80 friends have opened a study shared with them this month.
Sitting at Au Bon Pain in Harvard Square, I had to lead another Bible study. But I'd already studied the Bible with five students that day. I was spiritually dry and emotionally spent. I didn't want to do it, but I could hardly tell the next student, "Yeah, I don't want to read God's Word with you." So I pasted on a smile and pretended.
John 2:1-12
On the third day a wedding took place in Cana of Galilee. Jesus's mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding. When the wine ran out, Jesus's mother told him, "They don't have any wine." "What has this concern of yours to do with me, woman?" Jesus asked. "My hour has not yet come." "Do whatever he tells you," his mother told the servants. Now six stone water jars had been set there for Jewish purification. Each contained twenty or thirty gallons. "Fill the jars with water," Jesus told them. So they filled them to the brim. Then he said to them, "Now draw some out and take it to the headwaiter." And they did. When the headwaiter tasted the water that had become wine, he did not know where it came from—though the servants who had drawn the water knew. He called the groom and told him, "Everyone sets out the fine wine first, then, after people are drunk, the inferior. But you have kept the fine wine until now." Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee. He revealed his glory, and his disciples believed in him. After this, he went down to Capernaum, together with his mother, his brothers, and his disciples, and they stayed there only a few days.
In Jesus' culture, running out of wine at a wedding wasn't just a party foul. It was a social catastrophe that could brand this family with shame for a generation. "That's the family that treated us badly at their wedding." His solution to the problem might have become familiar to us, but it was jarringly unexpected to his contemporaries. These six stone jars weren't for drinking water, much less wine. They were strictly reserved for ceremonial washing. They were heavy, cold containers of religious obligation. They represented all the ways people tried to scrub themselves clean enough for God. But Jesus takes the containers of religious obligation and fills them with 150 gallons of the finest wine anyone's ever tasted. He's not solving a logistics problem so much as making a theological statement. His miracle turns the water of "you should" into the wine of "you're invited." The empty ritual becomes a joyful celebration. The symbol of cleansing gets transformed into a party where God shows up with more than enough. We usually try to hide our emptiness by faking our joy. It's not until we're desperate for change that Jesus gets involved. He waits for the wine to run out. It's not because he's stingy! The miracle demonstrates extravagance: six huge jars, filled to the brim with the world's finest vintage. When Jesus reveals his glory, he gives abundantly. There's more than enough for everyone. Jesus rescued this wedding from social catastrophe and turned it into a joyful party. Jesus is offering fullness of life, but our preference for religious rituals or a good time can keep us from noticing his presence. John tells us that only a handful of people notice: the servants, a few disciples, and his family. If you feel empty today, you aren't failing. You're in a place to receive Jesus' abundant love.
The wine running out meant social shame. Where in your life do you feel the pressure to keep up appearances even though you're running on empty?
Jesus used the "purification jars"—the symbols of religious duty—to hold the wine. How does it change your view of God to imagine him turning your duties into his gift of love?
Mary simply said, "They have no wine." She didn't tell him how to fix it. What creates hesitation for you in simply naming your lack to God?
Admitting emptiness breaks the power of shame. Send a text to your friend right now that simply says: "I'm running low on [patience/hope/energy] this week." Let them respond however they want. The goal isn't to fix the situation, but to bring it to Jesus and a friend.
80 friends have opened a study shared with them this month.