“Jesus made a whip from some ropes and chased them all out of the temple. He drove out the sheep and cattle, scattered the money changers’ coins over the floor, and turned over their tables” – John 2:15

More reminiscent of an Old Testament picture, early on we encounter a Jesus who is furious at what he sees in the temple. If there are bits people could cut out of the Bible, this would be one of them. We want our ‘Jesus Holy child, Jesus meek and mild’. But if Jesus is God, then we must expect him to exhibit the same characteristics as his Father and the Bible is not short of reference to God’s wrath. Whether we want to hear about it or not is another question. This week, as we celebrate Easter, the entire story is first about the turning away of God’s wrath because of his love for us. We are deluded if we think the wrath of God is not there, and we make God out to be a liar.

A few weeks ago, as I sat with a lawyer, we were discussing the notion that justice is out of reach of ordinary people. Those with the money and power win, and it is very hard to compete against them, especially if you are poor and powerless. That is why there is so much reference to true worship of God being about helping the poor, the widow and the fatherless. Missionaries over the centuries have gone from the richest to the poorest areas to provide the hope of the Gospel along with practical relief. The poor, the defenseless occupy a very special place in the heart of Christ and he spent much of his earthly life ministering to them.

Never is the misuse of power more abhorrent than in the religion of God though. The Jewish temple system had become a source of enormous wealth for the priesthood, and a trap for the poor. Jewish law was to all intents, sharia law in Palestine, and the priesthood forced everyone to comply. Regular tithes and offerings, ensured that money circulated through the temple system at great pace, and was siphoned off for the 71 priests who controlled the Sanhedrin.

A typical Jew would be forced to exchange their daily dollars into ‘temple currency’ at rates that would make most modern day exchanges appear quite lax, and then further, be forced into buying the relevant offering at exhorbitant amounts. A pair of doves were for the poor, but could still cost a weeks wages, which when combined with Roman oppression and taxation made for misery in the lives of most. No wonder God was sick to the stomach with what he saw.Centuries later, as archaeologists uncovered swathes of early Palestine, they found dwellings of the Priests, and were astounded at the contrasting luxury they found compared to the average person’s home.

Religion has always, and will always be business; it is still so today in much of the world and sadly, especially in the church. Most recently in Spain, when youth unemployment was close to 50% and many could barely afford to eat, the Catholic church was criticised for having lavish buildings made of gold and silver and a costly priesthood.

Jesus reacted strongly, as he saw people’s view of his Father shaped by such circumstance. God becomes unattainable, miserly and a shuckster under such a religious system, a God occupied with ripping people off. Jesus came to show people who God really is, in character and approach, not only by living in total obedience, but through the display of God’s true character to mankind. Jesus loved to be with the poor and marginalised, and they seemed to embrace him so much.

As we go on the streets ministering to any that would listen, many are astounded that we take the time and compassion to simply listen and pray with people. Many are grateful for simple prayer, even if they don’t really believe.  We, the body of Christ ,and especially the church must examine ourselves to ensure we are not a barrier to others finding God, either by our behaviour or our inflexible attitudes. We are to reflect Christ’s character to a hurting world, to reveal to the world a God who will one day judge the world, but who also offers a total pardon to any who would turn to him.

We must do this while there is still time.

“a host always serves the best wine first, he said….But you have kept the best wine until now” John 2: 10

I was listening to a Youtube mix this week, and a U2 song came up. In the background of work, a few lines caught my attention:

“I was drinking some wine and it turned to blood, what’s the use of religion if you’re any good?”

Here, in this simple story found in a book that most people today would like to discard, lies the answer to that question; and every other. When the new wine turns up, everything changes. Religion begins to make sense for the first time. We see the complete picture of God, because everything is fulfilled in this simple person of Jesus.

The new wine comes when everything else is exhausted. When all our attempts to rectify our lives come to nothing, so often then we eventually turn to God. When the world does finally run out of answers, when it has tried every vain attempt to solve the problem itself, the new wine – Jesus, will come again. The new wine always comes at the end.

The new wine is abundant; there were 6 ceremonial jars, each of around 25 gallons – that’s 600 litres of wine that came at the end of the wedding. I am always amazed at the sheer abundance of God, the God that gives so unceasingly, and so unquestioningly. We don’t deserve any of it, but he pours it out anyway in bigger quantities than we can ever hold.

The new wine is pleasing; it is always the best. When you read the hosts response, you get a picture of sheer astonishment at the quality of the wine that came at the end of the wedding. This was no local plonk being served up, this was Chateau Mouton Rothschild of the very best vintage. It would have provided a great sense of pleasure to those who were able to indulge. Refreshment for all.

Mostly though, the new wine saves; above all, Jesus came to rescue his bride back from destruction. His gentleness, his love and compassion, his genuine desire for us to follow him so that we can be saved by him lies at the heart of the Gospel. The wedding was saved from an embarrassing collapse, and few would ever know who had saved it. The new wine, which comes at the end of our attempts, pleases us and rescues us.

There is one more thing to add, and that is we can do nothing to earn it. The good wine comes to us in spite of ourselves, and we must gratefully receive it. It is free, it comes from outside of us and we must drink deeply from its draft. When we truly learn that lesson – and perhaps only when we learn that lesson then the obedience that Jesus demands, comes to us.

The new wine changes; in the Old Religion, we saw people strive – and fail, to please God through their own efforts. In Jesus, we see a gift given to us in spite of all our own undeserving. When we grasp that, when we drink deeply, then our motivation changes. Obedience is not from obligation, but from a sense of desire, of devotion. The new wine is far superior to the old wine.

Drink my friends, and drink deeply for a long time. The new wine is here, and it will not go away.

“The next day there was a wedding celebration in the village of Cana in Galilee. Jesus‘ mother was there” – John 2: 1

Commonly recognised as Jesus‘ first miracle is the turning of water into wine, one of four of his ‘messianic miracles’ – miracles that supposedly only God could do. But the richness in the story here early in John’s Gospel is vast and belies its simplicity. It reveals some of the deep characteristics of God, traits that we have trampled on and made a mockery of over the centuries since Christ walked.

What is it about Jesus that makes him so compelling for the world, for us who choose to follow him?

A Palestinian wedding in Jesus‘ day was a true celebration; marriage was the joining of a young couple and the bringing together of great families. A young couple was brought together while being carefully nurtured into the surrounding life of the town, not discarded off to start life on their own in another place. Betrothal happened months or even years before, an engagement where the couple were already committed to marriage without the living together. There was little more serious in the community than a wedding, as the community understood the foundation of the family in its own survival.

Celebrations would last at least a week, and would frequently involve an entire village! It is worth reading more widely on the wedding celebration in those days, but God is no dullard when it comes to celebration – and there he is, right in the midst of the dancing, drinking and joy that carries on. It is we who have blunted the enthusiasm for God’s celebration, in our austere interpretation of the law and saturation in the ‘thou shalt not’ culture. Not so Jesus, who ate and drank with sinners, and immersed himself with everyday life.

This would have been a poor village family, lives tormented and tortured by the Romans and their own religious elite who dwelt in the more luxuriant cities, and for them a wedding was a relief from the drudgery and grind. The parents of the bride would host the celebrations, and central to it all was the food and wine. To run out of wine midway through the festivities was to invite terrible shame and embarrassment on the hosts and the young couple.

It is here then, that we begin to see a new picture of God, one who comes willing to us to remove our shame. In his display of such willingness to roll up his sleeves and be part of our world, we see this God – this beautiful Christ, so ready to come to our rescue. Jesus does the miracle, because he has the opportunity to remove the shame for a young Palestinian couple. He does not stop and ask questions as to their worthiness beforehand, the readiness to put right what is wrong, simply pours out of him throughout his life.

God’s readiness to take away our shame is a picture of the entire Bible, but in this Jesus we have the opportunity for it to be removed once, for all time. We get things wrong when we think God is the big teacher with the stick. For this ordinary family – for you, for me, we have a Saviour so willing to join with us in our daily lives, to walk, to strengthen, to help, to love. For many though, even especially ‘Christians’ this is simply too much. We prefer our own ways, to walk in our own strength, our own moral preeminence.

‘Do as he tells you’ says Jesus‘s mother to the servants. Will we allow ourselves to come under him today, this gentle, this lovely Jesus, the divine personality who has our best interest at heart. Will we trust him today with our lives, he asks us?