Water into Wine
If a picture is worth a thousand
words, a poem is worth a million thoughts. George Gordon Byron, simply known as
Lord Byron, is considered as one of the greatest English poets in the 19th
century. The following is the story when the young Lord Byron was taking an
important exam in religious studies at Oxford University. The examination
question for this day was to write about the religious and spiritual meaning in
the miracle of Christ turning water into wine. For two hours all the other
students were busy with filling their pages with long essays, to show their
understanding. But the young Lord Byron just sat, contemplating and looking out
the window. The exam time was almost over, and he had not written a single
word. The proctor finally came over to him and insisted that he had to write
something before turning in the paper. The young Lord Byron simply picked up
his hand and penned the following line: “The water met its Master, and
blushed.”
Jesus, the Guest
Today’s story goes like this: one
day Jesus and his disciples were invited to the wedding. In Jesus’ time the
wedding celebration was considered to be the pinnacle of life. Instead of a
honeymoon, the bride and groom had open house for a week. They were considered
to be king and queen. Oftentimes all the people in town were invited to
celebrate together. It was the whole town celebration. At the wedding banquet wine
was essential. At that time to the Jewish mind, wine was a symbol for joy.
So “without wine, there is no joy.” But in today’s passage something
happened. The wine ran out. “They have no more wine!” the mother of Jesus said.
Running out of wine during the wedding celebration brought shame to the family.
But even more than that, it meant joy had run out.
Many of us in this room already invited Jesus into our hearts, but oftentimes we treat him as our guest, perhaps special guest at best, but not as the Master. There is a clear limit and boundary for guests. They are not allowed to get involved in our private matters – such as our family matters and finances. In today’s story at first Jesus was invited as a guest. So at the beginning he could do no mighty work there, even though he was the Son of God Almighty (cf. Mk 6:5). In the same way, oftentimes we feel like our life lost its sparkle, its joy when all is well, even when life is at the pinnacle. We are full of health; money increases, we have plenty of food, plenty to drink, and a warm place to sleep. But somehow the wine fails. Instead of joy, we are filled with much anxiety and worry, even if Jesus is with us.
Jesus, the Master
But later in today’s story, we see
some people who believed in Jesus and treated him as their Master.
First, Mary believed in Jesus as her Master and said to servants, “Do whatever
tells you.” Second, the servants. At the wedding banquet there were six stone
water jars, altogether holding up to 180 gallons of water. And Jesus said to
the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up, not to half,
but to the brim (v. 7). They showed complete obedience. Then Jesus
said to them, “Draw some out now, and take it to the chief steward.” And they
did. They showed immediate obedience. There is no logical relationship
between turning water into wine and filling the jars with water and taking it
to the head steward. There is no logical relationship between looking to the
bronze snake and being healed (cf. Num 21:9). But the key is “obedience.” When
we trust Jesus as our Master and listen to him, he turns our water into wine,
he turns our tasteless, insipid, sparkeless life into rich, satisfying, joyous
life.
Let me share my story. In summer 2008 Joyce and I had a chance to attend a prayer meeting at seminary. One of the members asked for prayer for him. His family and he were about to leave to England for further study. His prayer request was about financial issue. He mentioned the exact amount of money which he needed. At the end of the meeting we had a time to pray for him. While we were praying for him, I sensed the Holy Spirit saying to me, “Victor, I want you to help him. I want you to give his family a tenth out of what they need.” At that time, Joyce and I just got married. We were also financially supported by our home church and our parents in Korea. We were hesitant. Shortly after, Joyce had to go back to Korea for visa approval. That week the sermon text for Sunday service happened to be today’s scripture. While I was meditating on the scripture, I was amazed by the complete and immediate obedience of the servants. Finally, I decided to step out and do it. I made a phone call to Joyce to share what I had learned from the scripture. She got very excited and said, “Listen, today I met your grandparents-in-law. They made an offering to our family. And you know what? The amount of money they gave us is exactly same as what we want to give that family.” It was the moment that Jesus turned my water into wine.
Jesus: Guest or Master
Pastor Tim Keller compares the
Lordship of Jesus Christ to “a life-quake.”
When a great big truck goes over a
tiny little bridge, sometimes there’s a bridge-quake, and when a big man
goes onto thin ice there’s an ice-quake. Whenever Jesus Christ comes
down into a person’s life, there’s a life-quake. Everything is
reordered… any view, any conviction, any idea, any behavior, any relationship.
He may change it, He may not change it, but at the beginning of the
relationship you have to say, ‘In everything He must have the
supremacy.’[1]
Our Christian journey is a long obedience in the same direction. We come to know Jesus more and more through this long obedience. When I was in seminary, there was a life-quake. Jesus asked me, “Are you willing to give up your denomination and your school for me?” In 2018 there was another life-quake, when Jesus came to me and asked, “Are you willing to abide here in this place for decades for me?” Not long ago, there was another life-quake. Jesus asked, “Are you willing to give away your 403(b) and your college savings plan for me?” Indeed, each time Jesus came into my life, there was a life-quake. Everything had to be reordered. And I struggled. But every time I surrendered and obeyed, always there was joy.
Obedience leads to joy. Obedience leads to knowing Jesus. The Apostle John concludes today’s story this way: “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” (v. 11). All the people at the wedding feast saw the miracle and tasted the best wine. But for many of them it was just a miracle, not the “sign” pointing them to Christ. Only for those who obeyed – Mary, the servants, and the disciples, it was the sign. They saw the first glimpse of Jesus’ glory. And it’s a journey. It’s long obedience in the same direction. As we receive Jesus as our Master, listening to him and reordering our life accordingly, may we be filled with joy, joy, joy, tears of joy! Amen.
[1]
Tim Keller, “The Lordship of Christ is ‘A Life-Quake,’” Preaching Today, https://www.preachingtoday.com/illustrations/2016/march/3031416.html
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