Lessons from the Miracle at Cana: Dealing with Awkward Situations

Although John 2:1-12 speaks to many other things, it also gives us guidance on how to deal with awkward situations. Read it carefully, and then see what you think about the points set out beneath it. This translation is from the New Jerusalem Bible. Other translations can be found at the hyperlink above.

 

On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee. The mother of Jesus was there,²and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited.³And they ran out of wine, since the wine provided for the feast had all been used, and the mother of Jesus said to him, 'They have no wine.'⁴Jesus said, 'Woman, what do you want from me? My hour has not come yet.'⁵His mother said to the servants, 'Do whatever he tells you.'⁶There were six stone water jars standing there, meant for the ablutions that are customary among the Jews: each could hold twenty or thirty gallons.⁷Jesus said to the servants, 'Fill the jars with water,' and they filled them to the brim.⁸Then he said to them, 'Draw some out now and take it to the president of the feast.'⁹They did this; the president tasted the water, and it had turned into wine. Having no idea where it came from -- though the servants who had drawn the water knew -- the president of the feast called the bridegroom¹⁰and said, 'Everyone serves good wine first and the worse wine when the guests are well wined; but you have kept the best wine till now.'

 

¹¹This was the first of Jesus' signs: it was at Cana in Galilee. He revealed his glory, and his disciples believed in him.¹²After this he went down to Capernaum with his mother and his brothers and his disciples, but they stayed there only a few days.

 

This passage seems to illustrate two ways we should respond to awkward situations.

 

1.    First, we should what we can to alleviate the awkwardness, even if we did not cause it. Jesus and Mary were outsiders at this wedding.  They were from out of town.  They appear to have been relegated to the fringes of the event; they were near the servants. Jesus and Mary did not cause the awkwardness, but nevertheless did what they could to help overcome it.  We ought to follow their examples.

 

2.    Second, recognize that we can always do something to help. We’re usually not all able to take the kind of decisive action Jesus did, but we can all do what Mary did: pray about it. Verse 3 tells us that she brought the problem to Jesus, and that is what we do when we pray. We should follow Mary’s example when we encounter awkward situations.

 

Five other posts considering the Miracle at Cana are linked at Lessons from the Miracle at Cana: Collected