Why we never hear the story of Jesus turning water into champagne

Every day we’re asking four questions about part of the Bible. Today Bern Leckie answers:

What did I like about today’s passage?

Can you feel the tension now? I love how Jesus engaged people enough to be welcomed as a king and recognised as a prophet. God’s messiah would be both, and a priest too. But the priests in town were not having any of that. They had the authority to do priest stuff. Where did Jesus get his authority from?

It was hard for them to question the quality of what Jesus was doing. Who wouldn’t want healing? Shame about the fig tree, but that was still impressive. Maybe Jesus was at least empowered by God, and could help people to know God and be reconciled with God and all the other stuff priests and teachers do… but how dare he undermine their authority! Jesus can’t be a priest because he didn’t grow up with the priests. He isn’t one of them.

I love that Jesus chose vineyards and banquets to illustrate what was going on, because it reminds me of our wedding where we had the best time, sharing loads of champagne. It’s not something we can normally do! But do you know why champagne is so rare and exclusive? It doesn’t just need skill and good ingredients to make. It must be made in the right place, under the authority of the Comité Interprofessionnel du vin de Champagne, who are quick to sue anyone who uses even the word “champagne” for something they shouldn’t. Jesus may have made a great wine, but if he had branched out into champagne, they would have crucified him…

What did it show me about Father God, Jesus or the Holy Spirit?

God is serious about getting people to experience the joy of his kingdom and fruitful life under his authority. He is prepared to deal with people messing up his space by not accepting his authority, their role or the fresh, clean, smart clothes he offers to party guests. (It was the custom at Jesus’ time for wedding clothes to be provided by the host. We need to know this to realise that God isn’t expecting us to impress him or buy an outfit to get into his party. We simply need to accept his grace and change when he asks us to!)

Jesus challenges any other authority, including our own, so that we can be part of something greater than we could run by ourselves.

What am I going to do differently as a result?

Trust Jesus more, not just as the master of smart answers to tough questions but as the master and authority over me. I want more of the fruitful life which is only possible in God’s vineyard. I probably need to spend more time sharing the fine things I have from him than the stuff I’ve tried to brew up with limited success on my own.

Who am I going to share this with?

Next time I talk about podcasting with radio people, I want to share my inspiration sources.