Bible Stories You May Have Forgotten by James Bell

Author:James Bell
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Trusted Media Brands

The Life of the Party

Jesus Turns Water into Wine

(John 2:1–12)

Are you a student of oenology? Would you even take things to the next level and describe yourself as an oenophile? No, those terms don’t have anything to do with weird religions or some kind of communicable disease. Rather, they refer to wine. Oenology is the study of wine and wine making, and an oenophile is simply someone who loves wine.

There are a lot of oenophiles in today’s culture. They buy wines in bottles and cases to add to their collections. They pour wine into fancy glasses so they can see it, swirl it, sniff it, sip it, savor it—and sometimes even swallow it.

But nothing in oenology can explain what happened two thousand years ago, when Jesus performed His first public miracle by briefly stepping into the wine-making business.

No Longer in High Spirits

It all started in Cana, which was a small village located between the Mediterranean and the Sea of Galilee. Two young people in the village were getting married, and Jesus was invited to attend, along with His disciples. Jesus’s mother, Mary, was also invited, and they all attended the happy occasion.

Weddings are a big deal in today’s culture—they require a lot of planning (and usually a lot of money) to pull off. The same was true in the ancient world, although the social importance of a wedding celebration was much greater. There weren’t a lot of social opportunities back then, which meant that everyone in the community became legitimately excited when a young man and woman decided to tie the knot, because it gave everyone a rare opportunity to get together.

That’s why what happened at this particular wedding in Cana was so scandalous: “When the wine was gone, Jesus’s mother said to him, ‘They have no more wine.’ ”75 Okay, maybe that’s not a situation you would have found on Desperate Housewives, but it was a huge deal in the ancient world. Hospitality was vitally important in everyday life, and people who hosted a party had a social obligation to provide their guests with a good time, a time of joy and celebration—and nothing said joy and celebration in those days better than fine wine. So running out of wine was an extremely embarrassing situation for the host family. It would have been viewed as offensive by the guests, and it may even have reflected poorly on the prospects of marital happiness for the bride and groom.

A Jarring Effect

Mary must have had a close relationship with the host family, because she made a point of alerting Jesus to the situation. She wasn’t telling Him about the lack of wine because she was thirsty, in other words. She wanted Him to do something about it to help out the family and the newlyweds.

Jesus was hesitant at first. “Woman, why do you involve me?” He asked. “My hour has not yet come.” By saying, “My hour has not yet come,”76 Jesus meant it wasn’t yet time for Him to reveal Himself publicly as the Messiah—as the Savior.

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