Monday - The Wedding at Cana

The series of seven miracles of increasing power in the Gospel of John, from the turning of water into wine at the wedding at Cana, to the raising of Lazarus from the dead, reveal who Jesus really is – that is indeed why they are called ‘signs’ by the apostle. They point to a greater truth.

At the Wedding in Cana, the wine provided by the hosts had run out, which would have been a major embarrassment for them.  But Jesus intervened, taking over the duties of the bridegroom, and he ordered the servants to draw from the six overflowing stone jars, which he had just commanded to be filled. The water had been transformed into huge quantities of the best wine ever created.  The wedding was transformed from a potentially joyless, lifeless embarrassment to a joyful occasion.

To the eyes and ears of unbelief this is just another fantastic fable, but to the believing heart it is a picture, indeed a proclamation, of the super-abundant outpouring of God’s grace and mercy in Jesus Christ.

You see, Jesus Christ, through his death and resurrection on the third day, is sufficient to meet all of our needs and every situation we might encounter.  Indeed how can we fail?  To the self-sufficient and independent spirit, the gospel is outrageous.  The wonderful news that God’s superabundant mercy in Jesus Christ was sufficient to cover all my sins, even mine, brought me to my knees in joyous thanksgiving many years ago.  I had realised that the wine I tried to provide by my own hard work and efforts would never be good enough, it would never be sufficient.

The servants at the Wedding at Cana did not create the new wine themselves, but drew off what was already there. And this new wine is still around after 2,000 years.  Have you drawn on it yet?