“WHATEVER HE MAY SAY TO YOU, DO”
J. Renton
It is very encouraging to be reminded that the Lord, as our brother has said, does not change.
He is always available to help, and to lead; there is never any lack with Him. But there is need that we should be available to Him that He should have His way with us.
What impressed me was the expression at the end of verse 10, “Thou hast kept the good wine till now”. That is what the feast-master said to the bridegroom; however, the feast-master was not in the secret of how the good wine became available, but the servants knew. The feast-master said to the bridegroom, “Every man sets on first the good wine, and when men have well drunk, then the inferior”. That is what men do; when things come into the hands of men there is bound to be deterioration, but “thou hast kept the good wine till now”. The feast-master credited the bridegroom with this, but the servants knew that it was the Lord who had produced the good wine. The feast-master had taste; he was able to discern that the good wine had become available, but he was not in the secret of how it came.
There are different characters in this passage: the bridegroom, the feast-master, the mother of Jesus, the servants, and others invited. It says, “And Jesus also, and his disciples, were invited”—Jesus also. He was a kind of after-thought. Certain arrangements were made and then Jesus also, and the disciples, were invited; that is, the Lord Jesus was not given His right place; He was not in control; others were in control, and Jesus was added. It is no wonder therefore that the wine became deficient. Arrangements were made by men and the Lord was a kind of appendage. This has happened in the history of the testimony; we know this kind of thing; men arranging things, not under the control of the Lord.
There is what is religious in the arrangements, and what is of nature in the mother of Jesus, and she intervenes; but the Lord adjusts her and she accepts the adjustment and gives a good word, “Whatever he may say to you, do”. ‘ Whatever He may say’, she said to the servants. Of all the persons at this wedding-feast the servants would be of the least value; they would not be prominent—they were behind the scenes somewhere, but they were available to fulfil the Lord’s word. Whatever He said, they did. This is how recovery takes place,
when the Lord gets His rightful place. There is no indication that the feast-master gave Him His rightful place, nor the bridegroom. Both the feast-master and the bridegroom held official positions, but the servants had no official position; they were merely servants; they would be regarded as of the least account in all this gathering, but they would represent, in principle, what the Lord said in John.14: 21, “He that has my commandments and keeps them, he it is that loves me”. They would also represent those who kept His word and so fulfilled what the Lord said.
Six stone water-vessels were standing there; they did not have to be fetched, they were just available on the spot. The servants and the water-vessels would represent one thing, in a sense. “Jesus says to them, Fill the water-vessels with water. And they filled them up to the brim”. If we are to know times of help and blessing, we have to fulfil, in a full way, the Lord’s word. The servants filled the vessels up to the brim; there is no room for anything else. This would indicate full devotion to the will of the Lord. It is not half measure; it is not something of the Lord’s mind and something of my mind; there is no mixture here, “They filled them up to the brim”. It is like the principle of consecration. Consecration in Leviticus 8 means literally ‘filling of hand’. When Aaron and his sons were consecrated, their hands were full; there was no room for anything else; that is like the servants here and the vessels, there is nothing before them but the fulfilling of what the Lord indicated.
Then the Lord said, “Draw out now”, and the good wine was there. Everything that men set on, even with good intentions, will become deficient; but when the Lord takes control there is no inferiority, no deficiency; “Thou hast kept the good wine
till now”. I know that was said to the bridegroom, but he had nothing to do with it. It came to pass under the Lord’s complete control. Wine was spoken of in Jotham’s parable as that which cheers God and man (Judges 9: 13), so that it is for the pleasure of God and our own blessing. The good wine would be what stimulates and encourages us, and this is made available. The servants and the water-vessels were the means by which this wine became available as fulfilling the Lord’s word. Others partake of it; it was not for the servants only; thus good wine is available.
In spite of public confusion, in spite of the history of things in which we have been involved, the good wine is being drawn out now. Would the ministry the Lord is giving be inferior to what He gave in previous years? I do not think so. I think what the Lord is giving now in ministry can be spoken of as good wine; evidence of the word of God coming to us in our localities would answer to the good wine. It has been kept by the Lord to encourage and stimulate, and for the pleasure of God. It comes about through the acknowledgment of the Lord in His rightful place. The Lord is able for the initiative. At the beginning of the incident the Lord did not have the initiative; others had the initiative, whoever they were, and the result was deficiency. We have known that. The great need now is to recognize the Lord’s initiative and be fully committed to it, filled up to the brim, and we will continue to experience the drawing out of the good wine.
This becomes the means of Jesus manifesting His glory. If the Lord speaks to us in encouragement it is because of what He has done. We have set nothing on; He has set things on. It becomes a means of the manifestation of His glory; it causes Him to be glorified. The feast-master
would have glorified the bridegroom; the feast-master still had men before him; he was not in the secret; the servants were. Jesus manifested His glory; any feature of recovery we enjoy becomes a manifestation of His glory, “And his disciples believed on him”.
It says in verse 12, “After this he descended to Capernaum, he and his mother and his brethren and his disciples; and there they abode not many days”. He is leading now, and they are following They are kept together in following Him, it is not like verse 2, ‘And Jesus also, and His disciples ...’, but, “he and his mother and his brethren and his disciples ...” related to Him. In the beginning of the incident those who made the arrangements expected that the Lord would be related to them, but the great need is for us to be related to Him. May we be encouraged and helped to continue, giving Him His rightful place, for the manifestation of His glory, for His name’s sake.
Word in meeting for ministry, Valence
15 February 1983