On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus' mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine was gone, Jesus' mother said to him, "They have no more wine." "Dear woman, why do you involve me?" Jesus replied, "My time has not yet come." His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you." 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, and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside and said, "Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now." (John 2:1-10 NIV).

Recently I have been developing some recommendations for a church that I have been working with over the last few months. They are a very good church; in fact, I would rank them among one of the better churches in the country. However, they are not satisfied with being one of the “better” churches. Their desire is to be the best. At first glance that seems prideful. However the stakes are so high that anything less than our best in ministry is a contradiction of Jesus’ call!

Today’s reading is a perfect example. It is Jesus’ first public miracle and a declaration of the beginning of His earthly ministry. In his first recorded display of divine ability, Jesus turned water into wine. There are lots of symbols in this miraculous event. Water is nature's symbol for life and wine is life's symbol for joy and abundance. He took a good thing, and for the purposes of this particular event, made it better. Actually, it would be more accurate to say that he made something that was already “better” into something that was called the “best.”