Isaiah 62: 1- 5 (New Jerusalem Bible)
John 2: 1 -11 (Common English Bible)
The wedding at Cana is the first miracle of Jesus according to the gospel of John. Several things are happening. It begins when Jesus’ mother Mary let him know the wine jars are empty. She tells her son’s disciples, “Do whatever my son tells you to do.”
Jesus knew his disciples would trust and obey him. The jars were used for purification rites, and they became the instrument for the upcoming miracle.
The disciples’ trust and obedience bore fruit immediately, and they became the first witnesses of the type of kingdom that Jesus wants to establish. His kingdom challenges the old rites and practices. In it, is a place, where Jesus offers a new wine, which will make one closer to God and the world.
Jesus’ glory, in simple terms, is God’s presence. The wedding becomes the place where Jesus reveals himself to the disciples as the Son of God. After this, Jesus reveals himself through people in different encounters and healing through many people, so those of his faith community can trust and obey.
The wedding at Cana is a reminder that Jesus’ kingdom is a miraculous kingdom, a kind of mystical kingdom. Unfortunately, we do not often realize the mystical side of Christianity. But the Eastern Orthodox Church does talk about the mystical side of Jesus.
The wedding at Cana is an example of mysticism. Perhaps it’s a reminder and invitation we should not be afraid of the mystic Christians. There is no reason to be afraid of the Christian mystics like the 16th century Protestant Reformers were.
God wants us to trust and obey our healer, Jesus the Christ. And to be challenged, and go beyond the block to unknown places.
When people run out of wine at a gathering, the party becomes empty and tasteless. There is nothing going on. One might still have wine, but maybe it’s turned into vinegar or something worse. When the wine does run out, the person has to choose between the new wine of eternal life or the old wine stuck again in its own mediocrity.
Sometimes we can find ourselves in those empty places and wonder how it is going to turn out? Often we need to be the ones to carry and pour the wine even if we fail to see the new life. Opening the door to Jesus is always a risk to be challenged by the status-quo and the millionaire or billionaire elite. We know that God is as faithful and hopeful as we are.
In this Year C of the Common English Lectionary, this passage from Isaiah chapter 62 and John chapter two are paired with the wedding at Cana. This story from Isaiah is also about the hyper-overabundance of the wealthy buyers of food and products.
One must read Isaiah’s chapter 62 with a word of caution, mainly from these preachers who want to turn it into part of the false “prosperity gospel.”
Where God goes there will be abundance of some form or another. But this cannot be sought selfishly or without regard to other people. But for now we cannot hope for those things for ourselves as the world around us suffers.
Many years ago there used to be a radio and later a TV commentator, named Paul Harvey. His closing words were, “and this is the rest of the story.” And this is my, “and this is the rest of the story.”
John who wrote this gospel knew the background of this story more so than many Christians do. According to Jewish tradition, seven is the number which is complete and perfect. Six is the number which is unfinished and imperfect. Triple the number six and you get 666, the symbol of the Beast mentioned in Revelation. The six stone waterpots stand for all that is imperfect within the Mosaic Law the Jewish religious leaders enforce. Jesus changed that with the new wine of the gospel and grace. Jesus turned the imperfect wine of the Mosaic Law into the perfect wine of Christ.
The deeper story behind John chapter two, is that John wants us to look beyond a one time miracle about water into wine. When Jesus comes to a person’s life, there comes a new quality in life, just like drinking the new wine. That is what John wanted us to realize.
John wrote his gospel 70 years after the resurrection of Jesus, and John’s gospel basically tells us, If you want to be a follower of Jesus the Christ, there will be a change in your life with the new wine Jesus can bring. It can change your life and cause you to look differently at the world that God created.
AMEN
