Quest 14
If you had been Jesus, where would you have performed your first miracle and what would have been the occasion?
A worship or religious ceremony, maybe in the Temple, with fire falling from Heaven consuming a sacrifice?
To relieve some human suffering like healing disease or feeding the hungry?
How about a dramatic raising from the dead?
Making wine for the happiest event that took place in a first century Jewish village because your mother said the party had run out of wine???
Some background . . .
Cana was a village about 6 miles from Nazareth.
Mary had something to do with the arrangements, perhaps she was related to the bridegroom’s parents.
The bridegroom’s parents had saved for years for this event.
A wedding feast lasted for days and the whole village forgot their poverty and joined in the fun of a party atmosphere.
Jesus was invited and arrived with at least five disciples. Perhaps Mary figured Jesus and his disciples could dip into their funds and purchase some wine.
1. Jesus did not come to spoil the party.
If Jesus was a real drag or some sort of pompous killjoy, why was he invited to the party? Maybe he was invited because he was fun to be with.
Who invited Jesus? Common people who worked with their hands. The well-to-do religious people had a hard time with Jesus, as he was fully aware (Matthew 11:18-19) - For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’”
Jesus did not come to spoil your party. He came to fill life with joy (John 15:11) - These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.
Jesus let others help him.
John 2:7 - Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim.
Didn’t Jesus have the power to miraculously, instantaneously fill the jars with wine?
Example: Imagine Michelangelo deciding to let you help him paint a masterpiece.
This helps explain the church. The servants filled the jars – He performed the miracle. Today we fill the jars, and he is the power.
3. His mother nailed it (John 2:5): “Do whatever he tells you.”
Mary had depended on her first-born for many years. He ran the family business and became the head of the house. It was natural for her to come to him when the wine was running out.
Mary showed something we often forget: What we share in Christ is not a system of thought but a living, personal relationship with someone we can trust.
4. Jesus gives abundantly.
Jesus gave the newlyweds a lavish wedding gift – 120-180 gallons of “good wine” (John 2:6, 10) - Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons.
That was way more than what they would consume at the wedding. Do you think Jesus could have made just enough to cover the needs of the party?
One day Christians will echo the master of the feast: “You have kept the best till now.”
