Quick question: Do you get better with age? That’s not a question for those who might consider themselves of a more mature age. It’s a question for all ages, particularly those who aspire to be Christ-followers. The longer I follow Christ, whether for a few weeks or a few decades, do I become more Christ-like as I journey along? The longer I ingest Scripture, am I more pliable and less brittle in my interaction with others? Or, do I become more like my personal influencers such as my family of origin, my friends, or, in a nod to the current national preoccupation, my political affiliation?
We know of many things that become better with age: cheese, beef, and most notably, wine. And yes, that is a cheap segue into John 2, a chapter I’ve been hovering over lately, where wine plays a prominent role in showing us the beauty of the gospel message and giving us encouragement for following Christ in these crazy times.
The wedding scene in John 2 is jam packed with meaning, but a few touchpoints bring targeted conviction in how we can get better, i.e., more Christ-like, with age. In our nuclearized political conversation, I could use a reminder that there is common rare air to strive for that is far above the fray of political differences.
Jesus Celebrated:
The picture of Jesus at a wedding celebration feels like a one-off Jesus event. It doesn’t quite fit everything else we see Him doing. Yet, here He is, with His disciples and mom, celebrating a life passage with a family. We’re told in Romans 15 to rejoice with those who rejoice, and to mourn with those who mourn. We see Jesus famously mourn in John 11 with the passing of His friend Lazarus. But here in John 2 we see Jesus celebrating. It’s a great picture for us to emulate in celebrating life passages with people, even when it might be hard to celebrate: the co-worker who received the promotion we expected, the friend who marries while we still wait, the couple who announces the birth of their child while we struggle to conceive. Jesus’ presence at the wedding in John 2 can give us inspiration to legitimately celebrate with those who celebrate.
From the perspective of politics, this inspiration may not call us to join the victory party of a political opponent, but maybe it can inspire us to at least take up the quote of John Wesley: To speak no evil of the person they voted against, to take care their spirits were not sharpened against those that voted on the other side.
Jesus Trusted:
When Mary pointed out to Jesus that the wine was gone, Jesus explained to her that his hour had not yet come. This fits a key theme of John’s gospel in that in John 1-11 we see several references to Jesus’ hour not yet coming, but from John 12 forward, we see several references to “the hour has come” as the clock started ticking toward the crucifixion …and resurrection. However, some kind of “hour” must have come in John 2 in that Jesus does miraculously solve the problem of running out of wine. What appears to have occurred is that Jesus performed a miracle as a sign for a targeted group: His disciples. The sign was not wedding wide. Along with the servants whom John noted knew the source of the new wine, the disciples “believed.” Had Jesus operated out of His own flesh, He may have jumped on the opportunity to show His bag of tricks. The wedding crowd would have been wowed, and the disciples likely would have been perplexed, wondering if this guy is simply a show-off, or the Son of God. In Ecclesiastes 3:11 we’re told that God makes everything beautiful in His time. God’s timing is perfect. Our job, as exemplified by Jesus in John 2, is to trust God’s timing.
From the perspective of politics, every election is tagged in some form or another as “the most important election in our lifetime.” Thankfully, there is a timeline beyond any of our life timelines that we can obsess over. I find comfort in politically pressurized times by completing this sentence, “If God makes everything beautiful in His time, then _________________.” No matter how you finish that sentence, the sentence is going to bring relief.
Jesus Fulfilled:
John made a side reference that the water pots used for the miracle were the kind of pots used by the Jews for ceremonial cleaning. These are cleaning rituals from Old Testament law. That John would take the time to point out these pots is a clue that this is more than a miracle, it’s a picture of the gospel message in relationship to the old covenant. Picture for a moment the servants filling the Jewish ceremonial pots with water, picking up their ladle, and drawing out wine. Now play that same mental video with this narration from Galatians 3 in your head:
Galatians 3:23-26
23 Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. 24 So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, 26 for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. (Galatians 3:23-26)
It’s fitting that Jewish ceremonial pots would be the containers of transformation, the guardian of the miracle transforming water into “the best” wine. And a lot of it. Some simple math gets us to about 750 bottles of wine. That’s a lot of wine. Like the feeding of the multitudes in John 6, there were leftovers. This, too, is a picture of the work of Jesus. He lavishes. He brings more than life, He brings abundant life. When Jesus blesses, there are leftovers.
As Christ followers, it is an absolute gift to be able to dip out of the abundant pot, the pot that has been transformed from water to wine. We can experience a water-to-wine transformation that is so dramatic, so abundant that the world around us can’t help but see Jesus, and believe.
From a political perspective, I feel that I diminish that gift when I view the world through a political lens, when I watch or read news in hopes of having my economic and cultural ideas vindicated, when I’m tempted to “unfriend” someone for their political posts. I lose sight of the transformation that I get to experience. The moment I speak ill of a different political view, I have diminished the transformational gift I get to enjoy. It’s like the moment a brand new car is driven off the lot. It immediately depreciates. This doesn’t mean we don’t join the political dialogue and avoid debate. But there is a way to do it so that as we age, we become more like Christ than like our political ideologies.
The message of John 2 leaves me with some questions for us:
- What do you have in your life that, when transformed, would be a powerful miracle that would point others to belief in Jesus?
- What burden from your past are you carrying, what worry about the future is handcuffing you?
- What can Jesus transform into a new work of abundance
- And possibly the most direct application: What spiritual baggage have you collected over your journey that needs transformed into something new, something beautiful?
- In your role as a, sibling, classmate, co-worker, employer, employee, spouse what water can be turned into wine? As miraculous transformation happens, we WILL become better with age.
Small-Group Exercise Ideas
- Invite students to read John 2:1-12 and write down their top 3 observations from their reading.
- Discuss the dynamics of Jesus attending a wedding celebration. Paint a picture of the wedding family making out their invitation list and deciding whether to invite Jesus and his disciples.
- Kick around your group’s different ideas of what Jesus meant when He told Mary that His time had not yet come. Share with each other the challenges of trusting God’s timing.
- Read Galatians 3:23-26 and talk about why the wedding scene in John 2 is a great illustration of the truth of Galatians 3.
- Ask what each to share what they have in their life that needs a water-to-wine transformation.