Whatever It Takes
John 2:1-11 January 18, 2004
Three days later a wedding took place in the city of Cana in Galilee. Jesus' mother was there. [2] Jesus and his disciples had been invited too.
[3] When the wine was gone, Jesus' mother said to him, "They're out of wine."
[4] Jesus said to her, "Why did you come to me? My time has not yet come."
[5] His mother told the servers, "Do whatever he tells you."
[6] Six stone water jars were there. They were used for Jewish purification rituals. Each jar held 18 to 27 gallons.
[7] Jesus told the servers, "Fill the jars with water." The servers filled the jars to the brim. [8] Jesus said to them, "Pour some, and take it to the person in charge." The servers did as they were told.
[9] The person in charge tasted the water that had become wine. He didn't know where it had come from, although the servers who had poured the water knew. The person in charge called the groom [10] and said to him, "Everyone serves the best wine first. When people are drunk, the host serves cheap wine. But you have saved the best wine for now."
[11] Cana in Galilee was the place where Jesus began to perform miracles. He made his glory public there, and his disciples believed in him.
CCI: When we invite Jesus in, he transforms our shortages into opportunities for his glory.
Twenty-five years ago Johnny Carson was interviewing an eight-year old boy one night at the beginning of his show. The young man was asked to appear on the Late Show because he had rescued two friends in a coal mine outside his hometown in West Virginia. As Johnny questioned the boy, it became apparent to him and the audience that the young man was a Christian. So Johnny asked him if he attended Sunday school. When the boy said he did Johnny inquired, "What are you learning in Sunday school?" "Last week," came his reply, "our lesson was about when Jesus went to a wedding and turned water into wine." The audience roared, but Johnny tried to keep a straight face. Then he said, "And what did you learn from that story?" The boy squirmed in his chair. It was apparent he hadn't thought about this. But then he lifted up his face and said, "If you're going to have a wedding, make sure you invite Jesus!"
That is a pretty good perceptive, I guess it is safe to add, “If you are going to do anything, be sure you invite Jesus.” And that is the message of this gospel story.
As they are today, weddings were among the most important life events for everyone in Jesus’ day. Today a wedding ceremony may begin at 1:00 in the afternoon and then after pictures are taken, the bridal party will travel to a hall or a home or a restaurant and host a party for their friends and family that will last 4-6 hours. According the Massachusetts Wedding Guide, the average cost of a wedding in Mass today is $20-24,000. These are major events! (I am glad I only have one daughter to disappoint when hers does not cost that much!)
In Jesus’ day weddings were more than a 5-6 hour gathering and party. Wedding celebrations often lasted SEVEN DAYS. They were often grand and marvelous feasts. After a Jewish couple had been betrothed for about one year, the day of the wedding would arrive. THE GROOM, dressed up like a prince, would gather his attendants, usually at night, and lead them to the bride’s house. THE BRIDE would be waiting fully prepared in all her splendor because she did not know the exact time of the groom’s arrival. The groom and bride would then pass through the streets ACCOMPANIED by bridesmaids, singers & dancers. During that procession it was common that the neighbors along the path would shout & cheer as the wedding party passed by. Upon arrival at their destination, the wedding ceremony & feast would often begin and last for as many as seven days. The entire celebration was A BIG DEAL. The entire community was a part of the celebration. They brought gifts and the newlyweds provided the food and wine and party.
Remember, the people did not have a lot to celebrate. They country was occupied by foreign troops that were in every town and even in the temple space. They worked hard and struggled to feed themselves. There was not such thing as leisure time for the common person in Jesus day, the lord who was cared for by attendants was very rare. 50% of the population of they Roman empire was slaves. And so, when a wedding came around the whole community took part.
Last Summer, my favorite cousin was married. It was a quiet wedding to a girl he had known since high school. They are very happy, but they did not have a party after the wedding. So at Thanksgiving they invited both their families to come to their new home and celebrate with them. The house was full, they food was filling the table. Some of the family was planning to spend several days with them. Now imagine this, at 11:00 a.m. the electricity had gone off. My cousin checked the fuse box and there was nothing out of the ordinary. So he called the emergency number for the electric company and discovered to his horror that they had forgotten to pay the electric bill, and their power had been turned off. Can you imagine the embarassment?
That is what it was like for the bride and groom at the wedding in Cana. You must understand, wine was not only a drink, it was also a symbol. The Rabbi said, “Where there is no wine, there is no joy.” Psalm 104 is a psalm that sings of God’s gifts, after speaking of the gifts of rain and birds and grass and cattle verse15 says:
[God gives] wine which makes man's heart glad,
So that he may make his face glisten with oil,
While scripture speaks clearly of the danger and sin of abusing wine, in itself, the scripture regards it as a gift and a symbol of joy.
At the wedding, the wine ran out! This was a disaster for the young couple.
They thought they had planned well, they thought they had enough resources, but in the midst of the party, the wine ran out.
Have you ever been in that situation? We all have. We think we have made good plans, we think we have covered the bases, but then the resources are gone and we don’t know what to do.
That is when Jesus stepped in.
Jesus ministry is just beginning. One week before the gospel tells us he was with John at the river Jordan. During that week he called 5 of his disciples and traveled about 75 miles. His public teaching had not even started yet. John tells us that Jesus had not yet done any miracles. This was the very beginning. So when Jesus’ mother informed him of the crisis, at first, Jesus seemed not to be concerned about it. Then he called the servants of the house to him and pointed out the stone jars that were near the door for ceremonial washing. These were big jars. Each held between 18 and 27 gallons of water. The water was used to wash the hands of feet of the guests. I imagine, if they were that big, they did not need to be filled very often. However, when Jesus called the servants to him, he instructed them to fill all six jars. That would be a lot of work. We are talking about 120 - 150 gallons of water! Then after the servants had filled the jars, remember, these were for washing hands and feet, Jesus instructed them to take a cup from the jars and serve it to the head waiter! Water, from old stone wash jars served to the master of a feast at a wedding! Think about it! It may be almost as much a miracle that they did it, as it was that the water turned to wine. But when the head waiter tasted what was served to him, he was shocked because it was the very best wine he had tasted. The water from the ceremonial wash jars had become great wine.
John then tells us that this was the first sign Jesus performed and when they saw it, the disciples believed. Water jars at a wedding, wine in a glass, servants obeying orders, all these were common things, it seems that Jesus was willing to do whatever it took.
As I reflected and meditated on this miracle, I was shocked by the commonness of it. Jesus took what the ordinary things at hand and transformed them into extraordinary wine. But as Pastor Stanley Hughes of Richland, WA said, “The significance of this miracle goes far beyond Jesus making wine, it is about the new thing that Jesus is doing.” He did not only make wine, but he made wine from water that symbolized the old way. He was opening a new path and showing the contrast between our way and His way.
This miracle reminds us that Jesus is in the business of transformation. When Jesus demonstrated that he has the ability to transform water into wine he was showing us that
– He can take death and turn it into life
– He takes sinners and makes them into saints
– Jesus takes old things and make them fresh and new.
– Jesus takes broken lives and makes them whole
– He takes sorrow, and turns it into joy
– He takes emptiness and makes it fullness
– He takes the ordinary and makes it into the extraordinary
– He takes a wilderness and turns it into a garden
– He takes our poverty and transforms it into abundance
– He takes our weakness and uses it to demonstrate his strength.
– He takes anxiety and transforms it into peace
– He takes dirty old stone jars and transforms them into 20 gallon wine bottles
Jesus is in the transformation business. We don’t know the moment of miracle, however, we do know that until the servants dipped the cup in the jar and took it to the master, the wine did no good.
Perhaps today your world looks pretty hopeless. Maybe you cannot see where the problems will end, or how you will ever make ends meet. The message is Jesus is in the transformation business, and he will take your leanness and turn it into plenty. Maybe there are relationships that have hit the rocks and you feel you have been betrayed. Well, I have good news, Jesus is in the transformation business, he will take the rocks in that relationship and use them to polish to a beautiful glow. Maybe you think you have gone too far, you have separated yourself from God’s grace and your heart has become like a stone. I have good news for you, Jesus is in the transformation business and he can take the stone pots of your life and fill them with the wine of his spirit which will melt your heart so you can receive his Grace.
Jesus longs to transform you, your relationships, your family, this church and even our world. The question we must ask is, “Am I willing to do whatever it takes, even if it does not make sense. An I willing to do whatever it takes to be changed by Jesus?
