Extravagant Abundance

The origins of things is something that has always fascinated me, so when I took an online class about beer making I really enjoyed the history and origins of beer in general and then also the different styles of beer. I later discovered that the origin story of beer was basically the same as the origin story of wine. About 8,000 years near ago grape juice was sitting in a giant wooden vat and wild yeast happened to float by and settle in that vat with the grape juice which then caused it to ferment. The fermentation process consists of that wild yeast eating the sugar and as a byproduct it ferments the juice thus causing to become alcoholic. I don’t know about you but the fact that a wild yeast that could produce that change just happened to land on the grape juice that fateful day 8,000 years ago seems miraculous, and what seems just as miraculous is that somehow people figured out that’s what happened and reproduced the circumstances and ingredients, including the wild yeast, to create wine.

Further evidence from several articles that I read suggest that there is evidence such as 6 jars with residue of wine inside them found in modern day Iran and even a mass producing ‘winery’ also from 6,000 years ago found in modern day Georgia. That’s just the evidence we have today. So somehow in less than 2,000 years from the accidental discovery of wine thanks to that random yeast it became something that was mass produced with wine presses and everything. That’s why I find it so fascinating and truly mind blowing that something like wine or beer that is so reliant on science, sommeliers , vintners, and exact timing to produce quality wine all started because a rogue group of yeast happened to be taken to an open vat of grape juice one day 8,000 years ago. It’s wild.

Since it was first discovered wine is something that has become an important symbol throughout the Bible. People drank wine often diluted all the time because it was more easily accessible and safer to drink than water, but drunkeness as we see throughout the Bible was discouraged and God even spoke out against it. They lived in a desert after all. Wine was used in combination with other offerings to God which then turned it into a symbol for Israels covenant with God. It was also associated with joy, celebration and festivities.

It is that symbology of joy and celebration that we see wine being used and discussed at the wedding that is happening in Cana. It was both custom and basically backed up by law that wine would be served at the week long wedding celebration. So there is a serious problem happening when we see that at some point during this seven day wedding celebration that the wine has run out. The family and relatives responsible have basically failed in one of their roles and it is going to be a disaster if people start asking for wine and there is no more to be served by the servants. Perhaps Jesus’ mother asked for wine and that is the reason she knew that there was no more wine. The first thing she does is to ask Jesus to handle it.

Let’s be real here for a moment. I completely understand that we know the rest of the good news of Jesus and that we know all the recorded accounts of Jesus’ miracles. The other major miracles in John’s gospel specifically are: the healing of the officials son, healing of a lame man, the feeding of the 5,000, when he walked on water, the healing of a blind man, and raising Lazarus from the dead. Jesus does so many wonderful, awe inspiring and incredible miracles (signs) throughout the gospels that when we consider the idea that he is being asked to fix this egregious error seems almost trivial, if not beneath him.

Yet he does it. He doesn’t just do it either he really does it. We are told that there were 6 jars and each jar could hold 20-30 gallons of water. If we math this all out, I have some interesting figures for you. We’ll take the low end of 20 gallons for each jar which would mean that at 6 jars we would have 120 gallons of water. 120 gallons of water which have now been turned into wine. That much wine could pour out 2,000 4-ounce glasses of wine. Now if the wine was diluted which it may have been it would possibly be diluted with water in a 3-1 water to wine ratio. That would then mean that they could serve 8,000 4-ounce glasses of wine over the remaining days of the wedding. I have absolutely no idea how many guests were in attendance but 8,000 glasses of wine seems a bit excessive. He doesn’t just do it he really does it.

Why does Jesus do it? And not just why, but why so much? Why make so much wine? As I said before turning water into wine, although an impressive miracle doesn’t seem to compare to the other miracles we talked about that John records in his gospel, nor to the other miracles we see in the other gospels. I believe there are several reasons for this. First of all we see the gospel writer John talk about signs. Signs are not the miracles, but they tell us about the revelation of God as found in Jesus Christ. They are the what and the why behind the miracle. They are the something more beyond the miracle. As I mentioned there is more wine than I believe they could possibly drink for the rest of the wedding celebrations. That probably means the family is set for a long time, but what it truly means is that God provides so much more for us. That is the sign. God provides more than we could ever ask for. God doesn’t just produce enough to get by, or a little bit extra, but God’s love, grace, forgiveness that we hear about in the rest of the story is poured out in abundance. It is more than we could possibly need or deserve yet it continues to be given.

Not only is it in abundance, but it is good abundance. The steward says that the good wine, the extravagant wine was saved for last, instead of being given first. God’s abundance not only comes when we think everything has run out but it comes with the best of the best. God continues to overflow with such goodness that when we taste it we are equally as surprised and blown away by how good it is.

Also as a sign, not only does it point to God’s extravagant abundance, but it also is just the beginning. While I downplayed the miraculous nature of this sign compared to the other miracles in John’s gospel, it is just the beginning of what Jesus is going to do in his ministry. Water into wine is absolutely incredible and miraculous, and it points to how much more Jesus is going to do. He’s not just going to turn water into wine but his extravagant abundance of love will also be shown in these ways: he’s going to heal people, he’s going to feed people, he’s going to welcome the young, the poor, the outcast and the widow, he’s going to raise someone from the dead. This is the beginning of something more. It’s also not the end. That extravagant abundance continues on in the lives of you and me. I pray that you have and will continue to experience God’s extravagant abundance in many and different ways of your life. I pray also that you see it in both the huge moments like when Lazarus was raised from the dead, and in the everyday human moments of a panicked wedding party, knowing that God is alive and active in all those parts of our lives. In the joys and the sorrows, in the ups and downs, and that through it all we have been given not just abundance but extravagant abundance from our loving and gracious God. Amen.