Wedded to Christ

THE MARRIAGE

"There was a marriage." John 2.1

There was a marriage at St Mary's Church, North Mymms in Hertfordshire some years ago. It was my marriage to Joyce, and this year I have remembered our anniversary! Not that I have ever forgotten it. The only trouble is that a few years ago I gave Joyce a card on the marriage anniversary of my first wife!

However, the marriage we are thinking about today, is one that took place some 2000 years ago in Cana of Galilee.

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We are told in John 2.1-12 that Jesus and his mother and his disciples, were invited as guests.

Jesus may well have attended other marriages in his lifetime, but this one stood out and was recalled by the evangelist, because the marriage reception ran out of wine.

To save the host from any embarrassment, Mary brings the matter to the attention of her son, Jesus.

Initially he suggests that it has nothing to do with him. Woman, what concern is that to you or me?"

Later, he relents. He notices some large stone water jars standing by the doorway containing water. This would have been used by the guests to wash their feet upon arrival, and their hands between courses.

So Jesus instructs the steward to use the water from these stone jars - and guess what? - the water had been turned into wine. And not just any wine, but the very best wine, as the steward remarks to the bridegroom.

I must admit I wished I had known the secret some thirteen years ago, since it would have saved me going on a booze cruise to France to buy wine for my own marriage reception!

That, quite simply, is the story told by the fourth evangelist about the marriage which took place in Cana of Galilee.

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But we cannot leave the matter there, for when we are dealing with St John's Gospel, we are encouraged to look at a much deeper level. Or to put it another way, there is always more than meets the eye in St John's Gospel.

And this story is no exception, as the brief editorial comment suggests, at the end of the story.

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

This was the 'first of his signs.'

Whereas Matthew, Mark and Luke would have described such an event as a miracle, John deliberately uses the word 'sign'. In fact, he never uses the word miracle in his gospel. He always uses the word 'sign.'

Now a sign points towards a reality beyond itself. For instance, if I am driving and I come to a sign which indicates that there is a cross road ahead, the sign is not the cross road, but rather points beyond itself to the reality of the cross road ahead.

In a similar way, St John is saying that the marriage at Cana of Galilee points to a reality beyond itself. Hence I said earlier that there is always more than meets the eye in St John's Gospel.

This marriage at Cana of Galilee points beyond itself to the marriage of God to Israel, his chosen people, in the wilderness many, many years earlier.

Throughout the Old Testament, the image of marriage is used to express the relationship between God and His chosen people.

For instance, the prophet Isaiah writes, 'as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.'

The psalmist picks up this same theme of marriage between Israel and God, when he refers to the steadfast love that exists between a husband and a wife being like the steadfast love that exists between God and Israel. 'Your love, O Lord, reaches to the heavens: and your faithfulness to the clouds.'

But alas, whilst God's love was steadfast towards Israel, Israel's love towards God was not was not always steadfast. In fact, Israel was often unfaithful.

The prophet Hosea likens lsrael's unfaithfulness to that of a prostitute who chases after other men or gods. Eventually, God's patience with his wayward wife began to wear thin until at last, according to Hosea, he was obliged to abandon her, and start all over again.

This is very well expressed in S J Stone's hymn, 'The Church's one foundation' which is really a

commentary on the marriage at Cana of Galilee.

'The Church's one foundation

ls Jesus Christ her Lord;

she is his new creation

by water and the word.

From heaven he came and sought her

to be hid holy Bride.

With his own blood he bought her

and for her life he died.'

And that new bride is us, the Christian Church, the new wine. We are his Holy Bride. At our baptism we were married

to God and became his bride.

In other words, our relationship with God should be modelled upon that of a marriage, and based upon steadfast love. When that happens, our lives become transformed as was the water into wine. We become united with God in Christ, as a husband becomes united with his wife. We become so much one, that we know instinctively what the other is

thinking or feeling, without any need to speak.

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So the marriage at Cana in Galilee is, for the fourth evangelist, a sign pointing beyond itself to the reality of God's marriage with Israel, and his subsequent marriage, through Christ, with his Church.

And so we meet around the altar, to share in the wedding feast at this Holy Eucharist which looks forward to that heavenly banquet, which awaits us in the life to come, and of which we are given a glimpse in the Book of the Revelation of St John the Divine, when he writes:

'Let us rejoice and shout for joy and pay homage to him, for the wedding day of the Lamb has come! His bride has made herself ready, and she has been given fine linen, shining and clean to wear.'