Hallmarks of the Kingdom

Hallmarks of the Kingdom (John 2:1-11)

The miracle of the wedding at Cana is in many ways an unusual miracle; no-one was healed, no-one was raised from the dead, no great crowds accepted the gospel,  the only person who was saved was the host of the wedding who was merely saved from the embarrassing social situation of not having enough wine for the wedding. Coupled with verse 4 where Jesus seems reluctant to work at all we are left with a somewhat unusual story.

If we are to truly understand this miracle then we need to put it in the context of the overall ministry and mission of Jesus Rather than seeing it as an isolated event we must see it defining and fore-shadowing all that comes later in Christ's teaching. Jesus came to announce the coming of the Kingdom of God

"The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand repent and believe in the gospel"      [Mark 1:15]

This was the dominant theme of his ministry. And rather than being a furtive and secretive act, this miracle helps to show us the hallmarks of the kingdom. All the principles and characteristics that Jesus would expound over the next three years concerning the Kingdom of God can be seen here in this first miracle.

1. The Kingdom is hidden

The first parallel between this miracle and the kingdom of God is that the kingdom is hidden.

If we look in Matthew chapter 13 where we have all these parables of the kingdom the common thread that runs through all of them is that the kingdom is hidden,

• Good seed hidden among weeds
• Mustard seed, tiny, hidden, yet growing into a great tree
• Treasure hidden in a field
• A pearl of great price, hidden until the merchant finds it

Why can't the gospel be so plain and obvious that everyone gets it? Because it is hidden. The disciples once asked Jesus why he always spoke in parables and he answered:

"To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given."     [Matthew 13:11]

It is such a reversal of the normal order of things. For the kingdom speaks of the first being last and the last being first, it speaks of those who have nothings being privy to great insights.

If we drop back into the narrative for a moment, we can see this so clearly. The one person who should know all that was going on at this wedding, the master of the feast, has no idea where this wine came from. The servants who are there to just fetch and carry have a front row seat and great insight into this miracle. And that is the strength of this passage of the wedding at Cana, it shows us this hidden nature of the kingdom.

We carry within us such a precious message.. What a privilege to have these truths revealed to us, truths that are not known to kings and presidents, truths that have not been revelled to the most powerful, the most influential, the richest people in the world - but they have been revelled to us.  No human intellect or wise words or slick presentation can do that. There is no secret formula that will convince people of the truth - only us carrying that truth to them time and time again - in our feeble and broken way but seeing a miracle happen every time God opens blind eyes and moves people a bit closer to himself.

"For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are.    [1 Corinthians 1:26-28]

But still we must ask why is the kingdom hidden? Why does God choose to work in this way? I think there is value is searching for something, for only when we search and find do we appreciate something. Something that is obtained without effort can be easily dismissed. We live in a generation where advances such as the internet make it so easy to search out and find information, and we almost object when something is difficult or hard to discover, but God in his infinite wisdom chooses to hide his kingdom and say; "The kingdom is given to those who will search for it, who will value it, who will be serious about it

2. The Kingdom advances in small steps

The second parallel between this miracle and the kingdom of God is that the kingdom advances in small steps. We often think of the mission before us, how can we save out neighbours, how can we save our town or city,  how can we plant new churches. These are big steps and whilst I would not want to under-estimate the enormity of such tasks, still those big steps are just the sum of many small steps that almost go unnoticed, and this is a key kingdom principle.

I said before that no-one was saved or healed through this miracle, but who am I to say that? People certainly came closer to God and that ultimately is what it is all about. No great sermon was preached, no great parable was spoken - but what Jesus did, almost in secret, still impacted people.. In verse 9 there is this small phrase about the servants. It's also in brackets so it is almost presented as an aside, not worthy of being part of the story itself, but it is so important,

"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).     [John 2:9]

These servants had witnessed a great miracle - no-one had explained it to them but something had been planted in their hearts - maybe they would follow Jesus to find out more about him. They probably did not even know who he was on this day but their knowledge has grown, ever so slightly and it will continue to grow, that is how the kingdom advances.

We can look at the Lazarus being raised from the dead, thousands being added to the church through one sermon, we can look at our own witness and ministry a bemoan the fact that we don't see such event happening, but does it really happen that way? We advance the kingdom in small steps by the conversations we have, the example we set and who knows what impact that has on people around us to enquire more.

Let me give you a great example of the Kingdom advancing in small steps and this is Jesus trying to educate his disciples. There were two great feedings of multitudes in the Bible. In Matthew 14 Jesus is confronted with a crowd of 5,000. The disciples come to him and say:

"This is a desolate place and the day is now over send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves."     [Matthew 14:15]

According to the disciples mindset nothing can be done, the crowd have to go. We know of course that Jesus takes five loaves and two fish and feeds the crowd, but notice the disciples response for now - "send them away nothing can be done". Jump on a Chapter to Chapter 15 and Jesus is again talking to a hungry crowd this time of 4,000. Jesus says to his disciples

"I have compassion on the crows because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat and I am unwilling to send them away hungry less they faint on the way"     [Matthew 15:32]

What do you think Jesus was looking for in terms of a response from the disciples? Maybe "hey, we have done this before let's see what food the crowd have" would have been good. How did they respond?

"Where are we to get enough bread in such a desolate place to feed such a great crowd"?    [Matthew 15:33]

I had been Jesus I would have been tempted to remind the disciples of what they had witnessed just recently, perhaps even to rebuke them, but there is no rebuke, Jesus just performs a similar miracle all over again and with seven loaves and a few fish the crowd are fed.

The point I am making is that Jesus was content to advance his disciples understanding in this small way and I think one small word gives it away. In Chapter 14 the disciples response was 'they need to go away' no argument no discussion it's not going to happen. In Chapter 15 the response is 'Where do we get bread?'. No longer an impossibility just an uncertainly -maybe a big uncertainty, but not an impossibility. And Jesus has happy that it took 9,000 people to move his disciples from believing something was impossible to being unsure how something could happen - small steps. The "It can't happen" has become "where" or even "how" - the outright rejection has been replaced with a question. "You must send them away" becomes "where are we to get bread?"

And for us this is such an important point to realise, this is right at the heart of how the kingdom works and is revealed, When we speak to people our friends our family who don't know Jesus yet each conversation is a small step that will move that unbelief to uncertainly to interest, to curiosity to seeking and to acceptance. And it might take ages; conversation after conversation but slowly that outright rejection will be replaced with questions, and curiosity and slowly the wall of disbelief is broken down. If Jesus was content which such small steps of progress for such an investment of time then so should we.

We praise God when people get it, when the kingdom explodes into their lives and suddenly their eyes are opened, and in some instances God does just break in on one great revelation - praise God for those times, but more often the kingdom advances in these small steps - let us not be afraid to reach out in what may seem small ways.. Talk with someone this week, encourage someone this week, invite someone to church or to a church event this week.

3. The kingdom is received by faith

The third parallel between this miracle and the kingdom of is that the kingdom is received by faith. No study of this passage is complete unless we look at this discourse between Jesus and Mary. It seems a strange response to make, almost discourteous when Mary points out the situation and Jesus says:

"Woman, what has this to do with me? My hour has not yet come."      [John 2:4]

Most translations will have a footnote for this verse that gives a slightly different translation to it, others say Jesus is gently reminding Mary that he has not yet started his public ministry, however what I want you to notice is Mary's response, when, at least from her perspective she has not got the answer she wanted.

"His mother said to the servants - do whatever he tells you."  [John 2:5]

It was a great step of faith, for as far as the response she had received Jesus was not prepared to act, but Mary by faith, persists. Again, this is a key hallmark of the kingdom - we need to have faith and we need to persist. It's a great attitude to have - I will do what I can and trust you God to open their eyes because I know you are working even if I can't see it.

"Do whatever he says". I am sure Mary had no idea what Jesus was going to do; sometimes we can have no idea of what God might or could do in such a situation, but faith says "I'll trust you anyway". Faith for Mary was saying "Do whatever he says". Again this passage speaks so clearly of kingdom values and the attitude we need.

4. The Kingdom speaks of abundance

The last parallel between this miracle and the kingdom of God is that the kingdom speaks of abundance.

I came that you may have life and have it abundantly.      [John 10:10]

We must never lose sight of the abundance of life that comes through following Jesus. Jesus never gives half measure or part blessings. Six water jars each holding twenty to thirty gallons. That makes 180 litres or 240 bottles of wine. Would it have been any less a miracle if he had turned the water into ordinary wine such that he Master of the Feast was not surprised by its quality - but the finest wine speaks of abundance.

Going back to the feeding of the multitudes the point of these miracles for me has never been that 5,000 or 4,000 were fed. We can all feed 5,000 with five loaves, you don't get much bread but if you break it small enough you can do it, The remarkable thing about these miracles was the amount left over.

From five loaves and two fishes, twelve baskets of left-overs were collected

From  seven loaves and a few fish seven baskets were collected

What was gather up afterwards exceeded what was started with. The point is the miracle speaks loudly of abundance that is a hallmark of the kingdom.

Questions:

• Who are you reaching out to for whom the kingdom is currently hidden. Pray that God will use you to help them to start their own search for God. Pray that God would give you opportunities to help them discover God for themselves
• What small steps can you take this week to advance the kingdom?
• What are you trusting God for that you have not yet seen fulfilled. Will you be persistent in praying for that this week?

  

Metaphors of the Cross Part 2

Sacrifice - The Substitutory Metaphor

 

In the last blog I introduced the general idea of 'metaphors of the cross'; different  ways in which sin had impacted our lives and how, through the cross, Christ addressed those issues. Now we can start to look at each 'metaphor' in more detail starting with Sacrifice.

  

In general terms sacrifice speaks of loss; we speak of the sacrifice parents might make for their children, or the sacrifices an athlete might make to train and compete in a race. We also talk of soldiers who lay down their life by making the 'ultimate sacrifice' and in this sense we come closer to the biblical understanding of sacrifice. Christ suffered and died on the cross in our place, he experiences loss and pain and indeed death for us and as such this is the over-aching concept of the cross, in many way Christ's full work on the cross can be summed up in this one idea of sacrifice:

 

 

"...he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself."  [Hebrews 9:26b]

 

 "And walk in love as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God." [Ephesians 5:2]

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We call this the 'Substitutory Metaphor' because Christ is substituted for us. Just in the same way as a footballer is substituted and leaves the field so another can come on, so Christ takes our place. We are the ones that deserved to be punished, we are the ones who should have been on the cross, we are the ones who deserved to be separated from God, yet Christ is substituted for us, and takes our place.

 

This is a very strong concept that runs all through scripture, so let us start back in Genesis with the story of Abraham and Isaac, here illustrated by the 17th Century French artist Laurent de la Hire.

 

Abraham sacrificing Isaac by Laurent de la Hire

 

Abraham in obedience to God was prepared to sacrifice his son Isaac, in the picture he has the knife ready, Isaac is bound to the alter but at the last moment God sends an angel to stop Abraham going through with the sacrifice. And in the background you can see the lamb that God provided for Abraham to use instead. Right back in Genesis we have this idea of a lamb as a substitute for a human. The lamb takes Isaac's place and is killed instead of the boy. This sacrifice back in Genesis was not primarily because of the sin of Abraham or Isaac, it was a test of Abraham's obedience, but nevertheless a model or pattern is set for the idea of sacrifice that will grow and finally be fulfilled by Christ.

 

There are many parallels here; if you look closely in the picture you can see the lamb with its head caught in the thorn bush. Does that remind you someone who came as a sacrifice years later and whose head was crowned with thorns? Mt Moriah on which these events took place is the hill outside of Jerusalem - Calvary, where a far more significant sacrifice took place. Also, Isaac is often depicted as a young boy, in fact he was a young man in his thirties when this event took place. The point here is that he was willing to be sacrificed, if he had not been prepared to go through with this he could easily have overpowered his elderly father, however he went willingly, just as later Christ would go willingly to the cross.

 

 

"Father if you are willing remove this cup from me, nevertheless not my will but yours be done."  [Luke 22:42]

 

 

These are all a fore-shadowing of the greater sacrifice that was to come.

 

In Exodus Chapter twelve the people of Israel are told to sacrifice a Passover lamb and sprinkle the blood on their doorposts. The night the Lord struck down the first born of each family - the tenth and final plague that was visited on the Egyptians because of their enslavement of God's people, but the Spirit of God passed over those houses that had the sprinkled blood. Again the lamb was a substitutory sacrifice for the people, it died instead of them, and years later when Christ sacrificed himself; there would be another outpouring of blood that enabled God's judgement to pass by.

 Sin, the wrongs things we do, the rebellion to God's laws that we engage in, is something that taints and sullies us. There is a penalty that needs to be paid for that sin, and throughout the Old Testament we see that the way that sin was dealt with was by sacrifice either a lamb or a bull or some other animal and the rules for that are outlined at the beginning of Leviticus. This culminated each year on the Day of Atonement. The High Priest would take two goats one to be the 'Lord's Goat' and this was sacrifice for the sins of the people and the blood sprinkled on the alter. The other was the 'Azazel' or scapegoat would have hands laid on it to symbolise the sins being transferred from the people to the animal and then it was driven out into the wilderness - the sins were taken away.

 

 

"He shall lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him." [Leviticus 1:4]

 

The sacrifice was not abstract or distant from the one making the sacrifice, by placing hands on the animal there was a clear identification with it, the sins of one are transferred to another. We can see a parallel with Christ in that he comes as a man, identifying with us rather than just and distant, divorced or abstract sacrifice.

 

St John the Baptist bears witness to Christ
by Annibale Carracchi

 

And so when we get to the New Testament and John the Baptist sees Jesus and cries;

 

 "Behold the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world"  [John 1:29]

 

As shown here by the 16th Century Italian painter Annibale Carracchi. It was a very poignant phase, it was prophetic, here was one who would be a sacrificial lamb for us, who would identify with us and die in our place for our sins.

 

We should also stress that Christ takes our place not so much in regard to a physical punishment, but a spiritual one. We can so easily focus on the gruesome physical aspects of the crucifixion; the pain the beatings, the humiliation, but the spiritual suffering of separation from God was, for Christ, far more extreme.

 

 

"My God my God, why have you forsaken me"  [Mathew 27:46]

 

The punishment for our sins was never crucifixion, but separation from God and for the first, and only time, in all of eternity the harmony of the Trinity was broken as God the first person of the Trinity was separated from Jesus, the second person of the Trinity. Our sins were upon his and the barrier between us and God became a barrier between God and Jesus. God's curse was upon him, a curse that should have be borne by us, yet Christ took our place and was sacrificed for us.

 

So if we were to sum up sacrifice as an idea, as one colour in the spectrum of the atonement that we have this:

 

  

How does sin presented?	Our sin leaves us deserving of punishment from God
How does Christ address sin?	Christ takes our place and takes our punishment on himself
What previous examples are there?	Abraham & Isaac Moses and the Passover The teaching in Leviticus
What key verses express this idea?	John 1:29 Hebrews 9:28 Ephesians 5:2
What objections are there?	If we can forgive rather than demanding punishment, why can't God?

 

With regards to this objection the whole idea of killing and of blood is less acceptable these days than it was in the past. Years ago hymns would contain such lines as;

 

"There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Immanuel's veins

And sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilt stains"

 

Probably not the most popular hymn these days and people do object to this fixation on blood and death that sacrifice brings to the fore. God however is a just God and whilst we can very easily ignore certain crimes, God as a perfectly just God cannot. Some once said if we have difficulties in this area it is because we have not fully grasped the absolute holiness and righteousness of God - but that is a whole different subject!

 

An animated explanation of

sacrifice and atonement

 

 

 

Next time we will look at Redemption - the Captivity Metaphor of the cross