Daily Devotion for October 18, 2014
Prayers
Scripture
Lord's Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever.
These old Anabaptist hymns, sung in the original a capella style, bespeak an enormous depth of faith. They were terribly persecuted and often killed in 16th and 17th centuries.
Morning Prayer of (St.) Thérèse of Lisieux
O my God! I offer Thee all my actions of this day for the intentions and for the glory of Christ Jesus. I desire to sanctify every beat of my heart, my every thought, my simplest works, by uniting them to His infinite merits; and I wish to make reparation for my sins by casting them into the furnace of His Merciful Love.
O my God! I ask of Thee for myself and for those whom I hold dear, the grace to fulfill perfectly Thy Holy Will, to accept for love of Thee the joys and sorrows of this passing life, so that we may one day be united together in heaven for all Eternity.
Thank You Lord
Sometimes I stop and wonder why you're still here; Or what is good about me, and why you even care.
You're always there with me to help me out each day; Even though I seldom listen to the words you have to say.
The things I always pray for, I know they will come true; My joy and peace you give me when each day is new.
You continue to forgive me for all that I have done; When nights are filled with sorrow, the day will bring the sun.
In days full of trouble, and friends won't say hi; I know you will be there with me to take me if I die.
For who am I to deserve the grace you have shown; Thank you Lord for keeping me, when life for me was cold.
by Gary R. Ferris
Meditation
[Sanctify my simplest works.]
Dedication to Service
Now, oh heavenly Father, I ask to be called as a witness to your love by the love I extend to others; a precursor of your justice by my unfailing commitment to what is right and good; a lamp set on a hill, reflecting the light of Christ in my forgiveness, mercy and compassion; and a harvester of souls through my humble and dedicated servanthood. In Jesus' name, I pray,
Think of the day ahead in terms of God with you, and visualize health, strength, guidance, purity, calm confidence, and victory as the gifts of His presence.
Big Ideas
“I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me.”
~ Psalm 131:1
John 2:1-11 (KJV)
And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there: 2 And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage.
3 And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine.4 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come.5 His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.
6 And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece. 7 Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim. 8 And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it.
9 When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom,10 And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now.
11 This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him.
Notes on the Scripture
The Wedding at Cana (3) - Revelation and Replacement
The difficulty in discussing the Wedding at Cana is not a lack of detail, but rather, an embarrassment of riches. John packs a multitude of his theological concepts into this one story. The most important of these, however, is not hidden in symbolism, but stated outright in the final verse. It was the beginning of the signs of Jesus' divinity, given to us immediately at the beginning of Chapter 2; whereas, in the Synoptics, public knowledge of the divinity of Christ is a game of hide and seek that continues until the final chapters. The purpose of the miracle is to make his glory manifest, which is to say, it shows that He is divine; and the disciples believe in Him because they have seen him do it.
ne way of seeing the degree of John's focus is to look at what is missing from John. There are no full-fledged parables, which so dominate the other gospels, and little specific teaching: no Sermon on the Mount, no Lord's Prayer. It is not that John thinks these unimportant; rather, they had already been written down. John, after working for decades establishing churches, apparently saw a widespread lack of appreciation and understanding about the importance of Christ as God, and the importance of His divinity (and that of the Holy Spirit) in our ability to know God.
So, we can now ask, how does this incident reveal His glory? One important aspect of Jesus' existence is that He will replace the institutions of Judaism. Our relationship with God will change from legal ritual to a direct and immediate relationship with a living being, a flesh-and-blood man and later, a living Spirit. The stone jars are special vessels used in Jewish purification rites; and they hold water, with which the purification is effected. But there will now be no need for literal water; Christ's blood will cleanse humanity of its sins once and for all. As he will tell the woman at the well,
We are mixing our metaphors a bit, but the common point in both incidents is that literal water, as known to the Jews, has been replaced. Notice that the well in the quote is the well of Jacob, which is to say Israel.
So the first symbolic motif of the Wedding miracle is the motif of replacement, which will continue throughout the fourth gospel. The water of purification from sin is replaced by the symbolic blood of Christ; the drinking water of Jacob's well, which slakes thirst only for a little while, is replaced by the spiritual water of Christ's spirit, which will satisfy forever. All the religious institutions, feasts, and customs of Judaism have lost their meaning; they are not needed to communicate with God, because God Himself has come. He is standing right there, “in the flesh”, before the wedding guests.
