Were You There (Lent Week 2)

( Place yourself in this fictional glimpse based on the Gospels.)

  Quickly you carry your large empty tray back to the food preparation area. You stop for a minute to wipe the sweat running down the side of your face. Cana can be so hot in the afternoon. You notice a couple of the other servers looking into the wine containers. One of the servers flags you to come over. "Do you know if there are any more vessels of wine? These are all empty."

  "How can they be empty?" You ask. "This will be the shortest wedding ever." You realize you had spoken louder than you should as a woman quickly walks past you. "Do you think she heard me?" You ask the others. 

  "Don't worry about it. When the guests' glasses are not refilled, they will figure it out anyway," your friend says reassuringly.  

  A few minutes later, the same woman returns with her son. She looks directly into your eyes and says, "Do whatever he tells you." 

  The man smiles at you, putting you ultimately at ease. "Hello, I understand the wine is running out. Please fill these jars with water and then bring them to me so that I may bless them."

 You wonder if this man understands what he asks of you. "You want all of these filled?" That's going to take some time. I'm going to need a lot of help. Each one of these filled to the top with water weighs over 200 pounds."

  The man seems to seriously consider your words. "You're right. What I'm asking you to do will not be easy, but I will pray that my Father will grant you the strength and the help you need to carry out this task."

  You want to say no. Of course, you should say no, but the man's response was so genuine it almost made you feel special. Before your mind can respond, your heart commands your lips to say, "Yes, I will be sure these jars are filled with water."

  The man smiles and says, "Thank you."

  As you begin to instruct some of the other servers to help you, everyone starts complaining. "Can't this wait until the morning? We are too tired to begin a job this big," declared one of the servers.

  "The people are going to want wine, not water. So why are we wasting our time," grumbled another? 

  After a considerable amount of time has passed, you begin searching for the man to let him know that the task has been completed. The man and several of the guests are actively involved in a conversation. Respectfully, you stand just outside this circle of men, waiting to be noticed. The man sees you almost immediately and excuses himself from the conversation.  

  "Don't be too long, Jesus, I need to hear your opinion on Peter's comment," yells one of the men as the others begin to laugh. 

  Jesus looks directly at you and says, "Follow me." Jesus stops in front of the vases of water. He raises his hands and, with eyes closed, begins to pray while looking towards heaven. After he was done praying, he looked at you and said, "Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter." Confused, you filled a minor pitcher with what you knew to be water, but it no longer looked like water. Instead, it was a rich color of red, and its fragrance was a bouquet of sweet wine.  

  Your hand begins to tremble as you carry the pitcher to the head waiter. Your head is spinning as you try to comprehend what just happened. If this is a trick, the head waiter will be very angry. 

"And when the headwaiter tasted the water that had become wine, without knowing where it came from (although the servers who had drawn the water knew), the headwaiter called the bridegroom and said to him, "Everyone serves the good wine first, and then when people have drunk freely, an inferior one; but you have kept the good wine until now." (John 2:9-10) 

The head waiter was delighted, and you were instructed to immediately begin serving the wine.   As you went pack to start preparing, you couldn't help but pour yourself a glass. This is water, and water doesn't just become wine. Wine comes from grapes. It takes at least 6 months to make wine. It would have taken a few hundred pounds of grapes to make this much wine. You feel your hand shaking even more as you raise your glass to your lips. Cautiously you take a small sip. Your eyes widen with excitement. This was not good wine; it was the most incredible wine you had ever tasted. How was this possible? How could Jesus turn water into wine by praying? Who is this man called Jesus?

  The rest of the night was a blur of excitement and questions. Over and over, you replayed in your mind Jesus praying over the vessels. This was a miracle! You witnessed a miracle! But what if his mother had not heard your concerns? Would this still have occurred? Does his mother know what he is capable of doing? In your mind, you hear her voice over and over, "Do whatever he tells you." What if I had said no to Jesus? What if I had said, "what you ask of me is too difficult?" This encounter with Jesus has changed your life. You distinctly remember the moment he said, "Follow me." You now wonder if there was something much more to this request. Perhaps he was not just referring to tonight. It's possible you still need to fill his request.

-Susan