Wedding Wine

"1On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there; 2and both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. 3When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to Him, "They have no wine." 4And Jesus said to her," Woman, what does that have to do with us? My hour has not yet come."5His mother said to the servants, "Whatever He says to you, do it." 6Now there were six stone waterpots set there for the Jewish custom of purification, containing twenty or thirty gallons each. 7Jesus said to them, "Fill the waterpots with water." So they filled them up to the brim. 8And He said to them, "Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter." So they took it to him. 9When the headwaiter tasted the water which had become wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the headwaiter called the bridegroom,10and said to him, "Every man serves the good wine first, and when the people have drunk freely, then he serves the poorer wine; but you have kept the good wine until now." 11This beginning of His signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in Him." - John 2:1-11

I recently read that when the Roman Emperor Claudius could not recruit enough soldiers for his campaigns he blamed it on men not wanting to leave lovers and families. So, he cancelled all marriages and engagements in Rome. St. Valentine was a priest who secretly married couples. When he was caught and jailed, many visited and showered him with notes and flowers. One such visitor was the prison guard’s daughter. Before being hauled off to be executed, the priest left her a note of thanks and signed it ‘Your Valentine’. The day of his martyrdom is celebrated as Valentine’s Day. I am not sure of the historical accuracy of that account, but it sounded good.

An account I am much more sure of - certain of in fact - is the record of Jesus’ first miracle, which fittingly in light of Valentines, took place at a wedding. Most weddings are occasions for joy, and as we look to learn from this wedding account, let’s focus on keys to life-transforming joy. Christ gave His life in part to give us His joy! Joy is a fruit of God’s Spirit, and far too often too many of us who call Christ Lord lack it. A quick note - in Scripture wine is often associated with joy. In Psalm 104:15 we are told that God makes “wine that gladdens the heart of man.” In Ecclesiastes 9:7 we read, “Go...drink your wine with a joyful heart, for it is now that God favors what you do.” In Luke 7:31-34 Jesus asked, "To what can I compare this generation? They are like children calling: 'We played the flute, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not cry.' For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, 'He has a demon.' The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, 'Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of "sinners." God always commends sobriety and condemns drunkenness (in fact self-control is a fruit of the Holy Spirit), but with that said, I think the prayerful wise use of wine in moderation is a matter of Christian liberty. Of course, you are free to disagree. That is the beauty of liberty. Now, let's look at keys to Christian joy.

The first thing I notice in this text is that Jesus, His mother and His first followers were all invited to the wedding, which brings up a couple of different points depending upon where you are in relation to God. If you are just beginning to even consider inviting Christ into your life, you may have the misimpression that doing so will mean the end of all your fun. That is simply not true. Jesus is ‘the Life’ your life is missing. He may cost you sin’s fleeting pleasures Hebrews 11:25, but He will replace them with God’s vastly superior pleasures.“In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever”- Psalm16:11. For those of us who have been privileged to know Jesus for a while, this is a reminder to stay in a position to be invited to all of our friends’ events. Jesus was not a killjoy who was jealous of people having a good time. He was a life-filled, joyful, welcomed guest, and we should be too. I think a key to this is to avoid moralizing unconverted people. Like all of us, they need the new life transformation that only God can give. So instead, show them God’s love and then in God’s time introduce them to Jesus, who is the Way to and the Life of the ultimate wedding feast.

If you are a Christ-follower who is finding joy elusive, Jesus’ mother Mary has great advice for all of us. “Whatever He says to you, do it.” This is a primary key to enjoying the abundant joyful life available to every one of Christ’s servants. Knowing this is not the key. Doing it is! Knowing I should eat right and exercise doesn’t make me healthy. Eating right and exercising does! Notice also that part of this key is doing “whatever He says.” Partial obedience, only doing whatever He says that aligns with what we were going to do anyway, holds no promise of joy. Doing whatever He says, even if it sounds as ridiculous as carrying some of the roughly 150 gallons of water you poured into water-pots to a headwaiter to taste, releases God’s overflowing joy into and through you.

Speaking of overflowing, consider the quantity and quality of the transformed interior contents of these symbolic jars of clay that were once just put to ceremonial use. The quantity is lavish - Six twenty to thirty gallon jars filled to the brim! This paints a great picture of the contrast between the ‘wine running out’/'diminishing return' empty life without Christ and the abundantly full life with Him. Next, notice the quality is the best. After Jesus transforms the contents of these vessels and it is presented to the headwaiter, he judges the transformed brand new wine to be excellent. So it is with everyone whom Jesus transforms. We are taken to God, who declares us “good” - something He certainly would not have done in our unconverted washing water state.

The final key to joy is faith in Christ. It was not His time to 'go public’, but it was time to grow His followers’ faith. So, He allowed them and the servants involved to witness His first miracle. God reveals the right amount to the right people at the right time for His purposes. You may not know the duration of or God's purposes for your current circumstances, but you can know unquenchable artesian joy in any set of circumstances. They key is always trusting Christ, not circumstances, for joy. Thankfully, God wisely uses changing circumstances to teach us to trust the unchanging Christ for our joy in all circumstances. Getting weened off of circumstantial joy and onto Christ-dependent joy can be difficult, but it is a step of faith that is well-worth taking.