22 Days of Reading: Day 2
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John 2 and Psalm 119:9–16
On day two, I am reading the second chapter of John and verses 9–16 of Psalm 119. You can read John 2 below:
John 2
The wedding at Cana has always fascinated me, especially growing up conservative Southern Baptist. I’ve heard this passage twisted up in various permutations to avoid admitting that wine actually means — you know — wine. Because it does. It was not Welch’s, sorry Brother Bobby. However, I’ll save the drinking debate for another article…written by someone else.
So Jesus goes to a wedding. Weddings were a really big deal in Jesus’ day. Not the 20-minute ceremony and then a cake and mint fest in the fellowship hall. When I was in college, I went to Wisconsin to sing at a friend’s wedding. She was Lutheran. Now that bash was probably closer to what the Cana wedding was like. The wedding was early afternoon, and the party lasted until at least midnight. Food, dancing, and yes — some wine. I didn’t partake of the wine, but I did learn to polka. But I digress.
Mary (Jesus’ mom) comes to Jesus amid the festivities and tells Him they are out of wine. He wasn’t the host, so I always wondered why she did that. I have to wonder if she knew He could perform miracles. Scholars say this was Jesus’ first public miracle. But maybe he’d floated a pot off the top shelf for her at home (just kidding — maybe)? He responds by saying, “Woman, what has that to do with me? My hour hasn’t come yet.”
I’ll admit it sounds rude. But he was really saying, “I’m not the host, and it’s not time for me to reveal myself.” But because moms are masters of persuasion, He does act. (smile). He turns the water into wine. And not that box wine at Kroger. He turned it into the top-shelf stuff. The guests raved. When Jesus does something, he does it the best.
Then we go straight from there to the famous temple scene. This is another passage people twist to fit their own agendas. In those days, people needed to bring an animal to sacrifice. Discussions of animal…
