When the Wine Runs Out

I have thrown a couple of wedding feasts and been to more than I can remember because I do a lot of weddings. They have ranged from “peanuts and punch” to lavish affairs that were coordinated and choreographed down to the inscription on the handkerchiefs used in the “Second Line.” One thing is for sure about a wedding—it a time of great joy and celebration. Something in the human imagination wants to slow down time, gild the lily, and celebrate the joy that is possible in the covenant of marriage. This is as it should be—if you don’t believe me, just look at Jesus. Is it an accident that Jesus starts his public ministry at a Wedding Feast? 

 

At first glance, it seems trivial. Most of the miracles Jesus did have a certain gravitas about them—healing a cripple, casting out a demon, stilling wind and waves, raising the dead—weighty indeed! So, what is up with showing up at a wedding, right after he has called his first five disciples, and wasting as much as a week at a party to celebrate a wedding? His disciples must have wondered the same. After all, they found the Messiah, the One that would settle old scores, put down ancient enemies, and end oppression; and yet their first assignment is to hang out at a wedding for a week? Is this what the Messiah had come to do? And the miracle involved is, on the surface, simply saving a bridegroom the social embarrassment of having the party cut short because the wine ran out. What is up with that?

 

I hope you are asking those questions, because everything is involved in this! Curious? I’ll see you Sunday as we see what Jesus does when the wine runs out. Then you can judge for yourself whether it is trivial or not! 

 

Blessings, 

 

Jim