Jesus has just selected his first five disciples, all from the city of Bethsaida. His newly-formed entourage consists of, in order of appearance, John (the previously nameless disciple of John the Baptist), Andrew, Simon Peter, Phillip, and Nathanael. One is left to wonder why Jesus chooses this backwater fish town as the primary source for his original disciples. If these first five are any indication of the choices Jesus was to make in the future, there is reason for concern. John was passive aggressive, Andrew was introverted, Peter was headstrong, Phillip was non-descript, Nathanael was bigoted. What was Jesus thinking?
In any case, as if to take our minds off the
choices Jesus has made in the first round of the original draft of disciples, a
random wedding appears on the Galilean social calendar and all that is said
about the wedding is that Jesus’ mother is present. Are these people relatives of Mary? Are they close friends? Or is everyone invited to the festivities, a
la Hispanic wedding? Jewish weddings are
week-long events, and yes, most everyone is invited. No doubt there are party-crashers in those
days as well (read Matthew 22). But is
seems like the family of the bride and groom must have included Mary on the
guest list, and she invites Jesus to come, and of course, since he now has an
entourage, they come along as well.
Who knows on what day of the wedding festivities
Jesus and his crew arrive. The point is
that they travel about 40 kilometers (25 miles or so) to get there. Walking.
This is not one of those “We were in the neighborhood…” moments. Jesus makes a conscious decision to be
there. Why? Is it to show that he is a pro-marriage
prophet? Perhaps to lend support to his
mother who may have been a helper or even the marriage planner? Could it be that he chooses a wedding as the best
setting in which to initiate his official ministry? Or is it simply to perform a miracle that
would jump-start it? Perhaps any or all
of these might be a valid reason, but I do not believe they are the main
reason. I believe Jesus attends this
wedding because it is like him to join the party. Many days of mourning lay before him. He was to become very much “acquainted with
grief.” (Isaiah 53:3). But Jesus also
enjoyed enjoying life with people. He is
not a sour-puss. He is the life of the
party. People are drawn to him, not
because of his good looks (Isaiah 53:2), but because of who he is. I do well to follow his example…in all
things. Joy is, after all, one of the
fruits of the Spirit. (Galatians 5:22)
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