Wine and Redemption
Jesus’ first miracle was not just a flashy party trick. Changing water into wine (John 2:1-11) might seem a little inconsequential in the larger scheme of things, but Jesus was doing more than helping some friends avoid social embarrassment. Hosts in those days weren’t supposed to run out of party food, but they did usually save the worst for last, presumably because they wanted to make a good first impression with the best wine, and hopefully people weren’t as aware of the quality as the celebration progressed.
But I think Jesus is doing far more than that with his miracle. I think it symbolizes or alludes to what he’s here on earth for.
Jesus’ water into wine miracle was about making something better and better that would have normally gotten worse. Most things in life DO get worse over time. Bodies deteriorate, food decays, houses collapse, cars rust. Jesus is saying, “It doesn’t have to be that way; it can get better.” This is the beginning of Jesus bringing redemption into the world. And I think it’s significant that Jesus uses wine to inaugurate this theme, because wine is one of the few things in this world that gets better over time.
Jesus left us here to live out this theme of redemption. Here are some of the things that have gotten better over time as redemption has come and Christians have found ways to live it out in this world.
Christians created public hospitals. They didn’t exist before Jesus. They were originally built to care for lepers. A decree was issued that where there was a cathedral, there would be a hospital.
Christians brought food to imprisoned Christians and then shared with other prisoners. Prisoners began to pray for the Christians to come.
Churches established and ran orphanages for centuries. This was the only care for abandoned children for almost 2000 years until governments began trying to assist.
In more recent years, Christians have led efforts to
abolish slavery
educate children in countries that have no public education
create literacy programs for adult populations
elevate the status of women in repressive cultures
create maternal health programs and foster parent systems where maternal and infant mortality rates are high
find clean water for villages all over the world.
There’s so much more to be done, isn’t there? But the wine is aging beautifully, getting better and better. Let us live tomorrow with the knowledge that redemption is being worked out each day, and we are conduits of that redemption.
