The wine has run out
and with one more “l’chaim” the guest’s goblets will go dry and the party will
be over ahead of schedule. Mary is determined to do something about it and
counting on those things she has treasured in her heart she gets Jesus to serve
the good wine before his time. John records this as the first sign of many and
even though the other Gospels remember more pressing first signs, like healing
diseases and casting out demons, turning water into wine is the sign for the
time to come. It might not seem so in a world where more important things than
wine run out, where a surplus of sorrow and suffering beg God to heal and
exercise evil before filling the carafe with Cabernet. But the
miracle of water into wine is more than a story of good timing for a worried
wine steward and it is Mary who gives it to us. Like Jesus in the garden she
asks for what she wants and accepts his rebuff. In the same way Jesus will ask
for what he wants, “Take this cup from me” but accept “Thy will be done.” And
so Jesus in faith will leave the garden for the cross and Mary, with every
reason to believe the answer is no, tells the servant, “Do whatever he tells
you.” She has no idea what he will do but believes he will do something. Faith
in the face of jugs gone dry is what is called for in the face of circumstances
that drain reserves, sorrow that consumes joy, questions empty of answers,
which is why water into wine is a sign of the time to come. Without knowing how
or when we believe God will do something like Isaiah imagined; a feast of rich
food and fine wine for all people where God will dine on death for when Jesus'
time finally came the One who asked for the cup to be taken from him is the One
who filled it.
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