NRSJohn 2: 1-12
On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 2Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 3When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, "They have no wine." 4And Jesus said to her, "Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come." 5His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you." 6Now standing there were six stone water jars for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. 7 Jesus said to them, "Fill the jars with water." And they filled them up to the brim. 8He said to them, "Now draw some out, and take it to the chief steward." So they took it. 9When the steward tasted the water that had become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward called the bridegroom 10 and said to him, "Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until now." 11Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.
May the Lord keep all your days and deeds in the grace and peace of Jesus the Christ. Amen.
The story of Jesus at the wedding feast in Cana is one of my favorite Bible stories. It is the first of the seven signs Jesus performs in the first half of John’s Gospel. According to John, Jesus does not, you know, perform miracles; he performs signs. A miracle is certain to produce surprise and astonishment, but it may or may not lead to belief. A sign, though, always points beyond itself, and in John’s gospel, each of Jesus’ seven signs means to point to belief in Jesus as the only Son sent from the Father. For John, that’s the be all and end all of his entire gospel: that you believe in Jesus the Son of God.
The first half of John’s gospel, sometimes called the Book of Signs, culminates with the raising of Lazarus from the dead, which is, let’s face it, a whole lot more dramatic than changing water into wine. In all the other signs that Jesus performs there’s awe and wonder worthy of a miracle – from the healing of a paralytic to the feeding of five thousand to Jesus walking on the water – all of which makes Cana’s sign seem a little tame by comparison. Running out of wine at a wedding is not exactly a major life crisis that calls for divine intervention, which is one of the reasons I really like this story. There’s a kind of homey feel to it. No one’s life is on the line. If the wine runs out, the wine runs out, everybody goes home, and while the newlyweds might be left with a little egg on their faces, either for being poor planners or just for being poor, there’s no one who’s going to suffer any irreparable damage. That Jesus rises to this minor emergency reminds me that God’s interest in us is not limited to just the big stuff, but that God’s concern for us includes the whole of our lives, both the matters of life and death and the smaller stuff, like where the we left the keys or where we parked the car.
I like this story, too, for the role that Jesus’ mother plays. Except for the last Sunday in Advent and the two Sundays of Christmas, Mary pretty much falls to the background in the vast majority of our Sunday readings. We know she’s there – when Jesus’ brothers come to fetch him (Mark 3:31), at the crucifixion (John 19:25), and then again in the post-resurrection community of the apostles (Acts 1:14) – but mostly Mary is silent, except here. Here, when the wine runs out and people begin to leave the party, Mary applies a sharp elbow to Jesus’ rib cage and tells him, in effect, “Do something!” You almost expect Jesus to say, “Aw, Mom!” [Remember how when you were a kid and your mom would tell you to comb your hair, or tuck in your shirt, or get that look off your face, and you’d go (what?): “Aw, Mom!”]
Roman Catholic theology has traditionally lifted up this text as evidence of Mary’s intercessory role. In the same way that Mary interceded on behalf of the couple at Cana, so the teaching goes, Mary will do the same for us when we call on her. That’s certainly how our household worked. If you wanted Dad to say okay to something you wanted to do, you first had to sell Mom on the idea and then have her pitch it to Dad. But I don’t see how that applies to the divine economy of God. Mary does, indeed, intercede to Jesus, and as a respectful son, Jesus does respond, but on his own very specific terms.
When Mary first approaches Jesus and tells him, “They have no wine,” she is obviously aware of his powers, but Jesus immediately deflects her request, saying, “Woman, what concern is that to you and to me?” By the way, in addressing Mary as, “Woman,” Jesus was neither rebuking her nor meaning any disrespect. This was common Greek usage, and elsewhere in John we hear Jesus address other females as, “Woman.” But the usage here is, well, kind of peculiar, given that this is a son addressing his mother. However, I think that this particular word choice has everything to do with what Jesus says next, “My hour has not yet come.”
Throughout the gospel of John Jesus makes multiple references to his “hour.” That’s because from the beginning of John to the end Jesus is working on a very definite timetable. The whole gospel builds to the defining hour when Jesus will be lifted to the cross and from the cross to resurrected glory. Nothing can speed up, slow down, or keep Jesus from his appointed hour, not even the intervention of his mother. So when Jesus’ head-strong mom tells the servants, “Do whatever he tells you,” what’s a good Jewish son to do? Does he turn a deaf ear to his mother, or does he depart from his Father’s divinely appointed schedule?
Jesus doesn’t get in an argument with his mother, although I can easily imagine him rolling his eyes, but instead, he directs the servants in attendance to fill with water the six stone jars on hand for the traditional Jewish rites of purification. Once filled, Jesus then orders the servants to bring some of the “water” to the chief steward, who tastes and then calls for the bridegroom. “Everyone serves the good wine first,” he says, “and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until now.”
Now let me ask you: When did the water turn into wine? We can only assume that it happened between the stone jars being filled with water and the sample being brought to the steward, but does anybody stand over Jesus’ shoulder and actually see him change the water into wine? Does Jesus wave his arms over the water jars and say, “Let there be wine?” Do either the chief steward or the bridegroom no from whence this superlative wine flows? No. In fact, the only people who have the slightest idea of what’s happened are the servants, and nobody even bothers to ask them.
Jesus has obviously cloaked this sign in secrecy. Why? Because, it is not his hour, and while he honors his mother’s request, Jesus will not in the slightest depart from his heavenly Father’s timetable. So where’s the sign? John says that at Cana Jesus revealed his glory so that his disciples believed in him, but what’s the actual sign that points to Jesus as the Messiah? What sticks in my mind are those six stone jars. What were they there for? Right, for the Jewish rites of purification. And this water in these rites, from what were you supposed to be purified? The Torah talks about uncleanness, right, and God’s people are called to be holy, righteous, pure, and so there were various rituals for cleansing both body and soul of any impurity. And how much water did each of these stone jars contain? Right again, twenty to thirty gallons.
So let’s get this straight: Jesus takes water meant for purification and changes it into wine meant for celebration. And how much wine? 120-180 gallons, which, when you convert to liters, and assuming 750 ml to a standard bottle of wine, leaves you with anywhere from 605 to 908 bottles of wine. That’s a lot of wine, right? And what was the quality of this wine? Is this “Two-Buck Chuck?” No, but rather this is more like Lafitte Rothschild. In fact, this is more wine of better quality than anybody, even a king, would need for the biggest, swankiest wedding imaginable. This is wine fit for a messianic banquet. This is the kind and quantity of wine you’d expect for a feast of the divine Son come to earth to bring light, life, and salvation to every creature of our God and King.
Now that’s a party. I’m not a big party animal, but I’d like to go to that party. Would you like to go to that party? Then believe in him who changed the water into wine. Believe in Jesus Christ, and you’ll get there.
In the Name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
