John 2:1-11
On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what concern is that to me and to you? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”
Now standing there were six stone water jars for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to them, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. He said to them, “Now draw some out, and take it to the person in charge of the banquet.” So they took it. When the person in charge tasted the water that had become wine and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), that person called the bridegroom 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.” Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee and revealed his glory, and his disciples believed in him.
Last week I promised that we’d finally get into the Jesus stories in this gospel account and now that we’re here, we’re going to start noticing a lot that is different about John’s telling of these stories.
The wedding at Cana, which is the first of the John stories, is only found in this one gospel – none of the other three accounts have any reference to it so there’s really nothing to compare it to – but there’s still a whole lot to be found here.
In the very first chapter we begin with the Prologue -- “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God,” – that lovely, mystical depiction of the very creation of all that is and Jesus’ connection with the Word of that creation.
This is immediately followed by our introduction to John the Baptist and the role he had to play in preparing those present to recognize Jesus as the One who had been promised for ages, the One they’d been waiting for through the centuries. Just three paragraphs, that’s all the Baptist gets, then immediately we have Jesus calling a random-seeming collection of men to walk with him and follow him and work with him and be part of all that is to come.
All of this makes up the first chapter of John – no nativity story, no angels singing, no flight to Egypt, no 40 days in the wilderness, no tempting by the Satan, but just three different vignettes introducing us to Jesus in three different ways.
So then we turn the page to chapter two and are greeted by “On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee.” Now if you recall, last week we discussed two different code phrases used in scripture to mean something much more important than they sound like on the surface – ‘On the third day’ isn’t a chronological marker, what it really means is that something very important is about to be brought into the conversation. Important things always happen on the third day.
The second code phrase is ‘there was a wedding’, which signifies that the story is about something much more important than an ordinary marriage – it’s pointing us toward a divine-human union, a marriage between God and God’s beloveds.
When the writer of John’s gospel opens a chapter with no lead in, no set-up, just “On the third day there was a wedding” … two of scripture’s important “pay attention” phrases, we have been duly notified that what is coming is something very important.
As I said earlier, since this story is only told in this gospel we have no other version to compare it to, but I suspect, myself, that in any one of the synoptics this would have read like just another miracle story – “Look what Jesus can do!” These stories often seem to be about the thing Jesus did, than who Jesus is, but this is John’s story than the surface story and he wants us to recognize that.
There are details here that matter. When the wine turned up short, the water to replace it came from “six stone jars of water used for the purification rites.” So this new wine will not only taste better but it will be ritually purified and will take us into its new role in the new order bursting into its fulness around them..
The stone jars that held the water were huge – six of them would, together, have held about 150 gallons – that’s a lot of premium wine. Now, remember John’s two “this is important” codes – in the middle of the wedding celebration which here we are to think of our lives being lived in and with God forever, we are now being blessed with a pure and holy wine in never ending amounts. In the midst of an ordinary seeming wedding in a small unimportant town in Galilee, something brand new is being born. In Marcus Borg’s words, it's “about a wedding where the wine never runs out and the best is saved for last.” *
Or, as Gerard Sloyan describes it: "John knows that to believe in Jesus as the Christ is to live a life within a life. Nothing is changed but everything is changed. What had been water is wine. Word has become flesh. An hour that has not yet come is already here. This is existence at the edge of the ages, a point at which the old eon and the new come together. What will be, is. What seems to be, is no more. In the Word and Light of God, who is a man, everything is new." **
This is the life Jesus has brought us. This is who Jesus is – and why. Not just a miracle worker, but the One who brings us to a new life that has always been.
This why we read John carefully – there’s so much we can easily miss if we read it too casually. This is not a casual story. This our life in Christ being opened up for us.
It’s here – it’s coming -- it’s happening now.
*Marcus Borg, Evolution of the Word, Harper One, © 2012
**Gerard S. Sloyan, Interpretation: John, John Knox Press, ©1988
The wedding at Cana, which is the first of the John stories, is only found in this one gospel – none of the other three accounts have any reference to it so there’s really nothing to compare it to – but there’s still a whole lot to be found here.
In the very first chapter we begin with the Prologue -- “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God,” – that lovely, mystical depiction of the very creation of all that is and Jesus’ connection with the Word of that creation.
This is immediately followed by our introduction to John the Baptist and the role he had to play in preparing those present to recognize Jesus as the One who had been promised for ages, the One they’d been waiting for through the centuries. Just three paragraphs, that’s all the Baptist gets, then immediately we have Jesus calling a random-seeming collection of men to walk with him and follow him and work with him and be part of all that is to come.
All of this makes up the first chapter of John – no nativity story, no angels singing, no flight to Egypt, no 40 days in the wilderness, no tempting by the Satan, but just three different vignettes introducing us to Jesus in three different ways.
So then we turn the page to chapter two and are greeted by “On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee.” Now if you recall, last week we discussed two different code phrases used in scripture to mean something much more important than they sound like on the surface – ‘On the third day’ isn’t a chronological marker, what it really means is that something very important is about to be brought into the conversation. Important things always happen on the third day.
The second code phrase is ‘there was a wedding’, which signifies that the story is about something much more important than an ordinary marriage – it’s pointing us toward a divine-human union, a marriage between God and God’s beloveds.
When the writer of John’s gospel opens a chapter with no lead in, no set-up, just “On the third day there was a wedding” … two of scripture’s important “pay attention” phrases, we have been duly notified that what is coming is something very important.
As I said earlier, since this story is only told in this gospel we have no other version to compare it to, but I suspect, myself, that in any one of the synoptics this would have read like just another miracle story – “Look what Jesus can do!” These stories often seem to be about the thing Jesus did, than who Jesus is, but this is John’s story than the surface story and he wants us to recognize that.
There are details here that matter. When the wine turned up short, the water to replace it came from “six stone jars of water used for the purification rites.” So this new wine will not only taste better but it will be ritually purified and will take us into its new role in the new order bursting into its fulness around them..
The stone jars that held the water were huge – six of them would, together, have held about 150 gallons – that’s a lot of premium wine. Now, remember John’s two “this is important” codes – in the middle of the wedding celebration which here we are to think of our lives being lived in and with God forever, we are now being blessed with a pure and holy wine in never ending amounts. In the midst of an ordinary seeming wedding in a small unimportant town in Galilee, something brand new is being born. In Marcus Borg’s words, it's “about a wedding where the wine never runs out and the best is saved for last.” *
Or, as Gerard Sloyan describes it: "John knows that to believe in Jesus as the Christ is to live a life within a life. Nothing is changed but everything is changed. What had been water is wine. Word has become flesh. An hour that has not yet come is already here. This is existence at the edge of the ages, a point at which the old eon and the new come together. What will be, is. What seems to be, is no more. In the Word and Light of God, who is a man, everything is new." **
This is the life Jesus has brought us. This is who Jesus is – and why. Not just a miracle worker, but the One who brings us to a new life that has always been.
This why we read John carefully – there’s so much we can easily miss if we read it too casually. This is not a casual story. This our life in Christ being opened up for us.
It’s here – it’s coming -- it’s happening now.
*Marcus Borg, Evolution of the Word, Harper One, © 2012
**Gerard S. Sloyan, Interpretation: John, John Knox Press, ©1988
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