The Gift of Abundant Grace


Studying Jesus in John 2.1-11 is like finding a trail in the woods you've never gone down – even when you've played in these woods your whole life.  You think you know what’s going on, until more of what’s right in front of you leads you deeper into the woods. 

We know this story, right? We know it’s the first miracle Jesus performs in the gospel of John.  We know he calls his mother “woman” and initially refuses to help.  We know he turns water in to wine and stirs all kinds of controversy for the headmaster and groom.  The wine is decadent.  The party is saved.  And Jesus’ followers embrace a faith no longer made up of reason and certainty.  We know all of this.

But what else is there that we haven’t seen yet?

A word that may surprise you is the word “sign.”  Seven times in the gospel of John this word is used when Jesus performs a miracle.  As a matter of fact, the word miracle is never used – rather, Jesus performs signs. 

But signs to what?  For what?  What are we supposed to be seeing that we’re not? 

N.T. Wright says these signs are like guideposts shepherding us through the pages of Jesus’ ministry.  He continues, “The signs are moments when, to people who watch with at least a little faith, the angels of God are going up and coming down at the place where Jesus is.”  They are moments when heaven opens, when the transforming power of God’s grace bursts in to our world and we see, maybe for the first time, a trail opening in the woods leading us on. 

A trail that leads us to a wedding feast.  A feast in which we get to commune with the spirit of the Living God.  A trail that helps us to see that the power, love, and ability of Jesus is far more abundant than we could ever know. 

Jesus' first sign is he turns water in to wine.  But not just a little water, an abundance of water.

The details of abundance cannot be overlooked – Six water jars, each 20-30 gallons. The amount in and of itself is extraordinary.  Jewish weddings in Antiquity typically lasted a week.  Karoline Lewis argues it was tradition for the host to serve the better wine when the guests could actually taste what they were drinking, a nice Sonoma-Cutrer Russian River Chardonnay, perhaps. Only after a few days of drinking, and determined levels of inebriation, would the guests be served the box of Merlot from Trader Joe's.[1]

Between the amount of wine and the type of wine we see that when Jesus intervenes with humanity, he goes big.  Jesus’ care and provisions are far more than we can comprehend. 

And this is the trail in the woods leading us to new heights.  This is what John's telling us we can expect.  We can believe in a Jesus who goes big, who saves the day, who cares about all parts of us.  We can believe in a God who gives, loves and serves abundantly. 

As we look in to the new year with hope and bright-eyed expectation, may we look with the faith that believes in a Jesus who shows up and goes big.  May we worship a savior we actually believe is present with us, offering us abundant grace.

[1] Taken and adapted from Lewis’ lectionary article on workingpreacher.org 

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