Wine From Jesus

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Jesus’ first miracle recorded in the New Testament was when he turned water into wine. I never really got a satisfactory explanation about that from the teetotaler Baptist adults in the church I grew up in. The best one I heard was that water was not clean at the time, so drinking wine was safer – and their wine wasn’t as strong as wine today and less likely to cause drunkenness. Hmm. Maybe.

Nevertheless, I think it is noteworthy that the Lord’s first supernatural act performed in his human body was so different from those that came later. When we think about Jesus’ miracles, we generally think of the scads of people he healed – physically and spiritually. We see him casting out demons, feeding multitudes, meeting basic needs for survival.

But his first miracle was about increasing joy.

It was a wedding, a party. They were celebrating the nuptials of a young couple beginning a life together. And huge part of such a celebration in biblical times was wine. And oh, people . . . it was a HUGE embarrassment for the host if the wine ran out too soon!

Again, I’ve heard all sorts of anti-alcohol explanations for this. But there’s a detail here that I think is important. Jesus didn’t just give them wine . . . he gave them really, really good wine. High quality stuff. The master of the banquet (who didn’t know where the wine came from) praised the bridegroom: “You have saved the best till now!”

Jesus didn’t just provide the means for the party to continue; he made the party better!

Do y’all realize that Jesus wants us to be happy? To have joy? You would not get that impression from a lot of Christians in a lot of churches. In all honesty, I’m not sure you would have gotten that impression living in my childhood Christian home. My growing up years were peaceful. Secure. But I don’t think I could have called them joy-filled.

I know non-Christians look at the “rules” we believers are supposed to live by and think the Christian life is about giving up everything fun. But no, friends . . . it’s about keeping the fun inside the boundaries where it stays fun and doesn’t become destructive. Jumping out of an airplane may be a thrill, but only if you’re willing to submit to the “rule” of wearing a working parachute.

More than that, I know a lot of Christians who probably look at their lives and say, as I did for so many years, “What is this ‘joy’ you speak of?” I mean, life is hard. It just is. But that wasn’t God’s desire for us. It's hard like this because we messed things up, because we continue to mess things up. But the God who loves us enough to save us from our own destruction also came up with a way for us to get that joy back.

You see, joy is not a by-product of a righteous society we build. It’s not a result of good choices we make. It’s not the effect of a positive mindset we maintain. Joy is a fruit of the Spirit. It's the harvest from the love affair he wants with us. When we figure out this relationship-with-God business, the joy comes with it.

We don’t find joy by looking for joy; we find joy by looking for God.

And friend, he wants to give us that joy! He longs to turn our foul, noxious water into robust, delicious wine!

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