The Wine is Finished

When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.”

John 2:3

In my early days as a believer, when I heard about the story of Jesus turning water into, I was never impressed. In my opinion, that was just a waste of power. Think about it, if people run out of wine the reasonable thing to do is to drive down the road to the nearest seller and if you are so broke that you can’t afford anymore wine, then close the wedding. This sounds very logical especially when I think about the many weddings I have attended in my life where I’ll get rice but no meat or drink. 

Howerve, my thinking was largely influenced by my ignorance of the jewish wedding. Let’s break this down a little. First, in Jesus’ day, a typical jewish wedding could last anything between five to seven days, sometimes more than a week. It is usually a communal thing. The implication of this is that most of the wine in the neighbourhood was probably present at this wedding. The problem now is not just about having money to buy more wine, because even if they did, there was no wine to be bought in the neighbourhood; what they really need now is a miracle. 

To make matters worse, in that culture, there was a strong element of reciprocity about weddings, for example, it was possible to take legal action in certain circumstances against a man who had failed to provide the appropriate wedding gift…it means that when the supply of wine failed more than social embarrassment was involved. Are you beginning to see that we have a bigger problem than wine right now?

Thank God that Jesus was there but more importantly that Mary was there – the woman who knows what Jesus is capable of. She knew that if anyone could do something at this time, it won’t be the rich uncles and aunties, it will be Jesus. So, she reached out to him. 

Are you aware of what Jesus can do? Do you know that there is no limit to his power and that in that situation where you have found yourself that looks as embarrassing as this finished wine, Jesus can save the day. Your skill might have failed you and you are beginning to doubt yourself but Jesus can do something. All you have to do is ask. As the scriptures say “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened” (Matthew 7:7-8)

PRAYER