In our scripture today we find Jesus and his disciples along with His mother Mary at a wedding. More than likely everybody who was anybody in the town was there. Now weddings were a little different then than they are now, this wedding would have lasted all week and the host would have been expected to supply everything needed for the festivities. Hospitality was of the utmost importance and running out of wine at a wedding would have been the ultimate no-no. But somehow the wine ran dry and the party was about to be over… or so it seemed. Let’s take a look at our scripture and see what transpired.
(Read John 2: 3-10)
So we see that when the wine ran out Mary went to Jesus with the problem, and it may sound like he was a little disrespectful but calling her woman was actually a term of endearment but none the less he asked what it had to do with them. Rightfully it wasn’t His problem that the wine had run out in actuality it was the problem of the host, but Mary was putting her faith in Him that the problem would be solved.
Now I’m not sure if Mary knew that Jesus was going to perform a miracle or if she thought He might go out and have some more wine delivered. I do know this, she had faith that He would do whatever was needed. The first miracle of Jesus that is recorded isn’t even known by many, just the servants and the disciples knew, but it allowed them to believe and have faith in the greater things that were to come.
So the servants did as Jesus asked and filled these big pots to the brim and He simply told them to draw some out and take it to the headwaiter. Nothing special, no magic words or waving His hands, just fill them up and draw some out. The headwaiter was astounded at the taste and quality of the wine and commended the host on saving the best for last. How generous that he would serve the best wine at the end normally the party would start out with Dom Perriaen and end with T.J. Swan.
Jesus gave them the good stuff, some of the best wine that they had ever tasted. Would you expect anything less from the True Vine? Jesus took ordinary water and turned it into extraordinary wine. He made something good out of nothing.
Have you ever had a time in your life where you felt like the wine had run out? You ever felt like you just weren’t good enough? Maybe you felt just plain and ordinary and didn’t know what to do or where to turn. I’ve been there, my life felt empty and I felt like the joy was gone. It seemed like I had been to the party of life and started out with Michelob and the next thing I know I was drinking Old Milwaukee. I was running on empty and felt like there was nowhere to turn that would bring the joy I needed to fill my tank. I put my faith in Jesus and He filled me with the living water and then he turned it into fine wine and gave me joy like I had never had before. He took the ordinary and made it extraordinary He changed me from the inside out. Now I don’t think I’m anything special but I know that Jesus has changed my outlook and my demeanor and I am a much better person because of it.
We all need the new wine that Jesus gives but the problem is we can’t pour new wine into old wineskins so before we can be filled with the good stuff we need to become new and when we become a new creature then we can be filled to the brim with New Wine. When we reach the bottom of the barrel so to speak and are out of wine we need to call on Jesus and let Him fill us He can take the ordinary and make something extraordinary out of it, but we have got to trust Him, we have got to ask Him. We need to be touched by the master’s hand.
I want to read you a poem by Myra Brooks Welch called “The Touch of the Master’s hand”
'Twas battered and scarred, and the auctioneer thought it scarcely worth his while
To waste much time on the old violin, But held it up with a smile:
"What am I bidden, good folks," he cried, "Who'll start the bidding for me?"
"A dollar, a dollar"; then, "Two!" "Only two? Two dollars, and who'll make it three?
Three dollars, once; three dollars, twice; Going for three----" But no,
From the room, far back, a gray-haired man Came forward and picked up the bow;
Then, wiping the dust from the old violin, and tightening the loose strings,
He played a melody pure and sweet as a caroling angel sings.
The music ceased, and the auctioneer, with a voice that was quiet and low,
Said: "What am I bid for the old violin?" And he held it up with the bow.
"A thousand dollars, and who'll make it two? Two thousand! And who'll make it three?
Three thousand, once, three thousand, twice, and going, and gone," said he.
The people cheered, but some of them cried, “We do not quite understand what changed its worth." Swift came the reply: "The touch of a master's hand."
And many a man with life out of tune, and battered and scarred with sin, is auctioned cheap to the thoughtless crowd, much like the old violin. A "mess of pottage," a glass of wine; a game--and he travels on.
He is "going" once, and "going" twice, He’s "going" and almost "gone."
But the Master comes, and the foolish crowd never can quite understand
The worth of a soul and the change that's wrought by the touch of the Master's hand.
Jesus touches a wedding and lifts it not just with the miracle but also with His presence, He took something ordinary and made it extraordinary. He takes a fisherman named Peter and transforms Him into a great leader and speaker. He took an ordinary young man named Billy and turned him into an extraordinary evangelist, He took a young, frail frightened girl named Teresa and transformed her into the extraordinary woman we know as Mother Teresa.
All you have to do is call on Him and be touched by the Masters hand and you will see that He takes something plain and ordinary and make it extraordinary. If Jesus can turn the water into wine He can certainly turn the sinner into a saint.
