The Best is Yet to Come

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."  John 2:7-10 NIV

This was Jesus' first miracle, performed only three days after he was baptized by John. For years, this water/wine thing has provided fodder for theological arguments. Did the 150 gallons of wine that Jesus made contain real ethanol and if so, was the wine 1% alcohol, 6% alcohol, or 10-15% alcohol like the wines of today. We do know that Paul admonished the church in Ephesus, "Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit." Ephesians 5:18 NIV 

I think that when we dwell on the "proof" of the story, we miss the real message. In the wedding celebration, Jesus acknowledges that God created humans as social beings. We are meant to live in community with one another. As the saying goes, when we share our lives with one another sorrows are divided and joys are multiplied. Another part of the message is that Jesus desires to fill every corner of our lives. There is no request too small or too large for Him to fill. Whether we ask Him for a few extra gallons of wine, or for peace during a job interview, or for healing from metastatic cancer, He wants to provide what we need.

Finally, I believe that the most important part of the message is the promise that the best is yet to come. Those who remained at the wedding celebration after the first batch of wine was gone were rewarded with the best wine of the party. Many of you have heard the story of the woman who asked to be buried with a fork. As a child, she learned that whenever her mother or grandmothers told her to keep her fork after a meal, it meant that dessert was on the way, and for her dessert was the best part of the meal. Our lives in this world are not always easy or pleasant. In John 16:33 Jesus says, "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." The author of the letter to the Hebrews alludes to life in this world as a long race. "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us" Hebrews 12:1 NIV. "Perseverance" is the key. It's not important who wins the race, but that we all finish. This perseverance comes from living in Christian community and from relying on Jesus to provide all we need. Then, as we cross the finish line, we can claim as Paul, "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain."

Keep your fork!