21st July 2022
There will be wine
… The Lord of hosts will make for all people A feast of choice pieces, A feast of wines on the lees, Of fat things full of marrow…
Isaiah 25:6-8 (NKJV)
There are four accounts of Christ’s life and ministry in the Bible, from men who were his contemporaries. They tell similar stories, with different perspectives and emphases, but they all agree that one of the startling characteristics of Jesus’ ministry was the miracles he performed. Whether publicly or privately performed, the people he lived and walked among; the people he taught, knew that there was something unusual about this man. They might have argued over who, or what, was the power behind the miracles, but they didn’t argue about the miracles themselves.
So what was achieved by these miracles, these moments in time when natural, physical laws were suspended – notably for the benefit of those involved?
Blindness, menstrual problems and disease were healed, demons banished, hungry crowds fed, a man was brought back from the dead and – curiously – wine provided for a party where the catering had got the quantities wrong and hadn’t provided enough. The healings, the provision of food, the removal of evil and the resurrection can easily be seen as greatly benefiting those on the receiving end. Some of the interventions were life changing. But wine at a party? Even if it was a wedding party!
Central to Christ’s ministry was the announcement of the Kingdom of God. It permeated everything he did and said, and the miracles were a part of that message. Christ’s rule would be a time when health problems, hunger, the influence of evil – and death– would belong in the past (Revelation 21:3-4). The kingdom of God had arrived among these people, in the person of Jesus. The miracles were a foretaste of the coming administration. Isaiah prophesies of a time when the Lord ‘will swallow up death forever. And the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces’. And in the same passage he declares, ‘The Lord of hosts will make for all people A feast of choice pieces, A feast of wines on the lees, Of fat things full of marrow…’ (Isaiah 25:6-8). So there will be a party – and there will be wine!
Isaiah’s prophecy is echoed in the latter chapters of Revelation and in chapter 19 there is a reference to the ‘marriage supper of the Lamb’ (v.9). There is a party, there is wine – and there is a wedding. At his last Passover, before his death and sharing wine with his disciples, Christ promised them that the next time he drank wine with them would be in his Father’s kingdom. (Matthew 26:29). The seemingly frivolous miracle of turning enormous quantities of water into excellent wine – the first that is recorded in the gospels – fits in perfectly with the hope of the gospel that Christ was preaching; the same gospel that he has tasked his servants – us – with continuing to preach.
Prayer
Thank you, Lord, for celebrations we can look forward to when your kingdom is established in its fullness. Amen.
Study by Maggie Mitchell
About the writer:
Maggie Mitchell attends the Northampton congregation of Grace Communion International and is Chair of the Pastoral Council
Local congregation:
GCI Northampton
Ecton Village Hall
78A High Street
Ecton
Northampton
NN6 0QB
Meeting time:
Saturday 11.00am
Local congregational contact:
Maggie Mitchell
Email: maggie.mitchell@btinternet.com
Word of Life contact:
wordoflife@gracecom.church