Good Morning!
Greetings in the name of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
But Jesus overheard them and said to Jairus, “Don’t be afraid. Just have faith.” (Mark 5:36)
There was a wedding celebration in the village of Cana in Galilee. It was a big feast, and many guests came. All of Jesus’ family were at the wedding. The wedding was closely relatives to the Jesus’ family. Jesus disciples were also invited to the celebration. The wedding celebration place was full of people.
Mary, Jesus’ mother, was deeply involved with the wedding. She planned for the wedding by carefully estimating how many people would come and how much food would be needed to feed them. She prepared enough food for the wedding. However, the wedding celebration was attended by more people than excepted, and the celebration went on. The guest at the wedding were fully of joy. They were talking and laughing while eating and enjoying food. The celebration went on, and nobody wanted to leave. It was a truly blessed wedding celebration.
However, the servants along with Mary started noticing what was going on the food prepared. The food was disappearing quicker than they expected. Especially, the wine, which was really important for the wedding celebration, which made the wedding guests merry and jolly. They continuously pouring wine into their cups, and tossed each other. Suddenly taking away the wine from the guests was almost unthinkable, as if putting a hard break on a car smoothly cruising on highway. Mary and the servants kept the secret among themselves, while watching and worrying about the wine getting running out. Finally, the servants voiced up and asked Mary what to do. Mary could not answer because Mary did not know what to do about the wine running out. Mary felt completely helpless. She was sitting down and praying. Then she slowly lifted up her eyes from her head bowed down. In her eyes, there was Jesus. He looked completely different. Mary could saw in Jesus the Lord who was foretold by the angel when pregnant, and was visited by the three wise men and the shepherds at the stable. Although she always believed Jesus was not an ordinary child, at the moment, she could clearly see Jesus was the Lord at that moment. She could connect Jesus with all of her amazingly marvelous experiences – the blessing of the angel, the praise of the Elizabeth, and her own song coming out of her own mouth when she heard the praise of the Elizabeth:
“Oh, how my soul praises the Lord.
How my spirit rejoices in God my Savior!
For he took notice of his lowly servant girl,
and from now on all generations will call me blessed.
For the Mighty One is holy,
and he has done great things for me.
He shows mercy from generation to generation
to all who fear him.
His mighty arm has done tremendous things!
He has scattered the proud and haughty ones.
He has brought down princes from their thrones
and exalted the humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things
and sent the rich away with empty hands.
He has helped his servant Israel
and remembered to be merciful.
For he made this promise to our ancestors,
to Abraham and his children forever.” (Luke 1:46b-56)
Suddenly everything came together. Then, all gone were her worry and fear of the world (i.e., the wine running out), and her anxiety of not being able to do anything for the servants although the servants kept looking at her carefully. She realized that she was freed from the worry, fear, and anxiety. She knew what to do.
Mary got up, and approached Jesus for the firs time in her life as the Lord, not her own son. With faith, Mary told Jesus, “They have no more wine.” (John 2:3b)
She put her complete trust on Jesus, and released all her burden. Then she carefully watched over the lips of Jesus and waited.
“Dear woman, that’s not our problem,” Jesus replied. “My time has not yet come.” (John 2:4)
Mary was surprised. The answer was not what she expected. Jesus was somewhat indifferent of her real worry and concern. She puzzled at first, and then thought about two choices. First, she just gave in and did nothing. Then, the wedding celebration would soon be over. She could just go back to her seat, and collapse while just painfully watching the wedding celebration was quickly dismantling. Second, she continued believing Jesus as the Lord and Savior. What would you do, if you were Mary?
Mary took the latter approach. She did not give up. She believed. How much did she keep believing Jesus as the Lord, not her own son? Here is the answer:
But his mother told the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” (John 2:6)
She believed Jesus without any doubts. She put everything before Jesus, and she also asked the servants to believe as much as she believed. They saw the unmovable faith of Mary, and they also believe.
Standing nearby were six stone water jars, used for Jewish ceremonial washing. Each could hold twenty to thirty gallons. Thus, the jars could hold together 120 to 180 gallons of water, which means 450 to 680 liters of water. The celebration place must have been a big place. If not, why did they have that many ceremonial washing jars?
Jesus told the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” (John 2:7a)
The water levels of the six jars were all different. Some of them were almost full, some half-full, and some almost empty. Per Jesus’ instruction, the servants started to pour in water to the jars. It took many trips from the well and to the jars. However, the servants quitely and patiently followed the Jesus’ instruction. They filled up the jars one by one. By the way, the servants did not know why they had to fill up the jars, not just one, but all of the six jars. The guests were already in the celebration place. There was no more need to use the washing water. The guests already did the ritual of cleansing when they came in. For them, it was completely absurd adding more water in the jars because nobody would use the washing water any more that night. Even so, they obeyed. Yes, following Jesus is like pouring water in to the jars although we know that certainly nobody would use the water anymore. However, the important message here is to obey Jesus and do what Jesus asks us to do as the servants did.
When the jars had been filled, the servants told Jesus, “the jars are full.”
Then Jesus said, “Now dip some out, and take it to the master of ceremonies.” (John 2:8b)
The servants heard Jesus. Then they looked at each other and questioned, “now just draw the water from the jars, and give to the master of ceremonies?” They knew the wedding celebration needed wine, not the water from the ceremonial jars. Although the water in the jars were clean, but it was not for drinking. They could not believe what was told. They thought about what the master of ceremonies would tell them when the master of ceremonies realized that they just brought the ceremonial washing water to him to taste. Doing so was clearly out of mind. They could not know what to do. They scanned with their eyes to find Mary. Then they carefully watched Mary and especially her eyes, and waited her answer. Despite of this absurdity, Mary’s face was still in peace. She nodded as her approval. They knew what to do, when they saw Mary’s steadfast faith. Without any further reservation, they quickly drew the water and brought to the master of ceremonies. One person’s absolute faith is often contagious while making others to have the same faith of the one person, as Mary did to the servant.When the master of ceremonies tasted the water that was now wine, not knowing where it had come from (though, of course, the servants knew), he called the bridegroom over. “A host always serves the best wine first,” he said. “Then, when everyone has had a lot to drink, he brings out the less expensive wine. But you have kept the best until now!” (John 2:9-10)
The master of ceremonies tasted the best wine ever, which was the water in the ceremonial jars. This was what God did. The water in the jars was not potable, but washing only. However, the undrinkable water was turned into the best wine ever. For God, nothing is impossible. God uses something useless, rejected, or completely failed in order to build up His kingdom on earth. Who could have ever imagined at the wedding celebration that the ceremonial washing water would become the best wine ever? Just fix eyes on Jesus Christ regardless what’s going on in our lives. Through our faith, Jesus turns our lives to His masterpiece for His kingdom.
Then Jesus asked them, “Didn’t you ever read this in the Scriptures? ‘The stone that the builders rejected has now become the cornerstone. This is the LORD’s doing, and it is wonderful to see.’ (Matthew 21:42)
The master of ceremonies did not know. The bridegroom did not. The guests did not know. Only knew the servants and Mary. The master praised the wine in view of the earthly wisdom – serving the best first and the worse later. God provided the best, not any wine that could be served at the end of a party when people get drunk, when Mary and the servants had a true faith in Him. God is merciful and gracious to those who keep believing without any doubts.What was the secret of unlocking the miracle of the Cana’s wedding? Faith. Mary recognized Jesus was the Lord, and Mary believed. The servants believed also. Then they obeyed. Faith and obey. This is the secret that God wants from all of us. Faith and obey, which truly please Our God, Our Ever-Loving Father.
The apostles said to the Lord, “Show us how to increase our faith.”
The Lord answered, “If you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘May you be uprooted and thrown into the sea,’ and it would obey you! (Luke 17:5-6)