Reading the Bible, we are sometimes separated from the often truly ridiculous things Jesus did and asked of His disciples. Often, to show reverence, we more politely call his methods “unorthodox” or out-of-the-box, but most of the time “ridiculous” is the correct word.
Maybe the religious among us would like to say that Jesus only challenged the social and cultural authorities, but the truth is that he sometimes challenges the fundamental way ordinary folks think the world is operating. The wedding feast is one of those times. Consider the following passage: (John 2:1-11, ESV)
“On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples. When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”
Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. And he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” So they took it. When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.” This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.”
This is a very familiar passage, but it is profound how Jesus does not do anything in this miracle except issue remarkable instructions and “rely” on the servants’ obedience. The obvious problem at hand is that there is no more wine during a wedding feast. Now, Jesus’ mother knew her son well enough that she knew it was appropriate to ask a resolution of him, and the servants must have thought the command to fill the cisterns with water was reasonable enough. But when was Jesus going to touch or bless the wine? Surely they expected something like that next.
But what happens is Jesus instructs them to take the master a drink. Somewhere between filling the cisterns and the master tasting it, the water became wine. But exactly when did the water turn to wine? If it was while the drink was being ported, imagine how incredulous the servant carrying the cup of water would have been. Now perhaps the original Greek makes the timing of the transformation more apparent to the reader, but in English, it is not at all clear when, exactly, the water was transformed into wine. I, for one, would have loved to see a footnote from the servant who carried the water explaining exactly what he was thinking at that moment. Imagine being in the early churches hearing this account read aloud, and being the elderly servant who remembered this episode in his youth. What would he have told the church? What would his anecdote have been? When I read this, I couldn’t help but think about the impossible situations many of us face every day where a resolution is not in view, and we can’t see when they will turn for the better.
At any rate, the foci of the parable are the mother’s faith and the obedience of the servants, despite how extraordinary his command seemed. Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast…
I keep being drawn to the fact that Jesus does not do anything other than expect the obedience of the servants in this event. Its as if the point of this story is to illustrate how God is glorified in our obedience. Sometimes in our lives we want confirmation of God’s empathy in His tangible interventions before we are willing to take a risk. This account says, though, that this sign manifested his glory. One may conclude that Jesus’ glory was manifested among the servants who had drawn the water [and all whom the servants told] once they had decided to obey such an outlandish command. Often times in our modern, evidence-based culture, we want to wait for God to act. Perhaps we should focus on obedience and let God perform the result.