September
4, 2016 More Wine, Please!
Love
is not self-seeking 1 Corinthians 13:5b
John
2 New International Version (NIV)
Jesus
Changes Water Into Wine
2 On the third day a wedding
took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was
there, 2 and
Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding.
3 When the
wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more
wine.”
4
“Woman, why do you involve me?”
Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.”
5
His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells
you.”
6
Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the
Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to
thirty gallons.
7
Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars
with water”; so they filled them to the brim.
8
Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take
it to the master of the banquet.”
They did so, 9
and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had
been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come
from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he
called the bridegroom aside 10
and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first
and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to
drink; but you have saved the best till now.”
11
What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of
the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his
disciples believed in him.
We're
continuing our series on the Practice of Love. The love portrayed in
the Love Chapter, 1 Corinthians 13 is the love of God, a love that is
essential, effective and eternal!
Love
is not selfish...self-seeking, again we are to always put others
ahead of ourselves. We honor others, being patient, kind and
compassionate...that is one of the biggest keys to sharing
love...putting yourself in the other's place.
Jesus
is our model for this! He put others first, was compassionate, having
such deep concern for others that he felt it deep inside! Yet he did
it in a healthy way! He did take time for himself...he went off early
in the morning to pray. He enjoyed a good meal with friends...in fact
he enjoyed so much he was accused of being a drunk and a glutton!
Our
gospel lesson is a familiar story! In fact there are jokes about
it... there's the story of the minister who was stopped by a police
officer for driving erratically. “I have to ask, have you been
drinking?” “Nothing but water!” well I can smell wine and
there's an empty bottle on the floor there...' Oh my goodness, He's
done it again!”
This
is the first miracle of Jesus. John's gospel calls these miracles
'Signs' and he tells these stories, along with Jesus' 'I Am
statements” through which Jesus glory -the glory of God -is
revealed, that we may believe!
John
is telling the stories of these signs to establish the identity of
Jesus as the Messiah, the one from God, who IS God, he was with God
in the beginning...
the
word here used for sign means a the sign or distinguishing
mark by which something is known; (2) a miracle, (3) a portent or
harbinger.
In
the Hebrew Bible, what we know as the Old Testament, the word “Sign”
means the same thing, with a visual imagery association of the mark
left by a hand or fingers...like a print in the sand...a hand print
or fingerprints. John uses these Signs as a means to show the
disciples' belief in Jesus and to help our belief and knowledge of
Jesus the Son of God!
This
is the wedding in Cana. Cana was a few miles, about a day's travel
from Nazareth. In Galilee. There are some scholars who believe that
the wedding was likely a family member...some relation of Jesus and
his mother. The reason for this is that Jesus' disciples, who he has
just started with, are also invited. It's got to be a fairly close
relationship with the wedding couple for their families to have
invited the 12 also! This makes sense to me, as it was Jesus Mother
who gets the ball rolling. She comes to him and says they have no
more wine. Now, was she saying “hey can you do something?” or was
she saying, “oh my goodness, what a disaster” it would almost be
scandalous to run out of wine at a wedding feast! Was she saying,
well, time to go home? Or was she saying those fishermen friends of
yours drank up all the wine?
Jesus
answer, 'Woman, why do you involve me? --this sounds harsh to us! Let
me clarify, Woman, here is a perfectly respectful form of address.
It's as though he said Ma'am. He said repeatedly in Johns gospel, my
hour has not yet come. Only in John chapter 17, his prayer just
before his arrest, does he say “the hour has come” So when Jesus
said “Woman why do you involve me? My hour has not yet come!” he
may have been asking her sincerely, he may have been teasing her a
bit!
And
Mary says to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you” She may
have been expecting them to make a quick trip to the next farm or
vineyard to purchase some wine! Galilee was a wine-producing area! So
they probably could have got more somewhat easily.
Jesus
tells the servants to fill the six stone water jars. These are HUGE
jars, they would have been filled by carrying smaller jars of water
from a well to the big jars. The Jewish tradition was that one washed
upon entering the banquet area. That there were six large jars
indicated that this was a large gathering and also that the host
family were well-off.
This is a story showing
Jesus is indeed the One, the messiah, the son of God. It is also a
story about God providing well, and with abundance! Not only was
there suddenly more wine, but it was excellent wine! And there was a
LOT of it! Enough to keep the celebration going for a long time. This
is not to say that it is drunkeness is ok.. Jewish tradition actually
is strongly against drinking to excess. Despite the rituals of the
wine at sabbath and seder dinners, or perhaps because of it... wine
is part of the meal, not a forbidden fruit, to be enjoyed but not
abused!
There is more to the
story. One of the ways we Practice love and do not live & act
selfishly, is to step back a bit, think of the big picture. Imagine
yourself IN the shoes of the other person. Which is what I think
Jesus mother did here. She knew what a social disaster it would be
for the host family. Jesus asked her why are you worried...and she
was indeed not thinking of herself but of this family.
Symbolism in this
story...marriage.. a covenant! A covenant is a binding agreement. The
bible is the story of God's people forming a covenant to be in
relationship with God. Then breaking that covenant, falling away,
crying out to God in despair, and rejoining with God to covenant all
over again. And God covenants with US promising that even when things
are bad, God is always with us and that one day will be the perfect
peace of God...
Jeremiah-- “The days are coming,” declares the Lord,
“when I will make a new covenant
with
the people of Israel
and with
the people of Judah.
32
It will not be like the covenant
I made with their ancestors
when I took them
by the hand
to lead them out
of Egypt,
because they broke my covenant,
though I was a husband to them,”
declares
the Lord.
33
“This is the covenant I will make with the
people of Israel
after that
time,” declares the Lord.
“I will put my law in their
minds
and write it on their
hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.
The Banquet, is the
symbol of the ultimate triumph of God!
the feast at the end of
times, (I Isaiah 25:6
The LORD of hosts will
prepare a lavish banquet for all peoples on this mountain; A banquet
of aged wine, choice pieces with marrow,
both the prophets Joel
and Amos spoke of new wine flowing after God triumphs and all of his
people are freed.
these are prophecies
from the time of the Babyloian Exile, but Hebrew people of Jesus time
believed there would be an overthrow of the Roman oppression and
there would then be a celebration!
And there are words of
prophecy and comfort from even earlier times... from Jesus' ancestor
David...You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You have anointed my head with oil; My cup runneth over.
#6 the 6 days of
creation, on the 6th day humankind was created. Humans
were told to work 6 days and rest on the seventh. 7 is a complete
week, a number that signifies perfection or completeness. So six is a
number that is incomplete or imperfect. This marriage was incomplete
in some way....until Jesus :)
The stone jars
symbolize old rituals. The ways of the Jewish people of the time were
caught up in a lot of rituals that had lost their meaning.
The water is used for
cleansing and purification –there was a LOT of it. When Jesus said
to the servants fill the jars, they filled them to the brim!
--although I am sure the servants were a bit confused as to Jesus
saying fill the water jars, when the problem was there was no wine!
But they did as Jesus asked! They followed directions well! Big
jars, filled to the brim. Perhaps the servants thought they would
then be sent to obtain more wine, while the party-goers washed up
again!
But Jesus had a
different idea.
I love that there is
mention that the servants knew where this new wine came from. Jesus
doesn't say Mother, watch this, nor does he tell the family, or the
Master of the Banquet....he just does his work quietly and only the
servants really see it! The Bible is full of folks in the lower
echelons of society being the first to witness God's miracles,
including the shepherds in the birth story! All through the gospels
ordinary people and everyday aspects of life are the vessels to show
the extraordinary love and provision of God.
In John's gospel Jesus uses symbolism – he refers to himself as
the Bread of Life, the Good Shepherd, the Light of the world, among
others. He used phrases of the necessities of life to describe
himself! He also said he would give Living Water to whomever
believed. In John 7 “ Jesus stood and said in a loud voice,
“Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink.
38
Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has
said, rivers of living water will flow from within
them.” Jesus proclaimed himself as a source of Living
water...water that is clean, vibrant, safe and nourishing, even
healing!
So Jesus took jars
filled to the brim with water and turned them into an abundance of
excellent wine.
He took an occasion of
a covenant to show his excellent and abundant love. He showed that
there was a new way of life and love. He would later say “ this cup
is new covenant in my blood, shed for the forgiveness of sins”. He
went to the Cross, purely out of love....taking on the sins of every
single human being. The living water that Jesus gave became the cup
of redemption. This is the most incredible, and most unselfish act of
all time. The Love of God, the perfect, patient, faithful unselfish
love we aspire to, was Jesus Christ. We know this, we are about to
celebrate it ourselves.
Let us pray: Holy God,
we thank you for showing us the perfect love described in Your Word,
by sending Jesus, the embodiment of Your Love. Help us to always live
in His unselfish love. Amen
this is an olive wood carving of the "Last Supper" on the communion table at our church.
