Quality H2O
By Machelle McDowell
John 2- Wedding at Cana
One of the biggest tasks of a bride to be is making plans for and seeing to it that enough refreshments are prepared for the reception! It would be quite an embarrassment if your guests went away hungry or thirsty! This is the dilemma we read about in John 2 this week, “The Wedding at Cana.” They ran out of wine!
Jesus and his disciples were invited to this wedding along with Mary. I feel, (apparently), Mary was somewhat close with this family. She was close enough that she took it upon herself to help keep the family from social disgrace by making Jesus aware of the situation. Culturally speaking, during this period of time, It was a dishonor If a party giver failed to provide sufficiently for their guests, food & drink.
Mary spoke to Jesus and it almost comes across as if Jesus is surprised by his mother’s response to the issue. He responds to her, “What does this have to do with me? “It is not my time.” I can only imagine that he must have spoken to the Father at that moment to discuss what was about to unroll??
I love vs 5, Mary does not come right out and ask Jesus to help, but she instructs the servants to, “Do whatever he tells you.” To me, it seems she knew he would help this family in some form or fashion because of his compassionate heart.
There were (6) huge water jugs! It has been said that those jars combined would have held approximately 150 gallons of water.
Jesus could have filled those jars with wine on his own but he chose to allow the servants to be a part of the work, (miracle), just like he invites us today.
He allows us the privilege of being a part of His bigger plan! He doesn’t need us, but allows us to reap that blessing. If the servants were part of the work they too would share in the blessing.
They obediently acted and did exactly what Jesus asked! Because of that obedience, they shared in the joy that followed that miracle!
Jesus told them in verse 7, “Fill the jars with water.” They filled them to the top… to the brim! That was a lot of water. I have no idea how many servants there were or if the jars were completely empty, or half full, but there was a lot of water gathered and poured into those jars. It has been said that they held between 25-30 gallons each!
Do you think any of the servants were tempted to not fill the jar to the top? I’m sure they grew tired of carrying that water! And, if they hadn’t would there have been enough wine? Greater still, would they have missed out on the blessing of seeing God’s hand at work? They were a part of Jesus’ first miracle.
Then, he tests the servants, (again). He asked them to take some of the wine to the master of the feast.
Interesting that he didn’t ask just one, the Bible says, they all went to the master of the feast. What were they thinking about as they walked slowly in the presence of the master of the feast? They had not tested the wine! As far as they knew there was water in the jars! And they did as Jesus said and took it anyway. Trusting that God was about to do something BIG!
Get this: Think about it, the master of the feast did not know it was a miracle…he just knew it was the best wine he had ever put in his mouth! He was amazed that the host kept the best for last. Brilliant! LOL
The servants however….stood amazed that they just witnessed the hand of God! A miracle that they had faith enough to be a part of!
God’s glory was manifested that day in Galilee from a spark of “compassion.” I like to think that Mary showed compassion for her friends and Jesus in turn acted out of compassion. He still does to this day. He loves us so much that he was willing to die for us to make a way for us to come to the Father!
Would you like to taste the living water? Quality H2O? It will change your life forever. You might be asking, “How do I do that?” A helpful link listed below presents a simple explanation of the gospel and how you can accept Jesus as your Savior. Take a peek!
https://www.trustworthyword.com/how-can-i-become-a-christian