H2O
The Gospel of John has more symbolism than the other Gospels combined. John forcefully uses bread, light, and water – all elements necessary for human life – to teach us that Christ alone is at the core of our being. Without food, water, and light, then we are without Christ.
In several consecutive chapters of John, the use of water is powerful. The following paragraphs can be used a devotional meditations during Advent or, as illustrated, during Lent. They can be used to bookend a week of meditations with the first and last used as sermon material and the middle ones as material to be read during the week.
John 2:7-9
First Sunday of Lent
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, and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine.
- Weddings in our day last but a few hours but a wedding in the time of Jesus lasted several days; some even lasted a month. Jesus’s family was close enough to the wedding party that they were invited to this long and expensive celebration. Having food and drink on hand for such a long time is tricky because you don’t know how much people will eat and drink, when they will come and go, and what they will like and dislike. But this was a family of means – they had several servants – so they had food, wine, and water set aside.
- Wine was actually healthier in Jesus’ time than water. The fermentation process of wine killed germs which live in water. Water had to sit in order for silt to settle but that provided time for bacteria to grow. Water was a problematic fluid to drink. But Jesus didn’t wait for the water to settle, he acted.
- Jesus knew there was a crisis. It was embarrassing to run out of wine. And Jesus knew he could do something about this problem. Jesus took the last item on the menu, water, and turned it into the best.
- How are you allowing Jesus to take what you perceive as ordinary, your life, and make it into the best? How are you taking an ordinary moment in a day and making it into something special, something that others proclaim as wondrous?
Water is essential to our lives. Living water is essential to our souls.
Lead On!