At the Wedding at Cana (John 2:1-11), they had butchered the fattened calf and purchased the best wine they could for their many guests. But they had miscalculated. Mary says that they were running low on wine. And that’s a surefire way to ruin a party. But Mary knew someone who could help. Jesus was in attendance, and she had confidence that He could do something about this, though we can’t know exactly what she expected Him to do. “My Son, they’re running out of wine,” she said. And in His response it sounds like Jesus is snapping at her: “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” At first blush it seems that Jesus is being rude to His mother, brushing her off. And He was being very direct with her, telling her that He wasn’t ready to act. It wasn’t yet His time to address the situation because He was saving the best for last.
At the wedding at Cana we’re not told how long Jesus waited before acting. But when He did finally act, His work was greater than anyone could have expected. He went and saved the best for last. All Mary wanted was enough wine to last for the rest of the party. And what does Jesus give? Between 120-180 gallons of the finest vintage ever made, which is between 600-900 regular sized bottles. He provides an extravagant amount and quality of wine.
The surprised master of the banquet thought the groom had been the one who had broken out this wine so he went to him and said, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.” And that is how our Lord deals with us. He always saves the best for last even while giving us choice wine right now. At the wedding at Cana, we can assume that the groom had provided the best wine he could at the beginning. He had brought out the choice wine but he didn’t have any in reserve. And so the guests were enjoying good wine until they ran out. And this points to part of the meaning of this miracle today, that the Old Testament was good, but God was saving the best for the New Testament, for the last.