Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, "Fill the jars with water"; so they filled them to the brim. Then He told them, "Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet." They did so...
John 2:6-8
The wine was finished and Mary brought it to Jesus' attention.
She turned to the servants and said, "Do as He says."
Then it got weird. Jesus instructed them to fill the ceremonial washing jars, which were probably used to wash multiple hands that day, with water and serve it to the master of the banquet.
He didn't pray over the jars. He didn't wave His hands over them.
The servants did everything: they handled the jars, they drew up the water from the well and now they were about to serve the host of the wedding with a cup from their work.
The only thing they had of Jesus was His word.
If I was one of those servants, I would be afraid. Although, I acted on Jesus' word, I can only do so much and one of the things I am sure about is that water from me will remain as such. Don't expect wine drawn from my cup.
I would feel confident if Jesus worked alongside me. Actually I would be confident if I was Jesus' helper as He did all the work. But acting on His word solo... yup, I would be terrified. My hand would shake as I hand over the cup and you would never find me praying harder than in that moment for Jesus to come through.
And He does. On His word, the water turned into wine and it leaves me wondering when did it happen?
Did it happen as the servants drew from the well? Did it happen when all the jars were filled to the brim? Did it happen when the cup touched the host's lips?
When did the miracle happen?
I'm not sure the moment could ever be pinpointed. You say a prayer, you stand by your convictions, you move by faith but it isn't until much later that you realize a change occurred and even with hindsight, the moment cannot be known definitively.
But one thing I do know is that nothing would have happened if a choice wasn't made by the servants to do as Jesus said.
The surest way to not see Jesus work a miracle in your life is to do nothing.
And the most definitive way to do nothing is to get caught up on what He asks you to do.
In these verses, Jesus took something unusual- ceremonial jars- and filled it with a common thing- water- to bring forth a miracle: wine.
Reality has taught us that jars + water = jars full of water. And we get into arguments with God because what He's asking us to do has not been done before, like why can't we go to the liquor store to get more wine? Shoot, wine coolers will be much better than jars full of water.
But they did it. And in their obedience, it happened.
We need to let go of our plans so that His can fall in place.
There's no timeline for God's word. Once it leaves His lips, the word is stationed where He placed it, ready to do as He said. Then when you make the decision, regardless of how ridiculous it may look, to follow Him, the word unfolds with each step you take.
You don't have to worry about making a fool of yourself. Before you know it, it's already done.