AT A MARRIAGE
(i) The Beginning
M.H.Tucker
Matthew 19: 3-9; John 2: 1-12; Psalm 118: 26
In reading these well-known Scriptures, dear brethren, one had in mind to draw attention to two main points – the first is what obtained at the beginning, and the second is the value of divine blessing, and by extension the value of the blessing that the saints of God are privileged to give on such an occasion as this.
In Matthew 19 the Lord Jesus, in answer to the question of the religious leaders, refers to what was obtained in the beginning and our minds are thereby recalled to the faithfulness of the Creator God with Whom we all have to do, as the One Who considered for man’s loneliness at the outset in providing an help-mate for him, marriage being God’s institution for man, and divine blessing being definitely associated with it. If we turn to the passage in Genesis from which the Lord quotes we find that God blessed them – the man and the woman – it was the blessing of a Creator God. One has often felt in this connection that blessing is attached to the marriage tie quite irrespective of Christianity, and we may thank God that this institution has been preserved as it has been right down through the ages.
In spite of the hard-heartedness of man to which reference is made in Matthew 19 verse 18, and despite also the corruption that has come in through sin, God has maintained this precious relationship for man and his blessing still stands connected with it. So we are confident that as stepping out as husband and wife today, our brother and sister do so knowing that in their souls they receive the blessing of a Creator God. God’s thought is also that what was established in the beginning should be continued and that we may ever keep in mind the divine ideal. “What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate”. May our brother and sister, notwithstanding all the tests inseparable from this joint pathway that they are about to tread, ever preserve in their souls that divine ideal!
When we come to the passage in John it is remarkable that the Spirit of God again refers to the thought of beginning. “This beginning of signs did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed on Him”. Here we are in the presence of what is intended to typify Christianity, for the Lord Jesus has come into this matter and given it a fresh lustre. That marriage feast in Cana of Galilee He graced with His own presence, the couple concerned inviting Him there, and His disciples too. We are delighted that our brother and sister desire to have the presence of the Lord on such an occasion as this, and the presence of His people too.
The main feature of this passage is that the Lord supplied the deficiency that existed. Even on that bright marriage day there was a deficiency and the Lord supplied it and this is in keeping with the whole of John’s gospel from which we learn that the glory of the Lord Jesus is such that He is able to meet any and every deficiency that there be in this poor world of ours. The Lord came into this marriage scene and He imparted to it that which was going to abide. Our beloved brother has referred in prayer to the fact that we are in a scene where things decline and run out on the line of nature, but the Lord Jesus has made it possible for blessing of a spiritual kind to be enjoyed which is beyond death and which is therefore superior to even the best that nature can provide.
And so it says, “This beginning of signs did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed on Him”. “After this He descended to Capernaum, He and His mother and His brethren and His disciples, and there they abode not many days”. I believe there is a suggestion there of the way we should take up natural joys – we should do so in the sense of not being detained by them. There is a danger of being detained by them, but:
Our path is on with earnest haste,
Lord in Thy rest to live.
And we give our brother and sister credit for having the divine goal in view.
I would add here that not only can our brother and sister enjoy the blessings that a Creator God and a Saviour Lord bring into this relationships, but they can enjoy too the blessing which that other Comforter of Whom Jesus speaks can afford them, as the One Who is ever ready to be called to their side at every time of need. I think it is not without significance that one who typifies the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament was seen in association with the woman who was shortly to become a wife. I refer to Genesis 24, which has been the subject of so much ministry in recent years and I feel it fitting to bring that aspect of divine blessing to the notice of our brother and sister so that they may realise the possibility of enjoying the threefold blessing of Father, Son and Holy Spirit in this new relationship.
I would add one more word to complete the matter. The saints also are privileged to bestow a blessing on such an occasion as this, and that is why I read those striking words from Psalm 118. Literally it refers to a future day, but I believe in the spirit of it we can take the words upon our lips and say, “We have blessed you out of the house of Jehovah”. The blessing of the saints is indeed worth having.
One is reminded on such an occasion as this of the faithfulness of God to succeeding generations for one recalls one’s own marriage in this very room thirty three years ago when older brethren who were themselves grandfathers bestowed their blessing, and now we who are ourselves grandfathers can participate in a similar occasion and say to our beloved brother and sister, “We have blessed you out of the house of Jehovah”.
28 June 1952