Come to the Table: Sweetness

My fingers feel the almost painful cold as I dig through the chest freezer in the garage. I'm careful to try not to start an avalanche of frozen food, carefully jigsaw-stacked to fit as much as we can- roasts and chicken, mixed fruit and frozen pizza wedged in so tightly I can barely move them aside to get to what I'm looking for.

I'm pulling out ground beef to thaw for supper sometime this week, and that's when I see it.

Caramel Delight Girl Scout Cookie Ice Cream.

I gasp and quickly recover the container. I didn't know it was in here, and being that I'm typically the one putting groceries away, it's surprising.

And all at once, my fingers don't feel quite so cold and I smile because I know my husband loves me.

The ice cream told me so. 






Jesus and his disciples are invited to a wedding.

I can't help but wonder how the rag-tag group looked, what the other guests thought, when they arrived. They were a strange group, to be sure- tax collectors and zealots and fishermen all around the same table, bound by the man they followed. Did the bride and groom know Jesus well? Were they surprised by this new group he surrounded himself with?

Although, probably, Jesus and the disciples were the least of the worries of the wedding party. They were probably more focused on the fact that they ran out of wine.

That's where Mary jumps in.

It's one of my favorite conversations in the Bible- Mary simply telling Jesus there's no wine left, and Jesus instantly understanding her implication.

"Why do you involve me?" he asks. And then, even though Jesus has given her no hope that he'll do anything about it, Mary tells the servants to listen to her unusual son.




It's a small thing, really, this first miracle. 

Water to wine- miraculous and amazing, but not really a flash-bang sort of thing. Most of the people who were there probably didn't even notice. It was a small thing, providing for a most likely poor couple on their special day.

But that small thing? It made a difference.

Jesus provided for this insignificant couple, on this one day, in this detail of their lives. It was small, it was pretty quietly done, and yet in that small thing, he showed that he cared.

He provided for them.




The ice cream hiding in my freezer isn't a huge thing. It's just a tiny detail. My Trevor remembered my favorite Girl Scout cookie, took a few small seconds to add the container to the cart, spent a few dollars on something that would make me smile.

But it's a small symbol of something more.



Only three short years later, Jesus would himself be the wine. 

The miracles come full circle.

He starts his ministry with the provision of wine, a small, specific thing to a small, intimate group of people.

And Jesus ends his ministry with the provision of his blood, a sacrifice that removes every sin for the entirety of humanity.

The wedding in Cana was a small symbol of something more. Jesus gave of himself in this small thing, and he'd later give of himself completely.

That's the thing about the love of God- it's present in the smallest details of life, like a sunset or a snowy day. In the tiny things we taste His sweetness to us.

Those small tokens of love are small pieces of reminding us just how much our God loves us.

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