Jesus Wined

What Did Jesus Do?

Fill the jars with water.
John 2.7

No, I didn’t mean to imply that Jesus was a habitual complainer. That was not a typo. Yes, the Lord lamented over Jerusalem (See Matthew 23.37 and Luke 13.34), and, overwhelmed with a sense of forsakenness he cried out from the Cross, but I certainly would never suggest that Jesus was a whiner. Yet, he wined.

To be more specific, Jesus “wined” 150 gallons or so of water, when all the wine had embarrassingly run out at a wedding feast in Cana of Galilee where Jesus and His disciples, and his mother Mary, were invited guests. (John 2.1-2) Now, wining, and dining were not at all unusual, the wedding feast itself being a perfect illustration. But no one had ever before seen water wined, if you will.

And for His part, Jesus himself was reluctant to wine at that time. When His mother informed him that, though the celebration was far from over, the wine had run out, Jesus responded by saying the timing was not right for him to do anything about it. (2.4) However, this must have been one of those times when “Mother knows best,” because Mary went and told the servants to do what Jesus instructed them to do. (2.5)

So it was that Jesus directed the servants to take half a dozen large jars (Each would have held somewhere between 20 and 30 gallons) normally intended to hold water for rites of purification and fill them with water. (2.6-7) When the servants had complied with his instructions the Lord then told them to dip out a little from one of the jars and take it to the steward in charge of the feast, who, when he had tasted it, was amazed that the bridegroom had been holding out some of the best wine he had ever had. The steward was impressed because it was not the common practice to save the best for last. (2.8-10)

Now, John is the only one of the four Evangelists to record this story of Jesus “wining” water. And just what the story’s purpose was is quite up to discussion to this day. Was John trying to show that Jesus was a good son who obeyed his mother? Was its purpose simply to introduce the power of Jesus by reporting this event, “the first of his signs”? (2.11) As manifestations of glory go, the wine would have certainly made the guests at the wedding feast feel happy for a while, but other than for the servants who knew what happened, and the disciples, it was likely the bridegroom who got the praise, and not The Bridegroom, if you will. So, why did John include this story of the wedding at Cana? I think the best we can do is speculate until we have the chance to ask John himself.

For myself, for now I believe there are a couple of instructive points we may choose to accept. One is that The Bridegroom, not the bridegroom, would one day institute a different kind of feast, wherein his blood would become the “wine” of release from our sins. Certainly, as the good wine flowed at the wedding the guests would have forgotten all their worries. How much more joy do we experience because of the wine of Jesus’ blood poured out for our sakes? Secondly, I believe that this story illustrates the transformative power of the presence of Christ, whereby the most ordinary can become extraordinary. This is not to say that any of us should presume we may ever help out an embarrassed bride and groom by changing water into wine at their wedding reception should the supply of the fruit of the vine run out. But I believe we can rely on the power of Jesus to transform mourning into dancing, which is to say we should never despair, but believe that the Son can and will take any ordinary thing at hand (Even us!) and “wine” it, that is, transform it, in such a way as to both meet the need of the moment and glorify the Father.

The power of presence, a smile, a word of encouragement, a comforting touch: quite ordinary things with the potential to transform a situation. How about us, have we “wined” anything to the glory of God lately? That’s what Jesus did.

S.D.G.

Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4