Carrying Water
I love the story about the wedding in Cana, where Jesus performs his first miracle of turning water into wine (John 2:1-12). I have heard many pastors teach on this story, but a few years ago, I was reading it for myself and I feel that God gave me a different perspective on the story that I would like to share.
We always consider the main characters of this story. Jesus. The bride and groom. Mary the mother of Jesus. But I have never heard anyone tell the story through the eyes of the servants:
The servants are running around, serving the guests their wine. They were probably the first to realize that the host was out! So they go and tell the host, and they run to the cellar. There is no possible solution, the wine is gone. The host tells Mary, and Mary tells Jesus.
If I am a servant, this is what I’d be thinking: “Huh? What is this guy going to do about it? Who even is he.” (Remember, Jesus hadn’t performed any miracles yet).
So, Jesus comes, looks at the empty stone jars and say, “fill these with water”.
There were 6 stone jars, each holding 20-30 gallons of water. That is 120-150 gallons of water. There is no tap, which means that they probably got the water from a well, carrying buckets, while avoiding all the guests of the wedding. It would have been exhausting and stressful work.
Imagine being that servant. Imagine carrying 120-150 gallons of water to fill giant stone jars when the problem is that you are out of wine. How long do you think this work took them?
But they obeyed. They got the job done, filling the jars to the brim. All the while not understanding how this could possibly help the situation.
When the jars were full, Jesus turns to the servant and says, “take a cup to the master of the feast”.
Oh boy.
But the servant obeyed.
Next thing he knows, the master is announcing how amazing the wine is!
Jesus turned the water to wine.
Of all the people who witnessed this miracle, it was “…the servants who had drawn the water” who knew where the wine came from. They had obeyed, done the work, and now had full knowledge of the miracle that took place.
Being a servant means that you don’t always know the reason for what you are doing, but you obey. Because Jesus is the Good Shepherd, and the Good Master, we can trust Him when he asks us to do something. Sometimes it will take a lot of work and time, but if we are faithful in this work, we will see Him come through.
There are many times in my walk with Jesus that I am confused about why I am doing what I am doing. “I want to obey, but Jesus, this doesn’t make any sense. Are you sure about this?” This is when we must remember that He is God and we are man and that he can do immeasurably more than we can imagine. He just asks us to trust him, and give him the opportunity to do the miracle.
Unlike the servants who didn’t know who Jesus was, we do know Him and know what He can do and His love for us. Many of us are carrying our cisterns, waiting for Jesus to come through, filled with doubts. Let this story encourage you, to keep being faithful, do the work, and trust that God will come through. He is doing miracles everyday, and He wants you to see one too.
