“Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. And he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” So they took it. When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.” (John 2:6-10, ESV)
After initially posting my first article on the first five verses of the second chapter of John’s Gospel, where this account is found, I’ve since been reflecting on it and had some things pointed out to me by the same friend who inspired me to write that first post, showing me just how deeply prophetic this action of Christ’s at the wedding truly was. We simply must reflect some more on it.
When the wine ran out people didn’t go on with the emotional hype as usual. There was a lack. There was a need, and Mary was honest about the spiritually poor condition (so to speak) of the fact that the gathering lacked wine. She didn’t continue on with the celebration as if nothing was wrong, nor does she make excuses concerning why the wine ran out or why enough may not have been prepared. She realized the need and went straight to the source, Jesus Christ, her earthly son. This took a tremendous amount of confidence and humility of her to ask because as we learned in the last post on this, providing the wine and any other thing was the groom’s responsibility and not that of any of the guests — of which Jesus was one.
When you come to Jesus with your need and don’t hide or cover anything up, be ready for Him to speak and do exactly what he says. Follow His instructions. He said to get the vessels and fill them with water. HERE is where the lesson is…
What kind of vessels were they? They were the ceremonial vessels used in the Jewish synagogue for ritual or ceremonial cleansing, and they were dry, and empty. When used, their water would be dirty and undrinkable. The vessels that were designed and used to wash iniquity and impurity lacked water, and thus were not fulfilling their purpose. Many of our pulpits today lack a true fresh-right-now-Word from God, and because the pulpit is anorexic the Church is also sick because there is no washing with the water of the Word. The vessels designed to WASH or bring purification themselves lacked the pure water.
Fill your life with the Word of God. Devour the Bible in your personal life, not just for study, blogging or preaching, but just fill up on it. Then out of that, you will fill your ministry with the Word and fresh revelation.
The wedding lacked wine, but the vessels designed to cleanse from sin lacked water.
When you get filled with the Word, there will be cleansing from sin, and revival can then break out. We often want to go straight to the wine, but first you must ALWAYS be filled with the word, and cleansed. How can there be joy if there is no cleansing or forgiveness? How can there be washing or cleansing if there is no water in the very ministries designed to bring cleansing from impurity? In this account, the vessels, the instruments — representing the ministry or the ministers designed for cleansing — were dry and empty.
Jesus instructed to fill them with water (or fill ’em with the Word) and draw out of that which it is filled with, and it had now turned into the fresh new thing. This is what happens when we fill up on the Word of God; joy and anointing of the Holy Spirit will flow from our lives and be manifested. This is Jesus’ “little secret” for bringing new wine or revival. I use the term “little secret” kinda loosely when I really mean to say “forgotten or neglected truth” because I believe it’s a plain truth, but many still don’t seem to know it.
Jesus’s solution is that the vessels He desires to use, they can be people, or ministries, etc…, be filled with the fresh revelation of the Word. And only when you draw from that fresh filling and not with a pseudo-superficial emotional filling, but a real genuine soaking in the WORD, then what you draw out will be an aged matured product that produces fruit. Matured and pressed fruit that produces joy, the wine of the Holy Spirit.
Isn’t it interesting that there was no wine, but there was also no water where there should have been water, in the Church, in the pulpit? Jesus’ first instructions were not immediately wine, it was filling [the Church] with water, or filling those vessels first.
Saving the Best Wine For Last
The master of the feast in this account remarked that the best wine had been saved for last. I personally believe that this is a picture of the Church, and in the early form as documented in Acts chapter 2, there was an outpouring of the Spirit that birthed and sustained the Church. Right before The Wedding of the Lamb, the best wine will have been poured out and the Church will have made herself ready. Revelation 19:6-8 states how the great multitude is gathered and clothed in white linen representing the righteous acts of the saints. There will be no possible way to be so clothed except for the power of the wine of the Holy Spirit poured out on a people cleansed and washed by the power of the Word of God. Joel 2:28-32 gives us a glimpse of that:
“And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit.”And I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved. the survivors shall be those whom the LORD calls.” For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the LORD has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the LORD calls.”
This account details what those ‘last days’ will look like, however, Peter referenced that in Acts 2:17-21, but refers to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost as being evidence of the last days already being upon us. It’s been the last days already for almost 2000 years. It’s probably little to no secret to any historian or student of Church history the Church started with an explosion, and then went into a significant spiritual dark age, and for the last few hundred years has been gradually having forgotten truths restored to it ever since the great Reformation. We are getting nearer and nearer to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, subsequent to the return of Christ the Bridegroom. He is and has been saving the best wine for last.
If Jesus is going to purify us to present us to Himself ready for that day, then that means in these last days the Lord is going to also confront us more and more because He loves us and longs to be with us. The purpose of tribulation on the earth will not be specifically to yank His Bride from it to avoid that hour, but to prepare and further purify Her for the Wedding. This is also how I read the book of Revelation–through the Apostle John’s perspective–the friend of the Bridegroom whom Jesus’ loved. I read it through a Bridal Paradigm, and see the Bridegroom coming back in full force ready to finally obtain the Bride He longs for and laid His life down for.
If we don’t get a good grasp of the dealings of the Lord now we will become offended at Him and His work when He comes with the water of His Word and begins to put us under the microscope and also allow us to go through intense persecution we’ve not previously known because He just wants to be with us, and have us prepared for it.
Are you ready for the fresh outpouring that’s breaking out and coming?
