by Evan
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| My wedding was considerably shorter |
A long time ago, there was a wedding. Back then, weddings lasted for days, and there was no guest list – the whole city would show up, along with friends and family from out of town. This particular happy couple had invited their widowed friend and her adult children to come from their home in the next town over.
Near the end of the third day of celebration, though, disaster struck.
The women’s area was near the wine cellars, so the women noticed the commotion when the wait-staff realized there was no wine left. Perhaps the expected delivery was late, or perhaps the family had failed to accurately judge how much the revelers would drink. Either way, it wouldn't be long before the newly married couple would be exposed to public disgrace. The festivities had been planned for months, ending earlier than expected would be profoundly insulting.
The widow from the next town over, though, had a thought. She called one of her sons over, and explained the situation. The terrified servers, procrastinating telling the Chief Sommelier about this inexcusable lack of wine, overheard snippets of the terse back-and-forth between the man and his mother.
The woman, with a twinkle in her eye, turned from her son toward them, saying, “You guys, do whatever he (nodding at her son) tells you to do.”
The servers maybe thought this random guy knew about a hidden cache of wine. Maybe they thought he had a connection with a vineyard and could get wine quickly. They certainly didn’t expect the directions he gave them.
“See those stone tanks over there? The ones used for filling the ritual cleansing pool? Fill them with water, and we’ll go from there.”
The servers are faced with a choice: Do they follow the instructions of a total stranger, whose only recommendation comes from his mom (another stranger)? Or do they throw themselves into the tedious and strenuous work of lugging 180 gallons of water up from the well, bucket by bucket? What will they choose?
Well, the "correct" answer is easy if you come from a churched background. We know the stranger is Jesus. We know he is the son of God, and that he always has a plan. We're conditioned to see dilemmas like this as no-brainers. When a random stranger asks you to do something strenuous and, apparently, pointless, you don't do it. But when Jesus asks you to do it, you don't ask questions. Right?
However, the servers never went to Sunday school. They'd never heard a sermon on dropping everything to follow Jesus, and the author of Hebrews hadn't yet written the exhortation to faith as "the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen." All they knew was that this party was in jeopardy and, more importantly, the reputation of a family hung in the balance. And this Jesus, otherwise unremarkable in appearance and presentation, had them filling colossal jugs with water. What could that possibly accomplish? As anyone who's been to a truly great wedding reception can tell you, water is no substitute for wine. Let's return to the story...
We can only guess why, but the servers comply with the stranger's direction. They begin the slow, tedious task of lugging water from the well to fill up the stone tanks. And even more surprisingly, they really throw themselves into it. They don't stop until the tanks are filled to the tippy-top.
Then the stranger gives them a far less strenuous (but terrifically more nerve-wracking) task: "Go to the tanks you just filled with water. Draw some out, and take it to the Sommelier."
Is Jesus off his rocker? Is he trying to get these guys fired? I have no idea why they comply with this request, but I'm glad that they do... What comes next is a miraculous event (which hardly anyone notices).
The servers take the cup to the Chief Sommelier, and give it to him to sample. As he sips, swishes, and swallows, his eyes light up. "This," he tells them, "is the good stuff!" (Can you picture the servers' eyes bugging out in surprise?) He calls the groom aside and, almost playfully, ribs him for holding onto the good wine until now. "Most people serve the great wine first, while everyone's still able to savor it, and serve the cheap stuff after the guests are buzzed. You, on the other hand, saved the top-shelf stuff till now. Sneaky!"
Of course the groom has no clue what the Sommelier is talking about (and probably doesn't care) - after all, he just got married! He's not thinking about which wine is served when, so he just rolls with it. The bride and groom enjoy their celebration uninterrupted. The party continues for another few days, propelled by the massive tanks filled with top-notch wine (the equivalent of over 900 bottles-worth). The city of Cana remains utterly unaware of the nail-biting, behind-the-scenes drama that unfolded that third evening.
Let Jesus be the sommelierat your next party or function.
Only the servers, the stranger and his traveling buddies, and the stranger's mom know how close their friends, the newlyweds, came to disaster during the happiest week of their life.
Thus, the scriptures tell us, was revealed the glory of Jesus. At a wedding in need. With a miracle that went completely unnoticed (except to those who responded with obedience to Jesus' direction). What does this tell us about him?
I could tell you what we came up with as a small group... but that takes all the fun out of it ;). What strikes you about this story? How do you read it? Post a comment as you reflect, I'd love to hear what you think!
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