John 2:1-10 (NIV) 1 On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, 2 and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 3 When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.” 4 “Woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.” 5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” 6 Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons. 7 Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim. 8 Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.” They did so, 9 and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside 10 and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.”
At a wedding in Cana, Jesus turned six jugs of water into wine. At first glance this miracle seems to have little socially redeeming value. There where thousands lost in their rebellion against God, hundreds caught in the web of legalism, many going to bed hurting and hungry, and the first sign we have of the miracles of Jesus is this: helping a host out of a small social embarrassment.
This miracle makes no sense to the rest of Jesus’ ministry unless it is pointing to something more basic and more important to His work than simply making sure everyone had enough at the party. “The wine has run out” is still a way we say that joy has left and disappointment has set in. This disappointment is a common experience for those who follow some utopian dream or some great person who is believed to have the power to pull it off.
Disappointment takes its toll on our life, dampening our confidence while kindling a spirit of uncaring disobedience. Disappointment can erode our hopes until humanly speaking we have only the human best to hope for – that we will live out our life in something like peace and with the ones we love. Indeed this was probably the underlying spirit at the wedding in Cana. The people had a dream of a promised Messiah who was going to bring all sorts of good things to God’s chosen people. But that dream had been shattered again and again until it had become only a fond wish. Pilate and the Pharisees declared that the party was over for the disciples that Friday when Jesus was crucified. The disciples experienced disappointment. The wine ran out of their life with Jesus, and the party was over – but it wasn’t. The party had come to a close, but not an end. And Jesus turned the bitter water into the wine of life and gladness.
The promise of this miracle is that Jesus will pour his life of joy and gladness into those moments of disappointment.
From a sermon preached by Henry Dobbs Pope February 16, 1986
© Rhonda Hinkle Mitchell
An uplifting post, Rhonda. Great subject, one we all need to remember... that He will take care of us no matter what.
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