Water Into Wine — John 2 1-11
I enjoy searching out old books and gleaning truths from them. Some of the books I have found are “THE CARPENTER’S SON” by Julia Wells Wallace and “GREAT LION OF GOD” by Taylor Caldwell. Most recently I found another book entitled “THEN CAME JESUS” which I have given to our Pastor. These have all been books which have been around for some time. Now I turn to a book of more recent vintage. Kelly Minter has written a book titled “WATER INTO WINE.” You recall Jesus’ first miracle, don’t you? When at the wedding at Cana he turned large stone jars brim full of water into wine.
Two thousand years ago, Jesus was sitting around with his disciples when he was told about the wedding. Because it was family, he chose to attend the event. And he told the guys around him, “OK, Let’s go.” Food, drink and good companionship were all to be had. A good time was to be enjoyed. And we find ourselves enjoying the tale that begins to unfold before our eyes.
But look again at that wedding tale. We find such things as the blessings of servanthood, the risks of trust and the struggle of faith. It was absolutely amazing to those who obeyed the Master. They carried water to fill the jars, and then they carried wine from the jars to fill the cups of the wedding guests. Today, more than two thousand years later, on a different continent, in another era, as members of a different culture, we still find ourselves carrying water, and encountering miracles. As in days gone by we also question Jesus, and like those of an earlier age find him faithful to the end.
Among other things, the story of the wedding at Cana teaches us obedience. Mary told the servants to do whatever Jesus wanted. They did so with no back talk. When Jesus told them to fill the jars with water the servants might have thought it to be a waste of time but they did it. They obeyed. Scripture tells us that they filled the jars “to the brim.” We aren’t told what the servants thought when they drew the “water” from the jars. I imagine they were pretty amazed. They had to wonder what had taken place. They knew that they had just filled those jars with water. From these huge jars came the finest wine anyone had ever tasted. So good that people exclaimed how good the wine was. But the point here is the servants had obeyed Jesus. And that’s the important thing.
The question asked of you and me isn’t, “Is this water or wine?” but “Are we filling the jars to the brim?” That’s how much is asked of us. When Jesus asks us to walk with him, like a child, we must place our whole trust in him. We may walk with a limp but if we step out in faith we walk nonetheless. If we leave the end results to God, we will have obeyed and the water will be as wine.