Jesus & Morally Ambiguous Situations
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.”
Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim. Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.”
They did so, and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.”
- John 2:1-10
Jesus always leads us, and that includes when we are in morally ambiguous situations. He himself was no stranger to those situations. Take for example the scripture today. He made 150 GALLONS of good wine for a wedding, and that was after the guests already had drunk all the other wine. Sure, this was his first miracle and was a sign of the coming resurrection when celebration and joy rules forever… but do you think some people might have had too much to drink? Do you think everyone at the wedding handled their wine appropriately? (If it was like any wedding I’ve been to, I’d have to say no!).
It’s hard to walk through this world avoiding morally ambiguous situations. Those situations come at us every day. Should we participate in a particular activity with friends knowing that there may be some suspicious behavior there? If our company has a retirement plan, how do we handle if it invests in companies we think betray our values? Is it ever appropriate to say a little lie? How much of our money should we hold on to ourselves and how much should we give away?
These and so many other questions don’t have easy answers.
And yet there’s Jesus, stepping into a morally ambiguous space, making the wine. He remains Lord today, and he’s leading you. Will you seek him there? Will you do his bidding there? Will you live for yourself or something bigger? Will you own up to the times when you miss what Jesus is doing and fail morally? Talk with him about these things.