Early in His ministry, Jesus attended a wedding. Jewish weddings in those days were very different than most weddings in our country today. The wedding usually lasted five to seven days. The bride and groom were paraded through the village, so the wedding was often a joyous village-wide event.
Isn’t it interesting that Jesus performed His first miracle at this wedding? I assume He wanted to show that He celebrated marriage (since He instituted it). The wine had run out, which would have been a huge embarrassment to either the groom or his parents. Jesus’ mother, Mary, was the first to notice the potential fiasco. She asked Jesus to do something about it. At first Jesus hesitated, probably waiting for instructions from His heavenly Father.
Some large water containers were nearby, so Jesus instructed them to be filled and then a ladle of the water to be taken to the master of ceremonies. Somewhere in that action the water molecules became wine. Jesus turned 120-180 gallons of water into wine. And it wasn’t just any wine. The master of ceremonies commended the groom for leaving the BEST of the wine till last (usually you’d serve the best you had at first). Of course, the main intent of this miracle was to demonstrate His deity and His control over even the molecules in the water. But don’t miss the fact that Jesus turned water into WINE.
I personally don’t drink alcohol. Before I gave my life to Christ and trusted Him for my salvation, I used to drink at college. I didn’t handle my liquor too well. I would usually end up falling-down drunk. Even though the Scriptures don’t prohibit the consumption of wine, it does tell us not to get inebriated. Therefore, I have chosen not to drink alcohol at all. One of my friends doesn’t drink because there have been many alcoholics in his family. He doesn’t want to take the chance that he might have the propensity to become addicted to it, too. I have plenty of other Christian friends who drink alcoholic beverages in moderation.
Don’t want you to miss the fact that Jesus was not a spoil-sport. That’s what got Him into trouble with the religious leaders of His day. He was known to hang out with the riff-raff of His day, the “tax collectors and sinners.” The common people enjoyed being around Jesus. They didn’t like the self-righteous religious leaders. I think people liked being around Jesus because they sensed that He loved them. He wasn’t always condemning and shaming them. He clearly stood for holiness, and never condoned sin, but He loved people.
In fact, He came from Heaven because He loves you and me. He knew long before He left Heaven that torture and crucifixion awaited Him. He knew that when He entered humanity, He’d feel pain just like us. Yet, in spite of that, He chose to come to earth to die as our substitute, for our sins.
Sometimes life brings sorrow. Other times, it’s filled with joy, like at a wedding. Whatever your circumstances, I hope you’ll invite Jesus to walk with you through it. You probably won’t get wine out of your kitchen faucet. But, for sure, you’ll have the King of the universe with you.
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