Serving Wine

His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you." ~John

This story in John is one of my favorites. Not just because wine was involved but because it took place at a wedding. When I go to weddings it always brings to mind this story. The guests were all having a wonderful time and the servants were sweating it. They'd run out of wine. Back then, they just couldn't send someone out on a wine run to get more.

The process of making wine was tedious, time consuming and unpredictable. It takes an amazing amount of fruit picked at the right time. The fruit must contain certain chemicals and natural sugars to ferment and there's the possibility that the water will taint the taste. Months are needed to ferment and so many things can go wrong. One of which is that the wine could turn to vinegar. A community or family during those times would've really had to do some major planning to throw a wedding and to run out of wine would've been not only embarrassing but humiliating for the host. I'm certain it would not have been fun for the servants either. Mary knew that.

When I read this story, I'm always taken by the faith of the servants. I can just imagine what was going through their heads. I wonder what they talked about when they were filling the wash pots full of water. I wonder how they decided which of them would take the cup to the master of the banquet. It fills me with joy to think that when Jesus revealed his glory by performing this miracle it was to servants and his disciples. I wonder how many of the servants admitted to any of the guests that they were served wine out of a wash pot! I'll bet they had a few good laughs over the years about that 120 gallons. I wonder if they pondered how Jesus could've manipulated time, chemicals, water and fruit if he wasn't the son of God. The disciples put their faith in him after this miracle and I'll bet more than one servant did too.

"...Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant..." ~Jesus