Jesus and his disciples were...
Illustration
Jesus and his disciples were invited to a wedding in Cana of Galilee, a town about four miles from Nazareth. Mary, the mother of Jesus, went to the feast, as did Jesus and his disciples.
Weddings in that land and at that time were much different from what we are used to in the 90s. The eating and partying went on for days, sometimes an entire week.
Into this scene walks Jesus and his closest friends. He came because he was invited, he came as a human being, a man, like the friends he was with. This wedding feast is the place where Jesus performs his first miracle. What could he do? His mother, who knew his special God-given abilities, asked him, in a way only a mother can, to do a favor. "They have no wine." A short, simple statement, but a statement that led to a miraculous happening.
Jesus gives new wine, but we badly miss the point if we think for a moment that wine is the point of the story. Jesus gives new wine, and shows the creative power of God. He exhibits a love and concern for our happiness, first for those at the wedding, but primarily for all humankind through the continuing creation. Jesus has the power to bring life's best and to give us good things from his hands and to give us the relationship with God so necessary for true happiness in the world.
It is the Lord of life we meet inside the simple story of the wedding, an abundant life that is infinitely more than mere existence, that opens the windows of heaven and inspires us to recognize and supply the needs of all those who have run out of wine.
--Clarke
Weddings in that land and at that time were much different from what we are used to in the 90s. The eating and partying went on for days, sometimes an entire week.
Into this scene walks Jesus and his closest friends. He came because he was invited, he came as a human being, a man, like the friends he was with. This wedding feast is the place where Jesus performs his first miracle. What could he do? His mother, who knew his special God-given abilities, asked him, in a way only a mother can, to do a favor. "They have no wine." A short, simple statement, but a statement that led to a miraculous happening.
Jesus gives new wine, but we badly miss the point if we think for a moment that wine is the point of the story. Jesus gives new wine, and shows the creative power of God. He exhibits a love and concern for our happiness, first for those at the wedding, but primarily for all humankind through the continuing creation. Jesus has the power to bring life's best and to give us good things from his hands and to give us the relationship with God so necessary for true happiness in the world.
It is the Lord of life we meet inside the simple story of the wedding, an abundant life that is infinitely more than mere existence, that opens the windows of heaven and inspires us to recognize and supply the needs of all those who have run out of wine.
--Clarke
