Early Ministry
29
After working the miracle, Jesus quietly went away. Not till He
had gone, did the guests know of the work He had done.
Christ’s gift to the marriage feast was a symbol. The water repre-
sented baptism, and the wine His blood, that was to be shed for the
world.
The wine which Jesus made was not fermented liquor. Such wine
is a cause of drunkenness and many great evils, and God had forbidden
its use. He says, “Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and
whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.” “It biteth like a serpent,
and stingeth like an adder.”
Proverbs 20:1
;
23:32
.
The wine used at the feast was the pure, sweet juice of the grape.
It was like that which the prophet Isaiah calls “the new wine in the
cluster;” and he says, “A blessing is in it.”
Isaiah 65:8
.
By going to the marriage feast, Christ showed that it is right to
meet together in this pleasant way. He liked to see people happy. Often
He visited them in their homes, and tried to have them forget their
cares and their troubles, and think of God’s goodness and His love.
Wherever He might be, Christ was always trying to do this. Wherever
a heart was open to receive the divine message, He unfolded the truths
of the way of salvation.
One day, as He was passing through the country of Samaria, He
sat down by a well to rest. When a woman came to draw water, He
asked her for a drink.
The woman wondered at this, for she knew how the Jews hated
the Samaritans. But Christ told her that if she would ask of Him, He
[54]
[55]
would give her living water. At this she wondered the more. Then
Jesus said to her:
“Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: but whosoever
drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the
water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up
into everlasting life.”
John 4:13, 14
. By the living water is meant the
Holy Spirit. As a thirsty traveler needs water to drink, so do we need
God’s Spirit in our hearts. He who drinks of this water shall never
thirst.
The Holy Spirit brings God’s love into our hearts. It satisfies our
longings, so that the riches and honors and pleasures of this world do
not attract us. And it fills us with such joy that we want others to have