2:6,7
The jars were large, holding about thirty gallons of water. The water was used for ceremonial washing, to enable a Jew to wash himself if he became ceremonially unclean during the course of the day. One thing we need to be quite clear about is that the jars contained water at the outset, and contained wine at the end. There have been various attempts to explain away the miracle, none of them hold water (nor wine for that matter!).
It seems that these jars were empty and then water was added to them. Why was water added? Because that was all they had. When God does a miracle He will often require us to do something that on its own is not going to make an ounce of difference. The difference comes when God does His bit. This is usually how God works. He involves us, we would like Him just to do the whole thing, but that is not His way.
As Mary instructed, we need to do whatever Jesus tells us to do, that is when we will start to see the miracles in our own lives.
2:8-10
Jesus has just told them to fill the pitchers with water and now tells them to take the liquid to the master of the banquet. At no point as he given any hint that the water has turned into wine. The master of the banquet was like a master of ceremonies, in charge of making sure everything ran smoothly. He is amazed at that the best wine has been saved till last.
The common practice was for the best wine to be served first, then the lesser wine later. “too much to drink” is a rather gentle translation, the original implies that people were drunk or inebriated, so they wouldn’t be caring or able to discern the quality of the wine.
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