When the headwaiter tasted the water which had become wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the headwaiter called the bridegroom, and said to him, “Every man serves the good wine first, and when the people have drunk freely, then he serves the poorer wine; but you have kept the good wine until now.” This beginning of His signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in Him.

                                                                                                                     John 2:9-11 

Today: Read John 2

It might be something that we completely overlook. Jesus is at a wedding celebration and He changes water into wine. This is the first recorded miracle of His earthly ministry. And as miraculous as Jesus’ actions were, I believe that the hidden gem in this historical account is the wine itself. Consider the words of the headwaiter after tasting Jesus’ miraculous product:

“Every man serves the good wine first, and when the people have drunk freely, then he serves the poorer wine; but you have kept the good wine until now.” 

I am not a connoisseur of fine wine but I do know enough to understand that to produce a really good wine, the wine producer needs time. Aging is an important part of the process when generating a wine deemed the best.

The man at the wedding feast no doubt had experience in tasting and serving wine. His opinion can be taken as that of an expert. Not knowing from where the wine came, he complimented the host. He was surprised that the bridegroom would keep the best until the end of the celebration, something very unexpected in that day.

So why is all of this talk about the quality of wine important? Jesus produced in an instant what it would take mankind years to accomplish. In other words, for God, no time is needed to do an amazing work.

Consider creation. God created the heavens and the earth in just six days. The biblical account of creation and the scientific opinion of this event often differ greatly. What we need to understand is why we have the two discrepancies in explaining creation. First, we need to understand that science is the observation of the created world. It involves observing, testing, and calculating. Often we will hear that scientists date the age of the earth in terms of millions of years. However, the genealogies found in scripture would contradict this claim. So what is the difference? The scientists (generally speaking) are simply calculating the amount time that they believe is necessary for all that they observe in the world to exist in its present form. In other words, their calculations are based on the length of time it would naturally take for these things to occur. These “millions of years” calculations exclude the possibility of an all-powerful God, who needs no time at all in order to create. This is where they err. If asked to date the age of the wine at the wedding feast, they certainly would not have suggested that the wine was “minutes” old although that was indeed the reality. There is nothing wrong with their calculations (humanly speaking). It is their rejection of God and His power that cause them to miss the mark on explaining creation.

In order to further the point, let’s use our imaginations. Pretend that we are able to climb into a time machine and go back to the sixth day of creation and observe everything that exists. According to the biblical account, we would see fully developed trees and plants. We would see animals, the clouds, the sky, and the sun. We would also have to introduce ourselves to Adam and Eve. As awkward as that may be, we would not be visiting with two infants. These first two individuals would have been fully grown adults, biologically mature in every way. God did not create mankind and them have to wait for them to mature. Again, what normally requires time (humanly speaking), God can do in an instant.

So what about our physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual condition? Can God do in an instant what would normally take an incredible amount of time? To answer that question, let’s look at the words of Jesus:

“All things are possible to him who believes.”

                                                            Mark 9:23 

Yes! All things are possible if only we would believe! Jesus tells us the same thing when he spoke about prayer:

“Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you.”

                                                                                                               Mark 11:24 

I believe there comes a time in the life of every Christian where we have to make a choice to either listen to the words of Christ and believe them or not. Often, we allow circumstances and our limited understanding of this world to dictate our level of obedience to the instructions of Jesus. Remember, when we hear the voice of Christ, we are hearing the very voice of God. He is calling us to take Him at His word. He is challenging us to move out of the ordinary, human mindset and to begin to think His thoughts. He is encouraging us to expect Him to do beyond what we could ever imagine (Ephesians 3:20).

Salvation of our souls takes but an instant. Forgiveness, redemption, and restoration of our lives require no time at all. Grace, mercy, and love can be experienced in a moment. What takes a lifetime for us to dismantle, distort, and destroy, God can repair in an instant. The same God that was able to speak the entire world into existence and produced the finest wine in a moment awaits our willingness to step out in faith and to begin worshiping, serving, and enjoying His presence in our lives.