BEGINNING

D. A. Burr

Genesis 2: 21–24; John 2: 1–11

These two books are about beginning. They start with the same words, although these do not refer to the same time. The Lord speaks of this passage in Genesis, and He refers to what was “from the beginning”, Mark 10: 6. He says there were certain things that were not so from the beginning. The passage in John’s gospel is about the beginning of the signs that Jesus did. It was not the first sign in His life here in manhood; there had been first the sign of a Babe wrapped in swaddling-clothes and laid in a manger (Luke 2: 12). What a sign that was, expressing God’s heart and God’s disposition towards His people. But the sign in John 2 is the first that He did.

I think our young brother and sister, and all of us, might be encouraged to see in this passage in Genesis something very blessed that is from the hand of God Himself. A newly married couple receive in one another something from the hand of God Himself. That is a very blessed sign of the detailed consideration that God has for His children. He gives them good gifts, and this in Genesis 2 is one of them. Other things also come in and He gives us what we need. Here, before the scene is spoilt by sin, He gives this good gift. He gives them one another. The benefit of that is intended to remain with us for the whole of our lives. I have that impression from looking at old brethren who have been married for many years. You could say that the good gift they received from God in one another has retained its freshness.

I think those who are old and who have been married for many years would bear that out; the blessedness of God’s good gift remains. There is something very moving about an old man or an old woman talking about when they were young, and talking about when they first met their husband or wife. I remember one who spoke of the time when he first met his wife as if it were yesterday. The freshness and the blessedness of what God had given them in one another had lasted. I encourage our young brother and sister to take this gift from the hand of God. Its fragrance and freshness will remain with them.

Think of a man like Abraham, and how long he lived with his wife. Think of Jacob, how feelingly he speaks about his wife who had died. He says, there was only a little way to go (see Genesis 48: 7). How he would have cherished the opportunity to complete his journey with the one he loved, as having received that blessing from God, but in God’s ways it was not to be.

Here in John 2 there is a young man setting out on the same path. His wife is not mentioned but he is taking up a gift that God had given, and here we have the signs that Jesus did beginning. So there is something from God and something from the Lord. But first there is an intervention by this feast-master. I want our young brother and sister to understand that they do not need a feast-master. They do not need anything to bring a colour or add anything to what they have from God. What we find when a feast-master is present is that things have to be contrived and eventually they begin to run out. That is a sad thing. The institution of marriage is what God Himself has given, and what God has given will not run out; it will not become contrived; it will never need any artificial stimulation; it will last and last. The gift our beloved brethren have in one another from God is enough, and they do not need a feast-master. But if we resort to these contrivances then we may find that they do run out.

On the other hand, we find what the Lord Himself is able to bring in. What a mark He left on this marriage meeting! What a mark He left on the lives of this young man and his wife! He Himself was present and He manifested His glory. What a beginning, beloved! I would encourage our young brother and sister to make such a beginning. As far as this meeting is concerned, we would say that Jesus and His disciples have been invited, but how blessed it is to give the Lord an opportunity to manifest His glory. He eclipses the feast-master, He brings things from a source the feast-master knows nothing about. He gives a new colour to God’s institution. Why should the first of Jesus’ signs be at a marriage? I think it follows the beginning of Genesis. It is one of the first things that God brings in. The incoming of Jesus then gives a new colour to everything that God has established. I believe our young brother and sister would find that He would give a particular colour to their marriage too.

In chapter 4 there is a problem in a household, and a second sign. Jesus Himself does not come to the house, but there is another sign. I believe that sign is to confirm this first sign. In the first sign the Lord Jesus Himself comes into the lives of a couple setting up house. Then He gives the resource to go on enjoying what has come from the hand of God.

It is a simple thought, beloved, as to beginning. Our young brother and sister have, no doubt, made a lot of resolves as they make a beginning together. I would like them to see that they have come under the eye of God, and they have come under the eye of the Lord, and both God Himself and the Lord Jesus have something to give them. They have received things from the brethren, but what a thing it is to receive something from God Himself—as a mark of His affection, as a mark of His grace, as a mark of His goodness. May they prove that, whenever God gives something, He will give the power to keep it fresh too.

Word at the marriage of Mr. P. Morris and Miss R. Woodford, Dorking
6 June 1987