John
2:1-11
In
John’s Gospel, we find seven “signs.” These signs are miracles or acts on the
part of Jesus that are supposed to show us something about God that we might miss
or overlook. In today’s reading, we find the first of those seven signs: Jesus
turns water into wine. Jesus creates 150 gallons of wine…750 bottles of wine…3000
glasses of wine. Really? This is the sign? Feeding 5000, raising to life a
little girl, helping the blind to see—these we understand, but bringing about
barrels of wine? How is this a sign, and what does it point to about God?
To
understand this sign, we need to understand what it meant for Jesus to be at a “wedding.”
For us, a wedding is 30–40-minute ceremony in which two people profess and
affirm their love to one another by way of vows and an exchange of rings. That
is our 21st Century, North American understanding of a wedding—and this
is nothing like what Jesus and his disciples were a part of in 1st Century Judea.
A
wedding in the first century was really the coming together of two families.
When a couple married there may or may not have been love involved, but this
was definitely a business arrangement and a restructuring of families. The
families would become a part of each other’s business. This was not two people
stepping away from their families to begin a new one. Rather, this was two
families coming together in a huge way.
While
you and I may drive 30 minutes to attend a wedding or travel half a day by air
on occasion, in Jesus’ day the family and friends may have travelled up to
three days—three hard days to get to the wedding celebration. If they were
traveling that far and that long, we can be sure that a 30–40-minute ceremony
was not what was awaiting. Rather, wedding celebrations often lasted
two-to-three days (and nights). And, the host families were expected to provide
food and drink for all those attending.
To
run out of wine would be a serious afront to all the attendees. To run out of
anything would be a faux pas on a grand scale. To not be able to provide for
the attendees would be a cause of shame and years of social repercussions. So,
when Jesus steps in to turn water to wine, Jesus saves the day. Jesus saves the
night. Jesus saves the family from shame and pain.
How
is this a sign? What does this point to about God? This act of divine love
reveals that God is not interested in just saving our souls for some future
eternal reality but is also interested in our daily lives. God wants to be
invited into the ordinary, and God wants to act on those “little” everyday
elements of our lives. While we don’t want to “bother” God with anything but
life and death issues, God longs to be invited into the everyday, ordinary
issues of our lives. When we invite God into the ordinary of our lives, we begin
to see the extraordinary goodness of God. God steps into the ordinary to reveal
the extraordinary. This is God’s good news for us in this story from John’s
Gospel.
Sunday, January 11, 2026
Making the Way Straight: Ordinary to Extraordinary
Watch/Listen: HERE
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