THOSE CLAY POTS

       The pots. Six pots, set off to the side. I wonder if we have ever really thought about the pots? Here's Jesus at a wedding. His disciples are there. His mother is there, and as the wedding progresses, they've run out of wine.

       One thing we have to know is that in this time period,, to run out of wine during a wedding celebration was a major insult to all the guests. It would heap dishonor on the host, and more than likely the host was a friend of Jesus because...well, Jesus was invited, and you don't invite just anybody to a wedding. So here's Jesus and his friends, and it becomes clear to Mary that they have run out of wine.

       Mary, on faith goes to Jesus. "They've run out of wine..." Jesus puts her off. "It's not my time." but Mary, her faith in what Jesus can do never wavering, looks to the servants and says, "Do whatever He tells you." And what does Jesus Say? "Take those pots, and fill them with water."

       Take THOSE pots? But what were those pots? If you're like me, you think they were pitchers just like you would normally think you would put wine into. Ahh, but that's not what it says.  It says, "Now there were six stone water pots set there for the Jewish custom of purification..." Those pots would have been large, maybe even about 30-40 gallon pots.The Jewish custom of purification.  That means those pots are there for the Jews to wash themselves, to purify themselves in order to be clean enough to share a meal.

       Notice. Jesus did not say, 'Take them and wash them with Dawn detergent and then go out and fill them with water.' In fact, He doesn't even mention washing them out first. He just says, 'Take them and fill  them with water.'

       What does this mean to us today>? It's simple.  We are not required to get our act together and then go to God. We are those dirty pots (see 2 Corinthians 4:7), yes, we are those dirt pots - full of filth of our lives, even the filth of our own attempts to wash our sinfulness away with our religions, our rules and our rituals (un-biblical).

       Those rituals can never save you. Even if you live by the rule you are still unclean. You still need to wash and to be washed. And then Jesus comes along and without requiring you to get clean first, He points to you and says, 'Fill that one with my water.' The living water that He refers to later on. 'Fill her with my water. Fill him with my water.'

       And then, as if that's not enough, He tells the servants to take some of what has come out of those pots to the head waiter who  will judge the wine, the fruit that comes from these dirty, filthy, stinking pots. Think about that. All these people have washed themselves in these pots, and now these servants are going to take what they know was dirty water only minutes before to the ultimate judge to seek his approval to share it with the others. Those servants had to be fearful for their very lives!

       Isn't this just like you and me? We are those pots, once filthy and dirty, but now not only filled with the living water, but filled with the wine of a new life. And the fruit that has come out of us is now taken to the ultimate Judge. Does the Judge take one sip and spit it out in horror at our filth? No...you know the end of the story. He praises the bridegroom for saving the best wine for last.

       Jesus is the new wine. He is the best, and He wants to fill you right now. Not when you get your act cleaned up, not when you've gotten yourself presentable (by your own standards). Right now. He is standing here calling you to be filled with His new wine. The question is: Will you let Him do it, will you do whatever He says, or are you still going to try to do it on your own? It's your choice.

       Later on I want to talk about those servants doing their daily routine and what they got to be a part of.

Be filled!

With you on this journey He has set us on.
Troy