The story of Jesus turning water into wine is well known to Christians and non-Christians alike. It’s one of Jesus’ “greatest hits”, if you will. The story is found in the book of John, chapter 2, verses 1-11. It’s apparent that Jesus was achieving a bit of local celebrity already as evidenced by the inclusion of His disciples in the invitation.
Jesus showed reluctance to do anything at first, but out of deference and respect to His mother he agreed to help. I think we see incredible compassion from Jesus here. He had just told His mother that it was “not yet His time”, but he rearranged His plan to accommodate humanity. Whether out of respect for His mother or compassion for His friends in the wedding party, we don’t know. But this was the first recorded time that we catch a glimpse of this side of God’s character in Jesus. He altered His plan to allow for the freewill of humans. Obviously someone had made some poor decisions about the amount of wine at the wedding. Perhaps out of thrift or carelessness, the host had made decisions of his own freewill that led to the shortage of wine. Jesus showed the immeasurability of God by being able to alter the “plan of the moment” while leaving His overarching plan unaffected. We’re told at the end of the story that Jesus displayed His glory and the disciples believed in Him after witnessing this miracle. A question occurs to me: what was the greater miracle, the greater glory – turning water into wine or altering the plan of history without altering the result of the plan of history? Do you realize how extraordinary the power and wisdom of God is, that He allows us to have free reign in our lives and none of that impedes or affects his overarching plan for the world at large? It is truly mind blowing to try and comprehend this. The gift of freewill is a beautiful thing, topped only by the beauty of the grace He imparts to cover for us when we choose badly. How can we but worship such a God?