John 2:1-11 "God of the Small Stuff"

On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there,  and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding.  When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.”
 “Woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.”
 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”
 Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.
 Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim.
 Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.”
They did so,  and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside  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.”
 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. 


 What is surprising in this story is not so much that Jesus' first miracle was making wine -a wine so good that the wine drinking celebrants declared it to be the best at the celebration -although that seems to surprise most American Evangelicals, it shouldn't.  Clearly, God is not quite as uptight as American Evangelicals -no real surprise there.  And, if God is going to make some wine for the party, would we really expect Him to make the cheap vinegary stuff?


In Luke chapter 4, Jesus quotes Isaiah 61 as a synopsis of His mission.  He came to preach the Gospel to the poor, restore sight to the blind, heal the broken-hearted, deliver those in spiritual and emotional bondage.  What I find surprising is that this first miracle was doing none of those things.  Here Jesus is not healing the sick, raising the dead or casting out demons. 


The motivation for this first miracle seems to be simply to save the host of the wedding celebration from embarrassment.  Jewish tradition required the host to supply enough wine and food for the invited guests to enjoy themselves for the duration of the celebration (several days).  But here, the wine had run out.  In the bigger scheme of things, this is not an earth shaking tragedy.  This was not as traumatic as, say, contracting leprosy or having a loved one die.  Some eyebrows would have been raised.  There would have been a few rude comments.  There would have been some snickering behind the host's back.  The host's perceived social status may have taken a temporary setback.  But I'm sure this would not have been the first wedding in the history of the Jewish people where wine ran out.  This was survivable.  Yet Jesus cared enough to spare the host embarrassment and made the best wine of the week.


This speaks to me of the true nature and character of God; I serve a God who loves me and cares, not just about the big events, not just about overwhelming traumas, not even just about the valleys and pits of despair.  The God who loves me is thoughtful enough to care about the little things.  That is awesome.