John 2:1-11: The difference Jesus makes.

“On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, 2 and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 3 When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, ‘They have no more wine.’4 ‘Woman, why do you involve me?’ Jesus replied. ‘My hour has not yet come.’5 His mother said to the servants, ‘Do whatever he tells you.’6 Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from eighty to a hundred and twenty litres.7 Jesus said to the servants, ‘Fill the jars with water’; so they filled them to the brim.8 Then he told them, ‘Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.’They did so, 9 and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realise where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside 10 and said, ‘Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.’11 What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.” NIV

A former drunkard said, ‘I have no problem believing Jesus turned water into wine, for He turned beer into furniture in my house!’

You have the potential for miracles when Jesus is invited into a marriage (1,2) – and every marriage will need them. There can come a time in a marriage when ‘the wine runs out’. But Jesus can turn the ‘water’ of ordinary, everyday married life into the ‘wine’ of something rather special, when He is at the centre. We ‘involve’ Him (4) because we recognise we need Him so much.

The essential thing is: ‘Do whatever he tells you’ (5). Not everyone reading these notes will be married, but for those who are I have a question: Is your marriage centred in the Lordship of Christ? Is it built on the rock of Scripture? Is the desire to obey your Lord at the heart of everything? Do you pray together? Do you read God’s Word together? (Okay, I know Jesus can be Lord of your marriage even where you don’t have joint quiet times, as well as individual ones; but I highly recommend the practice of sharing the deepest and most meaningful things in life in this way. It is a wonderfully bonding/unifying practice.) But the bigger question is, ‘Do you obey Jesus, both in your life together and personally?’ If you ask Him to – if you involve Him – Jesus can and will reveal His glory right in the middle of your marriage, and grow your faith (11b).

Jesus blesses abundantly (6-10). A huge amount of wine was supplied and it was of the finest quality. (What happened ran contrary to the custom of the times. A wedding feast could last for days. Normally, the best wine was given first. Then later on, when the guests were ‘past their sell-by date’, they brought out the inferior stuff. But here it was acknowledged that the best was kept until the end.)

Well, whether you are single or married, the message is: ‘Do whatever he tells you’.