John 2.1-11(3)

NEW WINE

"Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee. and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him".

With those few words, the Fourth Evangelist concludes his story of the wedding celebration, which Jesus attended, together with some of his disciples.

...o0o...

The wedding took place in the village of Cana, a couple of miles away from the home village of Jesus and his mother. It is therefore not surprising that they should have been invited, since they probably knew either the bride or the bridegroom - who knows, perhaps one of them might have come from Nazareth itself.

It is interesting to note that Mary, who is not named but only referred to as the "mother of Jesus", so as to keep the light focused upon Jesus in the story, is on her own. This is probably because Joseph was already dead, since it is assumed that he was older than Mary. (This is also the explanation often given for Jesus not starting his ministry until he was about thirty, since, as the eldest child, he would have stayed at home and been the breadwinner, until his younger brothers and sisters were able to stand on their own two feet.)

Quite when Jesus and his disciples arrived at the wedding we do not know, since a Jewish wedding in those days lasted for about a week - little wonder the wine ran out!

The wedding ceremony itself took place late in the evening after a feast. After the ceremony the young couple were conducted to their new home. By that time, it would be dark and so they were conducted through the village streets with the light of the flaming torches and with a canopy over their heads. They were taken by as long a road as possible so that as many people as possible would have the opportunity to wish them well.

In Palestine, the married couple did not go away immediately for their honeymoon. Instead, they stayed at home for a week and kept open house. They wore crowns and dressed in their bridal robes and were treated like a king and queen.

Hence I said earlier, we do not know at what stage of the wedding Jesus actually arrived with his disciples. All we do know is that, much to the embarrassment of the host, they had run out of wine.

When Mary brought this matter to the attention of Jesus,he replied: "Woman,what concern is that to you and to me?"

Now to our ears, that probably sounds rather abrupt and rude. However, in the original Greek, the word 'woman' has no derogatory sense. It means something like "Madam" or "Lady". It is the same word that Jesus used to his Mother at the foot of the cross when he says "Woman, behold your son". (That is the only other time Mary is mentioned in St. John's gospel.)

Likewise the words "What concern is that to you and to me", when spoken gently, mean "Don't worry, you don't quite understand what is going on; leave things to me, and I will settle them in my own way.''

And he did.

He noticed "six stone water-jars" standing there. For the benefit of his Greek readers, the author notes that these were used for the Jewish rites of purification.

We must remember that the roads of Palestine were dry and dusty and so the dirt would cling to the feet of travellers. Hence it was necessary for travellers to wash their feet upon arrival at a house. Furthermore, the water would be used by the guests to wash their hands before the meal and between each course.

So Jesus instructs that these jars be filled to the brim with water. Now when they came to draw out the water, the chief steward noticed that the water had become wine.

And not just any kind of wine, but rather very good quality wine, which was unusual, since it was the custom to use cheap plonk after the good quality wine, since, hopefully, the guests would not be able to tell the difference.

...o0o...

Now that, on one level, is the story of Jesus at the wedding at Cana in Galilee.

But there is a clue that there is more to this than meets the eye as far as the evangelist is concerned.

The clue is to be found in those water-jars. The evangelist makes a special point, of pointing out to his readers that each of the six stone water-jars, held between 20-30 gallons. In other words, as a result of the action of Jesus, the steward of the wedding finished up with between 120-180 gallons of wine!!

Now that, if you like, is going a bit over the top! Why produce so much wine - far more than was needed?

The answer to that question is to be found in the evangelist's concluding words to the story, "Jesus did this, the first of his signs.... and revealed his glory".

Now, as I have pointed out before, John never uses the word 'miracle' in his gospel, as do the other three

evangelists.

Instead, he uses the word 'sign'. In fact the late New Testament scholar, C H Dodd, has described chapters 2-12 of St John's Gospel as the 'Book of Signs" since they consist of one sign after another, of which the changing of water into wine is but the first.

Now a sign is something that points beyond itself. For instance, a road sign, such as a traffic light, or a 'T' junction, warns the driver of a car to slow down because there are traffic lights or a 'T' junction ahead. Neither the traffic light sign nor the 'T' junction sign are the actual traffic light or 'T' junction, but point beyond themselves to the real traffic light or the real 'T' junction.

Now, in a similar way, the 'signs' in St John's Gospel point beyond themselves towards a reality much greater than the 'sign' itself.

Hence, as I said, on the one level this is a story about Jesus and his disciples at an ordinary wedding feast, but on another level, the story points beyond itself to something much deeper and more significant.

Hence John suggests, that this sign 'revealed his glory' and, as a result, the disciples 'believed in him'.

The water in the jars symbolises the revelation of God to the Jews. But the later wine in the jars symbolises the revelation of God to a much larger audience, which also includes the gentiles. Hence this story is always included as a gospel reading during the Season of the Epiphany, when we recall the full revelation of God, which generously spills over beyond the narrow confines of Judaism.

Through the changing of the water into wine, Jesus reveals who he is, and as a result, the disciples believe in him.

Now, do notice, the evangelist does not say that the other guests at the wedding believed in him, but that the disciples believed in him. In other words, the revelation of God, through Christ, is perceived through faith, and not by sight.

To the wedding guests, he was just Jesus from the neighbouring village of Nazareth, who, at the most, saw him as a wonder worker or magician. But to the disciples, who, through faith, saw beyond the 'sign' of the water into wine, he was the revelation of God in human form.

And the greatest 'sign' of John's Gospel is, of course, the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, which

reveals the ultimate power of God.

...o0o...

And so the 'sign' of the changing of the water into wine is an invitation to all of us to see beyond the present world in which we live and perceive through sight, to the spiritual world which we perceive through faith, to a God who reveals himself, of which the activities of this present world are but a 'sign' of his glory, piercing through the gloom of our day-to-day day existence and inviting us to believe in him.

"Jesus did this. the first of his signs in Cana of Galilee and revealed his glory and his disciples believed in him". Amen.