The Wedding at Cana

Ordinary 2
The Wedding at Cana
Scripture: John 2:1-11

Birthday parties are lots of fun, aren’t they?  Sometimes birthday parties are held at a person’s home, and sometimes the party is someplace like a roller skating rink, a bowling alley, a zoo, a park or even McDonald’s.  Most birthday parties have balloons, some have games, but every birthday party I have ever been to has a cake or cupcakes, which are really just little cakes, right?  Besides the birthday boy or girl, the cake is the central highlight of the party!  It’s when everyone sings “Happy Birthday,” and the person of the day gets to make a wish and blow out the candles!  And every guest’s eyes light up when he or she is handed a piece to eat.  Yum!  Can you imagine a birthday party where they run out of cake?  That would be disastrous!!

One time, Jesus was a guest at a wedding.  His disciples and Mary, his mother, were also at the wedding.  Well, during the party after the ceremony, they ran out of wine.  A wedding without wine was like a birthday party without cake!  It was a disaster!  The host would be terribly embarrassed, and be known from that moment on as the one who didn’t buy enough wine for his daughter’s wedding.

Mary felt sorry for the host and didn’t want him to be embarrassed in front of all his friends and family.  She told Jesus, “They have run out of wine,” as if she expected him to do something about it.  Jesus told his mother, “I’m not ready.”  But Mary had more confidence in Jesus than he seemed to have in himself.   (Moms are like that.)  She told the servers to do whatever Jesus told them to do.

Nearby were standing six stone water jars—big things, about this tall (show about 3 feet with your hands).  Jesus told the servers to fill the jars with water, which they did.  Then he said, “Draw some out of one of the jars and take it to your boss, the head server.”  When the boss tasted the water, it had turned to wine—the best wine of the party!  He was impressed, and the party was saved.

This was the first miracle that Jesus performed.  It was not the most important or impressive miracle, but it was the first.

Let’s Pray.  Dear God, we thank-you that Mary believed in Jesus and encouraged him to begin his ministry at the Wedding at Cana.  Help us to be bold disciples.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.