Turning Water into Wine

First of all, I recommend everyone read this proposal concerning the Guide and Standard. Come back to this post after you’ve read it.

Jesus’ First Public Miracle

The Testimony of St. John, chapter 1, says,

On the third day of the week, there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and his followers were invited guests at the marriage. And when the wedding party wanted more wine, his mother said to him, They have run out of wine. Jesus replied, Mother, why are you talking to me about it? The time for me to provide sacramental wine has not yet arrived. But his mother instructed the servants, Whatever he tells you to do, follow through with it.

There were six waterpots made of stone that were used for ceremonial purification in religious observances, each containing twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus instructed the servants, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim. And he said, Now remove some and take it to the host. And they took it to him. When the host of the wedding tasted the ceremonial water, it had been converted to wine. But he did not know the source that converted the water, unlike the servants who recognized the Source. The host of the feast called for the bridegroom, and praised him using a proverb, saying, Careful men introduce their plans using the best wine, and later, when their followers are drunk, then their worst — but you have brought us better wine than at the start.

This was a sign confirming his role as the Messiah that was performed

by Jesus in Cana of Galilee. It was a demonstration of authority over both the

elements and ordinances of salvation. Those who recognized this as a sign of

his authority were awed as they considered it was him present among them.

After this he went down to Capernaum, he, his mother, his brothers, and

his disciples, and they were there a few days...

...

Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover many believed on his name

when they saw the healing miracles he did...

This miraculous event might have something to do with what’s going on right now. Let’s take a look and you can decide for yourself.

The Before-Party

The tenth talk given in Phoenix says,

Every time you partake of the Sacrament it is a reminder of the promise there will at last be some great wedding feast. It is not just in remembrance of the blood and of the body, but it is also a preliminary to the final feast the Lord intends to offer in which His blood and His body achieve success in redeeming some few! His atonement was to redeem. The wedding feast is a celebration of the Lord’s triumph. But His triumph produces saved souls. The redeemed are His great trophy!

Keeping this idea in mind, we can see that Jesus’ statement from the Testimony of St. John is true, when applied to today. “The time for me to provide sacramental wine has not yet arrived.” It is not time for the great wedding feast yet. That feast comes later, at the very end. At the wedding in Cana, Jesus’ Mother told the servants to follow the Lord because She knew He would provide wine preliminary to what it’s supposed to point to. So what can the Lord provide to us today, before the time of the great wedding feast?

Six Waterpots

According to my understanding, the number six is the number of men and weakness. It falls short of perfection. It’s imperfect and flawed. I am one of those “six waterpots”. I have been thirsty and I have partaken of the waters freely, as I have been asked to do. I would like even more nourishment, but I cannot turn water into wine. That requires a higher Power and it requires me to “follow through with” “whatever he tells [me] to do.” And so I will try to fill my waterpot “up to the brim” no matter how weak I am.

It’s noteworthy that the waterpots contained “twenty to thirty gallons”. Why are we told this? Remember that these waterpots might represent our imperfection. Perhaps the fact that they hold different amounts tells us that we need not have uniform views on everything before the Lord can work with us. I think it’s okay to disagree on at least some things, as long as we are each following the Lord as best as we know how. Perhaps the different volumes in the waterpots indicate that we can each add the guide and standard of our choosing to our own scriptures.

Three more questions related to the waterpots: Does the fact that there were six of them relate to the six men who were in the Lots group? And is it significant that the one woman in the Lots group received the words of the Lord? And is it relevant that the Lord told her, “You have filled the measure in which I have called you.”?

A Sign

The host of the feast at the wedding in Cana did not know how the wine was produced or who produced it. But he did recognize its fine quality and he realized how remarkable such a thing was that late into the feast. If the Lord provides the best wine at the end, shouldn't we expect the most powerful miracles in these end times?

Those at the feast who knew what to look for were able to perceive the Lord’s authority and were appropriately awed. Those at Jerusalem who witnessed His miracles believed on His name. We know that miracles alone cannot produce faith. But miracles were a necessary part of the Lord’s ministry. Should we expect anything less in these last days? Maybe such things can all begin when we, as an imperfect and weak group, follow through with whatever the Lord tells us and recognize the freedom everyone has to disagree with others, thereby eliminating contention.

Comfort

I try not to take anything in the scriptures for granted. John tells us that Jesus, his Mother, his brethren, and his disciples all went to Capernaum right after the wedding in Cana. Nothing else is said about it. What could it mean? I looked up what Capernaum means and apparently it translates into “Nahum’s Village”. I looked up what the name Nahum means and it translates into “Comfort”.

How marvelous that the Lord brought his family and followers to a village of “comfort” directly after involving “servants” in His first public miracle! Can that happen in our day? If so, how?

Mother Knows Best

The entire event at Cana began with the Lord’s Mother asking Her Son to provide wine that was necessary for the feast. She told the servants to listen to Him. When they did, the Lord’s ministry could begin. How will the Lord’s ministry begin through us? How will we take the gospel to the remnant and other gentiles in a convincing manner?

Were we not just taught about the Mother? Were we not recently informed of how She instructs Her children to follow Her Son, the Lord? The talk, “Our Divine Parents”, contains a lot of information that can’t be repeated here. But the things that were taught may be important for how the work of the guide and standard gets completed. This blog post may also be of value.

The Freedom to Disagree

I invite everyone to seriously consider the proposal I linked to at the top of this post. I see wisdom in it. I see a potential way to fulfill all the Lord’s commandments regarding the statement of principles we are to adopt by mutual agreement. Personally, I am drawn towards the Lots document, but I won’t begrudge anyone who prefers another document. And perhaps we can each add an appropriate guide and standard to our own scriptures. That way, everyone’s freedom to choose is respected, nobody has to feel like they’re being forced into something, and we can continue to be one with each other. I’ll be praying and fasting on April 14th to be able to understand what the Lord would have me do regarding all of this.

Gathered Together In My Name

Where two or three are gathered together in my name as touching one thing, behold, there will I be in the midst of them. (D&C 100 [RE])

I believe that those words, spoken by Jesus in both ancient and modern times, are quite relevant to the current effort to come to a mutual agreement on the Guide and Standard to be put in the scriptures. If the idea in those words applies to two or three people, I believe it can apply to many more than that (as long as the other conditions are met). Similarly, it can also apply if it touches more than one thing. Even an entire list of things. The tricky part is being gathered together in the Lord’s name. Since we want the Lord to be in our midst, how do we gather in His name?

I believe gathering in His name is to take on all of His attributes as we deal with one another. It is to be kind. It is to condescend. It is to have charity. It makes me think of the prayer circles done in LDS temples and the instructions that go with them. There can be no hard feelings. There can only be love and acceptance. And unity instead of opposition. The Father and the Son are one. That’s what the Son does and wants to do with us. He unites broken things and makes them one. He “at-ones” all those who want to be one. There are no sides. No majorities or minorities. Everything is done in common and all partake of the heavenly gift. There is no contention due to the love of God which dwells in each person’s heart. Because of that, there can be mighty miracles.

The Government of God’s People

Beginning at the Lord’s attempt to establish Zion through Moses until the quasi-Zion society of the Nephites after the Lord’s appearance to them, one can see a chiasmus in the types of government the Lord’s people accepted. The chiasmus looks like this:

  A   Oneness and equality

      B   Judges

          C   Kings

          C’  Kings

      B’  Judges

  A   Oneness and equality

Through Moses, the Lord was offering everyone the chance to be a prophet and know the Lord. Everyone would be equal and, due to the Lord’s direct involvement and the love of God that would have dwelled in everyone, there would be no need for an earthly system of government. There would only be unity. But that offer was rejected.

The centuries-long system of government the Israelites settled on involved the need for “judges”. The people were free from kings, but it was a time marked by lots and lots of warfare. Their enemies constantly came upon them. They were often faithless and suffered for it. They would repent and plead for God’s help and God would often deliver them through the intervention of certain individuals. It was very cyclical and predictable.

Eventually the people were sufficiently hardened that they demanded a king. And that’s what the Lord gave them. Israel suffered greatly because of it. We all know the dangers posed by kings. They can lead the people into much wickedness. After Lehi’s family left Jerusalem and arrived at the promised land, a system of kings was established and that defined Nephite government for centuries.

Eventually it was recognized that kings posed a great threat to the people and Mosiah II instituted a system of “judges” that would be established by the voice of the people. They were supposed to decide things through voting. It wasn’t quite like the period of judges found in the Bible, but it’s notable that both systems are known specifically by the term “judges”. Just like the experience of the Israelites long before, it was a time marked by lots and lots of warfare. In fact, warm contentions, destructive dissensions, and war and death on a massive scale all came about almost immediately after the reign of the judges began. Deciding things by the voice of the people with winners and losers introduced new ways in which the people could dispute one with another. The Nephites were constantly harassed by their enemies. The Nephites were often faithless and suffered for it. They would repent and plead for God’s help and God would often deliver them through the intervention of certain individuals. Now we read those accounts and we speak of the “pride cycle” and we can see how predictable the outcomes were.

Eventually, after the system of judges and voting ended in absolute failure and deep divisions, and after the people were greatly humbled by extreme destruction, Jesus came and taught His law. His commandments established something new. Or rather, they established something previously offered but rejected by the Israelites who came out of Egypt. This time, all would be equal. There would be no more factions. No more voting. Just love and everything in common. At least for a time, all knew the Lord and were blessed by Him. That is absolutely necessary for Zion.

Reach for Something Higher

How do we obtain the Lord’s highest system of “government” that He offers? How do we receive the oneness and equality of Zion? Will it simply come if we preach at each other enough? Will it come if losers humbly accept the will of the winners? Will truth finally prove victorious because of the ballot box? Did those things work for the Nephites?

Maybe we can obtain what the Lord offers by petitioning Him. And maybe we petition Him by doing what He says. Maybe it involves laying down our disputations and contentions. Maybe it requires being merciful and making peace. Maybe it involves condescending and agreeing with our adversaries quickly while we are in the way with them, even to the point of letting them persecute us, not even resisting the evil that is done to us. Maybe we need to go the extra mile with those who compel us and not turn away anyone who asks anything of us. Maybe we need to serve the least among us. Maybe we need to be one.

I invite everyone who entered into the covenant to participate in the effort to produce a mutually agreeable Guide and Standard. It should almost certainly end up being a document that literally everyone involved can agree on. For everyone who entered into the covenant, there are at least four things we can all agree on, and probably many more besides that. The effort will certainly require us all to lay down our ideas of what ought to be in the document. But it won’t require anyone to do or say anything against their beliefs. Nobody will be subject to any “king” because everything included will have the support of everyone. Instead of mourning tyranny, all will be able to rejoice at the opportunity to suffer and sacrifice for Christ’s sake. Even if the document is very short, it will represent our unity and it will show the Lord that we want to be His and that we truly want to be one. It will be our petition to God to obtain His system of “government”. Additionally, if it is indeed a sacrifice, it may be one way to covenant by sacrifice.

The Lord said, “Even a single soul who stirs up the hearts of others to anger can destroy the peace of all my people.” The solution given is for each of us to “equally walk truly in [the Lord’s] path”, doing what we profess we do. So let us be equal. It seems to me that that can be accomplished by condescending to the level of the least among us. How powerful an act would that be that would surely witness that we do what the Lord asks us to do!

We have a unique opportunity right now to gather together in the Lord’s name (by taking upon ourselves His attributes) as touching one or more things. The Lord has promised that, if we do that, He will be in our midst. And when He is in our midst, despite all our shortcomings, He will provide every needful thing by endowing us with the knowledge and wisdom we lack and yet require in order to do His work.

And do you covenant to seek to become of one heart with those who seek the Lord to establish His righteousness? (Answer and Covenant)