A bonus in being a minister is that I get to share in a lot of weddings. Weddings are joyous and happy times. In the service of marriage are these words:… we are gathered together in the sight of God,… to join this man and this woman in holy matrimony;… which holy estate Christ adorned and beautified with his presence in Cana of Galilee.

It was a wedding in Cana of Galilee that Jesus does his first “sign.” The story is told in John 2:1-11.

Weddings then, as now, were great and grand occasions. Friends and family came from miles away; the poor relatives and the rich relatives, the eccentric aunts and the harried uncles. Jesus was a guest at this wedding in the town of Cana.

In Galilee a newly married couple would hold open house for a week. This week of festivity was a high moment in the life where there was much poverty and hard work. To run out of food and wine would be a terrible embarrassment.

In the midst of the festivities a crisis occurred -- the wine had run out. Mary informs Jesus of the situation. Jesus has the servants to fill six stone jars with water. He then tells them to take a cupful to the steward of the feast. As soon as the steward tasted it, his whole face lit up. It wasn’t water anymore. It was wine. What’s more, not just a common, garden-variety wine either. With eyes as big as saucers, the steward said: “Why, usually people serve the best wine first and save the cheap for later. But you have saved the best till last.”

This is a story of much deeper meanings than are on the surface. It must be read on a symbolic level and not merely on a story level. Every gesture, every detail suggests a meaning beyond the obvious.

Jesus was at the wedding. He came to share life with people. He entered into their daily lives. He wept at their funerals and rejoiced with them at their weddings. He was perfectly at home at a wedding feast. He was no severe, austere killjoy. He enjoyed sharing in the happy occasions. Once he used a wedding as a parable for the kingdom of God.

He went that day, not to perform a miracle, but simply to be with friends. We all need friends who share with us in life’s sorrows and joys.

A writer dedicated a book to a friend with these words: “Duddley Knott was a friend of mine. Some friends are more or less replaceable with other friends, but he was not. He was an Englishman of great style, elegance, wit, and one of a kind. He could make you laugh till you cried. He had a tender heart.”10

The Country Parson defines a friend as someone who has found in you qualities others have overlooked.

When Harry Truman was thrust into the presidency at the death of FDR, Sam Rayburn gave him some fatherly advice.

“From here on out, you’re going to have lots of people around you. They’ll try to put a wall around you and cut you off from any ideas but theirs. They’ll tell you what a great man you are, Harry. But you and I both know you ain’t.”

When Sam Rayburn discovered that he was quite ill, he announced to the House of Representatives he was going home for medical tests. Some wondered why he did not stay in Washington where there were excellent medical facilities. He supplied the answer when he told Congressman Jim Wright, “Bonham is a place where people know it when you’re sick, and where they care when you die.”

Jesus put great emphasis upon friendship. He ministered to his friends and was ministered to by them.

“The mother of Jesus said to him, ‘They have no wine.’ ” Sometimes the wine runs out for all of us. We face shortages in life -- a shortage of courage, of wisdom, of strength, or of faith. Many times quitting may be the easiest thing to do.

It is seldom noted that Babe Ruth missed and missed and missed the ball. In fact, he struck out 1,330 times, a record in futility unapproached by any other player in the history of baseball. But what people remember is that he hit 714 home runs, a record unequalled for 40 years. Someone once asked him the secret of his success at the plate. He replied, “I just keep goin’ up there and keep swingin’ at ’em.”

In Numbers there is an incredible story. Israel is at the border of the Promised Land. The land was in sight to be claimed by an obedient faithful people.

God directed that spies be sent into Canaan so the people might taste and see God’s goodness and fully understand his work. Israel’s spies found the land richer than they had dreamed it would be. They chopped down a branch with a single cluster of grapes, so large it took two men to carry it on a pole between them.

The spies returned to Moses and the people of Israel, announcing: “The land certainly does flow with milk and honey, and this is its fruit.” All was as God had promised it would be.

Nevertheless, there is always a human “nevertheless.” The spies told of seeing strong people and fortified cities. “We saw the inhabitants of the land as giants and saw ourselves as grasshoppers.”

Caleb and Joshua urged the people to move as God had directed. “Let us go at once and occupy it; for we are well able to overcome it,” said Caleb.

Nevertheless, the pessimistic report from the other spies caused them to form a committee to quit. And, you know what? God let the quitters quit! He abandoned Israel to wonder aimlessly in the desert until the unbelieving generation died off. They quit and lost the promise of God. Only Caleb and Joshua would live to lead the new generation into the Promised Land.

“Do what he tells you,” said the mother of Jesus to the servants. Obedient, faithful people receive the power of God in the midst of human shortages.

Jesus met the need that day and more with six 30-gallon stone jars -- 180 gallons of wine. No wedding party could drink that much wine. No need on earth can exhaust the grace of God. There is superabundance in the grace of Jesus Christ. Grace always does more than expected.

Look at the symbolism. The miracle involved six stone jars which held the water for the Jewish rites of purification. The number six meant incompleteness, as the number seven meant completeness.

Jesus took an imperfect vessel for purification and used it as a sign for the new wine of the gospel of grace. The steward of the feast pronounced the new wine better than the wine they already had.

In Jesus there is a new gospel of grace, new wine, new life, vivid, sparkling, exciting. Jesus is the One who has come to give the new wine of the kingdom of God.

That is the story of the wedding at Cana. He “manifested his glory” the gospel says, “and his disciples believed him.”

A miracle, just as a miracle trembles on the threshold of taking place in every believing heart.

The glory of Christ is the power of Christ to adorn and beautify, to transform and hallow, the human heart. May he work that most precious of all miracles in us all.