The Jewish Wedding Feast

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.  Romans 15:13

During His time on earth Jesus performed many miracles.  The first miracle of our Lord took place in a town called, Cana of Galilee; an inconspicuous little town that lay outside of Nazareth.

Mary the mother of Jesus, and Jesus and his disciples had all been invited to the wedding.  It's interesting to note: Jesus' ministry, like his birth, began in a small, unimportant town, to common every day folks. 

Weddings were a big deal in the Jewish culture of that day that lasted for days.  There was a certain protocol that was to be followed.  The wedding actually took place in the front door of the groom's house. It was no short ceremony and the festivities lasted for days.  It was a time of great celebration.  After the wedding ceremony, the bride and groom walked through the streets accompanied by flaming torches.  Their attendants walked with them keeping a canopy over their heads.  The wedding party always took the longest route. 

There was no such thing as a honeymoon either.  The couple kept an open house for a week and they were treated like royalty.  Their word was law!  The groom’s family was expected to provide all the refreshments for this week of festivities.

While they were at this particular wedding, the host discovers that they are running out of wine.  They had more guests than they anticipated and it would have been improper for the culture of this time to not have wine.   Evidently the wedding host did not have the money to go and purchase more wine. We can assume that Jesus' mother was a close friend of the groom's mother and she heard about the problem. 

Jesus' mother realizes the seriousness of the issue and goes to Jesus and says, "Son, we've got a problem here, and we need your help. The groom's family is running out of wine."  Jesus answered his mother in what seems like a harsh way: And Jesus said to her, "Woman, what does that have to do with us? My hour has not yet come."  He was not being harsh; he was simply already focusing on his life and ministry and had begun to detach himself from his family. He more likely was responding that He wasn’t sure if this was the time to expose His earthy ministry. The hint was that it was not proper for him to work miracles as yet, lest it should provoke his enemies to seek his life before His time.  Mary may well have been aware of His power and was calling on it to take care of a social issue.  Jesus seems to question whether this is the time.

No Wine – No Joy
To the Jewish people wine symbolized joy. The Jewish rabbis had a saying, “'Without wine there is no joy."  This statement by the mother of Jesus goes beyond liquid refreshment at a wedding. It is symbolic of our lives. It is a scary thing when the "wine runs out." 

There are times in life when the wine runs out. The joy is gone and emptiness is left and we are down to the last drop. We have all felt it.  The bottom of the barrel where there is nothing left.  It is a desolate, parched existence.  This is when the very beating of our heart grinds out in gritty friction.  We have nothing left to give to another human being.  We are dry, drained of every last ounce of hope and joy. There are many who are passing through the days with a dryness of spirit and soul. They are not living life, they are just enduring life. They drift from one day to the next.  This week the focus is going to be on JOY.  How can you find joy again when it is lost?  Joy is God’s gift to every believer. It is the fruit that His Spirit produces within you.  With His guidance you can find joy again!

Scripture to Claim:
But let all those rejoice who put their trust in You; let them ever shout for joy, because You defend them; let those also who love Your name be joyful in You.   Psalm 5:11