Taste and See

Tuesday, July 16, 2019

John 2:9-11: When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from, thought the servants who had drawn the water knew, the master of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him, "Everyone serves the good wine first and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now." This, the first of His signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested His glory. And His disciples believed in Him.

What Do You Think?
If you were the bridegroom, what would you say to the master of the feast? Thank you? After all, you had no idea what was happening. You didn't know that one of your guests had performed a miracle. You had no idea that plain water was turned into wine. And since God the Son made the wine, it was the best of the best.

Connection to Holy Communion:
The bridegroom, and all the guests, received a taste of the wine that was yet to come. When we celebrate Holy Communion, we receive "a foretaste of the feast to come." "Oh taste and see that the Lord is good, blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him." (Psalm 34:8) 

So when we receive Holy Communion, we are, as Jesus said, we are receiving His body, as it is contained in the bread, and His blood, as it is contained in the wine. For when we read Jesus speaking, 

Now as they were eating [the Passover meal], Jesus took bread and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, "Take, eat. This is my body." And He took a cup, and when He had given thanks He gave it to them saying, "Drink of it all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom." (Matthew 26:26-29)

The guest, Jesus, performed another miracle. In Holy Communion, we believe based upon Jesus' own words, that His body is contained in the bread. Let's think about this a minute. Jesus' body, both mortal and immortal, is contained in a lowly human earthly thing called bread. It doesn't makes sense? How can this be? How can the divine, Jesus, be contained in the mundane unleaven bread? Easy. Jesus said so. When we trust Jesus and His words, it is easy to grasp, not understand. Trust Jesus. Take it.

It is the same with the blood of Jesus contained in the wine. The best of the best is in the wine we drink. And Jesus shed His blood to forgive. Jesus is the fulfillment of all the sacrifices, especially the ones that forgave sin. And God said that forgiveness of sins has to happen with the shedding of blood. 

Connection to Us:
Jesus' disciples believed in Jesus after they watched, saw, heard, and participated in this miracle. They didn't know it all. They believed based upon their connection and experience with Jesus.

And so do we. We connect to Jesus. We see His action according to the Scriptures. We hear His words according to the Scriptures. We taste Him in the bread and wine, according to the Scriptures. We believe in Him and trust in Him.

And for those of you who do not yet know Jesus, come and experience Jesus. If you're in the Huntsville, Walker County area, stop by. If not, you can experience Jesus through our conversation. Come and say hi.

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