to the utmost of
sacrifice. He who is true King of men must flinch from no
responsibility, from no pain, from no utter self-abandonment to which
the needs of men may call Him. And Jesus knew this: in those quiet hours
and long, untroubled days at Nazareth He had taken the measure of this
world's actual state, and of what would be required to lift men out of
selfishness and give them reliance upon God. "I, if I be lifted up, will
draw all men unto Me"--this was even now present to His mind. His glory
was the glory of absolute self-sacrifice, and He knew what that
involved. His kingship was the rendering of service no other could
render.

The _manner_ in which the miracle was performed deserves attention.
Christ does all while the servants seem to do all. The servants fill in
the water and the servants draw off the wine, and there is no apparent
exercise of Divine power, no mysterious words of incantation uttered
over the waterpots, not so much as a command given that the water should
become wine. What is seen by the spectators is men at work, not God
creating out of nothing. The means seem to be human, the result is found
to be Divine. Jesus says, "Fill the water pots with water," and they
_filled_ them; and filled them not as if their doing so were a mere
form, and as if they would leave room for Christ to add to their work;
no, they filled them up to the brim. Again He says, "Draw out now, and
bear to the governor of the feast," and they _bore_. They knew very well
they had only put in water, and they knew that to offer water to the
governor of a marriage feast would be to insure their own punishment;
but they did not hesitate. There seemed every reason why they should
refuse to do this, or why they should at least ask some explanation or
security that Jesus would bear the evil consequences; but there was one
reason on the other side which outweighed all these--they had the
command of Him whom they had been ordered to obey. And so, where
reasoning would have led them to folly, obedient faith makes them
fellow-workers in a miracle. They took their place and served, and they
who serve Christ and do His will must do great things; for Christ wills
nothing that is useless, futile, not worth doing. But this is how we are
tried: we are commanded to do things which seem unreasonable, and which
we have no natural ability to do. We are commanded to repent, and are
yet told that repentance is the gift of Christ; we are commanded