John 2:3-12
“And they ran out of wine, since the wine provided for the feast had all been used, and the mother of Jesus said to him, ‘They have no wine.’
Jesus said, ‘Woman, what do you want from me? My hour has not come yet.’
His mother said to the servants, ‘Do whatever he tells you.’
There were six stone water jars standing there, meant for the ablutions that are customary among the Jews: each could hold twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, ‘Fill the jars with water,’ and they filled them to the brim. Then he said to them, ‘Draw some out now and take it to the president of the feast.’
They did this; the president tasted the water, and it had turned into wine. Having no idea where it came from — though the servants who had drawn the water knew — the president of the feast called the bridegroom and said, ‘Everyone serves good wine first and the worse wine when the guests are well wined; but you have kept the best wine till now.’
This was the first of Jesus’ signs: it was at Cana in Galilee. He revealed his glory, and his disciples believed in him. After this, he went down to Capernaum with his mother and his brothers and his disciples, but they stayed there only a few days.”
Have you ever had your faith rattled? Had it knocked for a loop and wondered if you’d ever find it again? In life, bad things happen. When bad things happen to us, God says it’s perfectly fine to turn to Him for help and support 100% of the time. But do we?
Do we have the FAITH to trust this 100% of the time when the you-know-what hits the fan? I am 100% certain I do not exhibit FAITH 100% of the time. I’m probably lucky to even hit the 25% mark, and even then, I respond with faith, not FAITH.
The Wedding at Cana is one of the most well-known, feel-good, miracle stories in the Gospel. It is one of those great stories I always looked at from the point of view of the disciples. They saw the reluctant Jesus perform a miracle and they began to develop faith in Him.
Notice I wrote faith, not FAITH, there.
Yes, the disciples needed to witness a miracle before they really began to believe. They had dipped their toe in the water of what Jesus was all about and were testing the water with a timid approach. They heard His call and followed, but held back from diving in headfirst. It took a miracle to believe. faith.
I noticed something the other night thinking about this Gospel reading. There is FAITH in this Gospel. BIG TIME FAITH. Mary, in this story, does the exact opposite of the disciples.
She brings up the fact the wine has run out at the wedding banquet, a social faux pas back in the day. Jesus looks around (kind of like any son does to his mother when she’s asking him to do something and all he wants to do is hang out with his friends) and says it’s not his business—nor his time. In other words, he gets a little sassy with his mother.
Mary is not deterred, though. Why? Because Mary has FAITH. She’s shown FAITH from the moment the angel Gabriel paid her a visit. FAITH so big in her son/Son that she merely turns to the servants and says perhaps the five most FAITHFUL words spoken in the Gospels, “Do whatever he tells you.”
That’s 100%.
That’s BIG FAITH.
That’s what we need to strive for.
FAITH in God. FAITH to ask Him for help when we need it the most, or the least.
Ask with a faithful heart, God will always give us His best wine.
Mike Hays
Mike Hays is a husband, a father of three, a lifelong Kansan and works as a molecular microbiologist. Besides writing, he has been a high school strength and conditioning coach, a football coach and a baseball coach. His debut middle grade historical fiction novel, THE YOUNGER DAYS, is a 2012 recipient of The Catholic Writer's Guild Seal of Approval Award. You can find it at the publisher's website or on Amazon.
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