Daily Devotional

In the second chapter of the Gospel of John, the first miracle recorded by John is the account of Jesus turning water into wine. The story summarized is this: Jesus, with a few disciples, and some of his family, attend a wedding feast in Cana. The party runs out of wine, Mary (Jesus’ mother) asks Jesus to do something about it, Jesus (possibly in reluctance) instructs the servants at the party to fill up six handwashing jars with water and once filled, the headwaiter takes some of the water/wine to the bridegroom, who finds that this water (now transformed into wine) is the best wine being served contrary to the customs of the day.

This miracle is peculiar in that it stands apart from the miracles described in the three synoptic gospels. The crisis which occurs seems inconsequential. The party has run out of wine. Some might hold that viewpoint that this is good news, everyone can now go home. Or they are beholden to the opinion that they shouldn’t be drinking alcohol anyways. But there is something deeper that is occurring here. If you know and appreciate John’s writings, metaphysical undertone bleeds through every pen stroke, so what’s really going on.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis 1:1

What Jesus accomplishes here is, in my opinion, His greatest demonstration and identification of who He is. Water, if left alone for thousands of years, can never naturally turn into wine. For example, in 1993, researchers in Antarctica confirmed that a vast freshwater lake, named Lake Vostok, was found to be entombed 2.4 miles below the ice. When it was finally accessed in 2012 through the longest ice core sample extracted to date, this lake, complete with its own unique ecosystem, was found (perhaps to the researcher’s own disappointment) to not have transformed into wine.

Extra ingredients: Grapes, sugar, and yeast are required to complete this transformation. For every other miracle recorded in the four gospels, all the ingredients or components were present for completion. A young boy’s lunch for duplication, a leprosy to remove, a dead body to restore life back into. This observation does not diminish the effectiveness or power exercised by Jesus in His other recorded miracles. But unlike many of those miracles, turning water into wine, without the necessary ingredients to complete this transformation is the same miracle Jesus, performs in each one of us who chose to “take His yoke” (Matthew 11:28-30). Like He did when he created universes out of nothing, He creates us into something new, with no extra ingredients required.

Saul (in Hebrew means “asked/prayed for”) was made Paul (meaning “humble”). Saul changed from being a proud Benjaminite, “a Hebrew of Hebrews”, “a zealous persecutor of the church” and “blameless as to the righteousness of the Law” (Philippians 3:5-8) Into a new creation that who would endure poverty, starvation, shipwreck, imprisonment, torture, and later execution for Lord Jesus. In Paul, pride was supplanted by humility which became the fuel in which Jesus used in according to His good plans and purpose.

We are all like those stone jars filled with water. My weaknesses and deficits are of no concern, to the One who created mercy, humility, patience, self-control, love, and peace. Subtly, perhaps during a party not unlike the one in Cana 2000 years ago, you may find yourself being turned into something new, a good wine to be consumed to those around you. A light in the darkness, leading to the throne of the Winemaker who creates good wine with no required ingredients.  

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