Let's talk about expectations. What do you expect those around you to do? We all have them, some are fair and some are unfair. We create this idea in our mind of the way everyone should behave, no matter who they are and their status.
So Jesus walks into a bar…
Not really. He walks into a wedding. A 7 day reception with food and drink flowing. And the most important social faux pas of the 1st century is about to happen.
The wine is running out.
No worries. Mary, Jesus' Mom, volunteers her son to help take care of the problem. He isn't about to get back in his cart and get the ox to go down to the nearest wine store. She asks him to make something that is really nothing into something that is a pretty big something.
The next day there was a wedding celebration in the village of Cana in Galilee. Jesus' mother was there, 2 and Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the celebration. 3 The wine supply ran out during the festivities, so Jesus' mother told him, "They have no more wine."
4 "Dear woman, that's not our problem," Jesus replied. "My time has not yet come."
5 But his mother told the servants, "Do whatever he tells you."
6 Standing nearby were six stone water jars, used for Jewish ceremonial washing. Each could hold twenty to thirty gallons. 7 Jesus told the servants, "Fill the jars with water." When the jars had been filled, 8 he said, "Now dip some out, and take it to the master of ceremonies." So the servants followed his instructions.
9 When the master of ceremonies tasted the water that was now wine, not knowing where it had come from (though, of course, the servants knew), he called the bridegroom over. 10 "A host always serves the best wine first," he said. "Then, when everyone has had a lot to drink, he brings out the less expensive wine. But you have kept the best until now!"
11 This miraculous sign at Cana in Galilee was the first time Jesus revealed his glory. And his disciples believed in him. John 2:1-11 (NLT)
There are a few things that can easily send each us off here. Jesus seemed to be acting gnarly towards his mom, why did God make sure the party was still rocking, and how on earth did making water into wine cause folks to believe?
Tons of stuff. And we are tackling the biggest of them all.