Jesus Turns Water into Wine
by Liza Grantham
When Jesus went to Cana
To attend a wedding banquet,
His mother said, “they’re out of wine —
The guests already drank it!”
As soon as Jesus heard these words
He knew what she was thinking —
She wanted him to save the day
And give them wine for drinking.
At first he really wasn’t sure,
“Why me?” he said to Mary.
(He hadn’t shown his powers yet —
The prospect made him wary.)
But Mary knew that he would help,
Her faith in him was fervent,
“My son will tell you what to do,”
She whispered to the servants.
Nearby were six immense stone jugs,
Each one was standing empty.
If only each was full of wine
The guests would all have plenty!
The servants went to Jesus
And he gave a simple order:
“Take all six jugs out to the well,
And fill them up with water.”
The servants followed Jesus’ words,
Keen to avert disaster,
Then poured some out into a cup
Just for the banquet master.
The banquet master took a sip
And said, “This wine is splendid!
And Jesus’ friends now knew his power,
As God had long intended.
Jairus’s Daughter
by Liza Grantham
As Jesus stood beside the lake,
Surrounded by admirers,
A temple leader came to him
And said, “My name is Jairus.”
“How can I help you?” Jesus asked,
(His friends found it surprising —
The temple folk could be unkind
And lots of them despised him.)
The man lay down at Jesus’ feet
And begged him, “Please come quickly!
My daughter isn’t feeling well,
She’s very, VERY sickly!
“I’m terrified that she will die,
I’ve come to ask for healing.”
And Jesus understood at once
How sad the man was feeling.
“If you’ll just lay your hands on her,”
Said Jairus, “she’ll get better.
The poor girl’s only twelve years old,
She mustn’t die! Don’t let her!”
“Okay,” said Jesus, “let’s go now,
Take care, the crowd is heaving.”
But as he eased on through the throng
He felt his powers leave him.
And suddenly his knees went weak
And both his feet felt grounded,
“Who touched my clothes?” he asked his friends.
They looked at him astounded.
They told him, “Jesus, look around,
A poke or prod means nothing —
The folks are packed in like sardines
And all of us are touching.”
A woman called out from the crowd,
“I touched you, Lord, I’m sorry
But I’ve been bleeding for twelve years,
It’s causing me such worry!”
Said Jesus, “Thanks for owning up,
I’m really not offended;
Your faith in God has made you well,
Your bleeding now has ended.”
At last they come to Jairus’ house,
The servants ran out weeping,
“You’re too late, Sir, your daughter died!”
Said Jesus, “No, she’s sleeping!”
He found the girl laid out in bed
And told her to awaken.
She sat up straight and Jairus cried,
“My servants were mistaken!”
Said Jesus, “She’ll be hungry now,
So feed her — that’s essential!
Don’t tell a soul what happened here,
Let’s keep it confidential.”
But word soon spread throughout the town,
Of Jairus and his daughter;
How Jesus worked a miracle
And back to life he’d brought her.
About the Poet
Liza was born in Burton-on-Trent, UK. She worked as a primary teacher for twenty years in England and Gran Canaria. She is now a published author/poet and leads a self-sufficient lifestyle in rural Galicia, northern Spain.
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Image: “Gospel of John Chapter 2-7,” Distant Shores Media/Sweet Publishing, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
