I recently subbed as a Sunday School teacher at my church. In the days leading up to my lesson, I was drawn to the story of Jesus turning water into wine.
The basic gist of the Bible story is that Mary, Jesus, and the disciples are at a wedding when Mary learns that the host has run out of wine. So, she raises the issue to her Son.
His response to Mary’s statement seems rather off-putting. “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come” (v. 4).
Despite this, Mary instructs the servants to do as Jesus says. He, in turn, tells them to fill six stone jars with water. When they finish this step, he instructs them to draw the water and serve it to the host. As they comply, the water turns to wine — in fact, the quality of the wine is quite superior.
Generally speaking, weddings in the Bible were supposed to have wine. The presence of wine at a wedding, in other words, was ordinary. But in this case, the wine had run out. So, the host was not fulfilling even the most basic duty. The absence of wine was “sub-ordinary” (to coin a term).
Metaphorically, we all experience various situations where certain expectations are placed upon us. Let’s call these situations “weddings.” Sometimes these situations don’t turn out the way we expected.
- We may have started life with the expectation of a happy marriage, but for whatever reason, it didn’t turn out that way.
- We may have started with the expectation of a successful career, but after 20 years, we haven’t advanced anywhere.
- We may have dreamed of living a long and healthy life, but we just got a bad report from the doctor.
In other words, sometimes the wine runs out.
Those of us who know the Lord turn to Him. But sometimes it seems as if He’s not listening. More disturbing, sometimes when we pray, it may seem as if Jesus doesn’t even want to help us.
So, in these cases, we sometimes turn our backs on Jesus and look for other sources of wine.
- When the marriage is lousy, we may look for comfort in the arms of someone else.
- When the job is lousy, we may jump from a bad situation to an even worse one.
- And when life in general falls apart, we may grab a bottle or pop a few pills.
We do this because we are sick and tired of being sub-ordinary. So, in frustration and impatience, we move ahead of God.
Instead, we should have realized that what we thought was the “silent treatment” from our Lord and Savior really and truly had nothing to do with us.
In response to Mary, Jesus didn’t say no. He didn’t say, “The host should have prepared better.” Nor did He say, “His lack of preparation is not my emergency.” Instead, He simply asked, “What does this have to do with me?”
For Jesus to answer your prayer, the first thing He needs is an articulation from you about how your “wine” fits into His plan. Jesus is agenda-driven. He’s all about His Father’s business. So, if you want Him to replace the wine you’ve lost, He needs you to show Him how that fits into His plan.
To have that information at your disposal, you either need to have a relationship with Him, or you need to have a relationship with someone else who truly knows Him (so he or she can pray on your behalf).
But that’s not all. Sometimes we have to face our fears head-on, and we must have faith that moves as He directs.
The six stone vessels were holy, pure in every respect. Water in these jars became holy. The jars could hold 20-30 gallons. At 8.34 pounds per gallon, that means the servants had to gather about 1,000 pounds of soon-to-become-holy water (assuming the jars were empty.) Regardless, whatever amount of water was lacking needed to be obtained quickly. Since Cana wasn’t especially close to a river or a lake, they had to go to the well. And that would have been a challenge on a good day.
Then He told them to give some to the host. That also would have been scary. Their boss wanted wine… not watered-down grape juice (minus the grape juice). Can you imagine the reaction he would have had if he had tasted water instead of wine? Can you imagine the outrage he would have directed toward his servants?
Sometimes God will tell us to do something ordinary — something that, in a million years, couldn’t solve our problem. And sometimes, God will ask you to take a risk in the process. Yet, our obedience demonstrates our faith.
The host needed wine, but Jesus instructed the servants to take him the water. In obedience, this was done – and Jesus transformed ordinary water into extraordinary wine.
All we need to become extraordinary — and to do extraordinary things — is to simply listen to the Lord, follow His leading, put aside our fears, and perform the ordinary tasks that He gives us with sincerity and purity of heart.
And then watch what God will do.
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Matt Wilson earned his Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering from Mississippi State University in 1998. After graduation, he joined the gubernatorial campaign for then-Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee. In 2006, Matt received his Juris Doctor from Regent University and was admitted to the Mississippi Bar later that year. Today, he practices law in Tupelo, Mississippi, where he resides with his wife and two children. He is the author of The Godly Path of Least Resistance: A Step By Step Guide for Living by the Lord’s Prayer. He is the younger brother of Joy Lucius, a staff writer for the Stand.
