a well and fill all those pots to the brim.
Afterwards, Jesus turned the water into wine. The thing that you cannot miss in the story is the fact that the headwaiter (the man in charge of the festivities) after tasting the new wine, called the bridegroom and announced to him “Every man serves the good wine first, and when the people have drunk freely, then he serves the poorer wine; but you have kept the good wine until now,”(John 2:10, NASB).
As new covenant Christians, there is more in this story. Those old pots used for washing remind us of the old covenant that the people of God used to be under. It was a convent marked by duty. Many laws and prescriptions had to be kept in order to secure their relationship to God. But when Christ came, He brought a new wine, an over-flowing wine, the best of wine. He made with us a new covenant, one in which all of our responsibilities and requirements were met for us. One that is simply entered into by faith in the person and work of Jesus. A covenant marked by the greatest of joy and celebration for the rest of eternity.
