My four-year-old son is asking about turning water into wine. I don’t know the context of his question – his Sunday School teacher tells me she has not told that story recently. I am left to my own memory to recall the details. I think the story goes like this:
Jesus is at a wedding, a multi-day affair in his culture, and the hosts have run out of wine. There are presumably more days left of the party and they are, presumably, quite embarrassed. Jesus’ mom, perhaps a bit tipsy on the dregs of the empty cask in question, assumes he can fix the problem, volunteers his services, and, to his cranky reprieve, essentially giggles and says to the service staff behind his back, “Just do whatever crazy thing he tells you! Tee hee!” So he tells them to fill their kegs with water, and the host tastes it, and the guests taste it, and everyone is amazed at the best quality drink being left for the late comers, like crazy Uncle Mo and his nine kids who just rolled in from the outskirts. Jesus’ mom, presumably, smiles smugly and lurches elegantly over to the cask for a refill.
I think, when my son is ten and fixing all the broken Internet and defunct tech devices around me, I will feel similarly: “Of course he can fix that.” The bigger question is whether, by the time my son is ten, I will still feel like I need a glass of wine to celebrate surviving a day with him.
I’m not sure what he understands of this wedding story but when he asks from his carseat “Mama, is Jesus turning water into wine right now?” I have to think big.
“You know…” I take a moment to ponder. It’s just a redemption story, right? Jesus is just fixing somebody’s mistakes: the caterer’s inaccurate estimate, or the liquor store’s fulfillment error, or the host’s stinginess. Or perhaps some minimum wage staffer knocked over the last keg in the back of the house, causing a sticky, muddy flood and curses from the cooking crew, who are now sliding around in the slippery muck as they singe off their arm hair pulling goat kebabs from the fire. So I tell my son, “Yes. Metaphorically speaking, Jesus is turning water into wine in each of our lives right now.” Because when isn’t he redeeming some mistake of mine? Certainly he has plenty of opportunities.
