As we continue the season of Epiphany, we come to the scene of Jesus' first miracle in the gospel of John (2:1-11) at the wedding in Cana. We have already seen some incredible scenes including Jesus during this season: the magi following God's light and finding the infant-Christ, Jesus spending time in the temple learning and growing in wisdom, then being inaugurated into his ministry through baptism and receiving the Holy Spirit. The gospels then tell of how Jesus called the first disciples. And so now we meet Jesus, for the first time, as a man prepared for ministry in the world. The time has come to show people just who he is, and he does this, initially, at a wedding. It is worth noting that the gospel of John shows these scenes preceding his baptism as immediate. There is an urgency about Jesus; he knows he has done what he needs to do, then he gets going. Cana is a town not far from where he was baptized at the Jordan river. It is only after he visited the wedding there that he rested for a few days.
This scene is probably a familiar one to most folks: most of us have been to a wedding before. Some of you can even find yourselves in the shoes of those there; most readers can connect to the problem of running short of refreshments for a wedding, or at least worrying about the ways the ceremony and celebration can be ruined...These images of social disaster, whether they are real or not, elicit within us strong and natural emotions of anxiety, shame, and compassion, leading us to ask: "what can be done to alleviate this painful situation of human need?"
This is where Mary (John doesn't name her, but we can) steps in. She tells Jesus there is no wine. What a tragedy! The indication is that he is able and he should do something about it. Jesus, like he did in the Temple when he was 12 years old (Luke 2:41-52), we are provided with a somewhat jarring response by Jesus: "Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come." How rude and unnecessary, Jesus! Why is he talking this way to his mother? If you feel this way, it helps to be aware that you (we) are imposing our concept of what a mother-adult relationship should like, which probably was different during these times. We are also at a disadvantage because our English bibles are translated from Greek and Latin, so we lose some sense of what is actually intended by the words. Scholars say that this phrase was not rude, but was a formula for disengagement and distance. So Jesus may have not been trying to be rude to his mother, but wanted to distance himself from what she's saying. He was guided by God, not anyone else. That is a claim on this text in and of itself; we should all live lives that are guided by God first and foremost.
That is not the only part of this text that may be problematic to the modern reader (that's you), especially in this country. Most of us do not experience scarcity, let alone having this problem fixed by a miracle. For example, none of us seriously believes that our oil shortage problem will be solved miraculously by turning water into oil. It does not suffice to say, however, that back then people believed in miracles, but we don't today. Part of the reminder of the season of Epiphany is to realize how God has showed up in your life; you may consider these epiphanies "miracles," and rightly so!
Notice the chief steward. When he tastes the wine, he doesn't say "Alright! Some worker of miracles has turned that water into this delicious wine! That happens a lot!" This steward assumes that the host of the celebration went and got more wine that was stored up, and he is confused as to why it tasted so much better. It was only the disciples who knew that Jesus did this as an epiphany, as a revelation of his glory, "they believe in him." This is the purpose for the miracle, to "point beyond themselves to what is being revealed through them" (Ernest Hess, Feasting on the Word).
A lot of times, we are like the chief steward. This person recognized the great quality of the wine, but he does not know the source is Jesus, or its meaning as a sign of God's grace and presence. We are often like that: we recognize good things without recognizing their source, which is God. The steward also recognizes that the ability of people to discern even what is a good thing, is impaired. Their physical and spiritual perception are dulled. So, may we recognize the good stuff, the good things in our life, with a clear heart and clear mind, giving God the glory.
In Christ,
Jack
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