The Order That Made No Sense
"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.” “Woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”"
— John 2:1-5
A wedding in that world ran for days, not for one afternoon, and the drink was the bridegroom's family to supply. A few verses on, the steward takes the matter to the bridegroom, not to a servant and not to a caterer. Nobody's life was at risk here. The failure was social: a household coming up short in front of everyone it had invited. Six stone jars stood nearby, there for ritual washing, twenty or thirty gallons apiece. They were cut from rock because a clay pot that took on impurity had to be smashed rather than rinsed. Workshops that carved the stone ones have been dug up in first-century Galilee. What the servants are told to do next is fill those jars to the brim. That is a great deal of water to carry by hand, and no answer at all to a shortage of drink. The steward who tasted what came out never found where it had come from; the men who had carried the water knew. God comes into the trouble that only embarrasses you, and he comes through the people who do the useless-looking job all the way.