MIRACLES AND REVELATION
THE PRINCIPLE OF BLOOD SACRIFICE
JESUS AT THE TIME
JEWISH MARRIAGES IN JESUS’ TIME
BREAD AND WINE – REALITY AND SYMBOLISM
...Bread
...The Table of Shewbread
...Wine
...Bread and Wine Together
THE WEDDING FEAST ITSELF

But what was the water about? Why water into blood? This is a most powerful and beautiful part of the revelation. For the water in the stone jars represented the Old Testament (Covenant) principle of the Law. For 1500 years the Law had required the outwards cleansing of the body as a symbol of purity. Over the centuries it had been developed into an elaborate ceremony, in which the original simple symbolism had got lost in a myriad of self-righteous, religious rules.

For example, on the Day of Atonement, the most important day of the Jewish religious year, the High Priest entered the Holy of Holies in order to make 'atonement' for the sins of the people as a whole. Before entering he had to purify himself by taking all his clothes off and washing himself in the 'Laver' or 'washing basin'.

Through this miracle Jesus was illustrating that He had come to replace the ‘Old (external) Covenant’ which had proved impossible to keep, represented by the water.......

....... with the ‘New (internal) Covenant’ of salvation through God’s grace by the final, once only blood sacrifice of Jesus symbolized in the wine.

The water represented the old way of seeking reconciliation with God, the wine (symbolic of the blood), the new. The water was applied externally, the wine was drunk, pointing to an internal change. Through this miracle, Jesus announced in a natural, albeit supernatural way, what His ministry was all about. To replace the ‘Age of the Law’ with the ‘Age of Grace.‘ Replacing purification through water, with perfection through His blood. A change that has had greater impact upon the world than any other, before or since.

If the Master of the Banquet had realized that this, most beautiful wine, had been made with the holy water drawn from the ceremonial stone jars, there is no way that he would have drunk it, no matter how good the taste. For it would have been anathema to him.

Today too, we still have people who try to find their way to heaven through living good lives, attempting the impossible task of keeping the law. How sad it is to know that they are doomed to failure, for no person has ever been able to fulfil God’s requirement of 100% compliance all the time.

Yes, Jesus came with a new and better way, a way He revealed through His first miracle. A future of reconciliation with God that we can all participate in, provided we are personally prepared to accept the sacrifice He made on our behalf. I’ve accepted His offer. How about you?

..... with Part 3, where we see that Jesus is the fulfillment of the Priesthood.

Isn't it amazing what depth of meaning the Bible contains! And how God is progressing His plan from the beginning of time until today. Next week we will see a further, amazing example of this.

IMAGES AND ART: Jerusalem

Gates of the Old City

Damascus Gate

Called the Shechem Gate by the Jews, the Arabs remember this gate as the "Gate of the Column" because of the tall pillar that stood in this gate's plaza during the Roman and Byzantine period.

Kenyon's excavations underneath this Turkish gate found remnants of a triple-arched gateway dating to the time of the Roman Emperor Hadrian (135 A.D.).