Jesus’ 1st miracle may seem a little curious at first glance. When Jesus changed water into wine was there really any problem? Is running out of wine even something to be solved. There are some who have speculated that this would’ve been a great embarrassment (are these even real problems?) for a couple that ran out of food or drink at their wedding.
I wonder if God didn’t pick this as his first miracle to show that even the little details matter to our God. What is it that you are struggling with right now? It may not seem like a big deal to the people around you. Who likes to hear other people complain all the time, but your problems are real. So are the solutions that your God has to offer. This doesn’t mean that a few hundred gallons of wine will miraculously appear at your wedding, but it doesn’t mean that he will never go back on his promises of protection and provision. Remember that’s for our needs, not our wants.
Now about the topic of wine at a wedding. There are others who believe that there is no way Jesus would ever create a few hundred gallons of wine at a wedding AFTER the first few hundred gallons were already gone! Wine wasn’t just used to party in the Old Testament. In a society that has questionable sanitation wine was used to purify the water. In ancient times often the wine was mixed with water – diluted, rarely straight wine. If the Bible says that Jesus created wine, why are we even considering that it could be grape juice? The answer to that question has to do with pharisaical rules practiced by some in the reformed tribes of Christianity. No where does God restrict the consumption of alcoholic beverages. Drunkenness is sinful. Having a beer with pizza is not.
Want to see a discussion as to what Mary was thinking when she piped up to her divine son about the shortage of wine? We’ll consider these and other questions in this weeks Bible class, a series from VIC – Very Important Chapters of the Bible: John 2 – Jesus’ 1st Miracle.
Please click HERE for the Bible class slides