Water into Wine- John 2
Isaiah 62: 1-5; Psalm 36:5-10; 1 Corinthians 12: 1-11; John 2: 1-11
I love the story about Rabbi Akiva and the Song of Songs. He was a second century Rabbi, who was asked by his students if the Song of Solomon should be in the Bible since it seems to be a kind of love poem with some fairly risqué bits. He replied,
“Heaven forbid that any man in Israel ever disputed that the Song of Songs [is holy], for the whole world is not worth the day on which the Song of Songs was given to Israel, for all the Writings are holy, and the Song of Songs is the Holy of Holies” (Mishnah Yadaim 3.5).[1]
Rabbi Akiva’s high regard for the Song of Song relies on a theme that we find throughout Scripture. We see this theme in our reading from Isaiah
“For as a young man marries a young woman, so shall your builder marry you, and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you” (Is 62:5).
There are many times in the Bible when the people of God are described as God’s spouse, but it is often described as a tumultuous relationship. God is faithful but the people run off with other gods- in a sense, to commit adultery. We see this image over and over in the writings of the prophets, especially (Hosea 2; Isaiah 54:5-8; Jeremiah 2:2-3,32; Ezekiel 16; 23). But the yearning for God is for a loving, passionate, and dedicated marriage. The traditional way to read the Song of Songs, is as a metaphor of God and God’s people, head over heals in love for one another. It is an image of God and the people passionately chasing after one another for the sake of love. It is what the relationship between God and God’s people should be.
This theme was tied up with the expectation of the coming Messiah. With the coming of the Messiah will come the time of the renewed marriage of God and the people. Paul uses this image of the Lord wed to his people when he gives direction to husbands in the letter to the Ephesians-
“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her” (Eph 5:25).
… With the messiah also comes the Messianic banquet, which was often described as including an abundance of wine. … This is the religious background in the air behind this story.
We have a wedding as the backdrop for the beginning of Jesus’ ministry in the Gospel of John. This is not arbitrary. In John 10:10 Jesus says, “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” And in 15:11 he says, “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.” So, Jesus’s ministry is ultimately about a desire for joy- the joy that comes from a redeemed people prepared for and united to God in a heavenly marriage.
A first century Jewish wedding was a very joyous event. A modern wedding is usually the good part of an afternoon and evening. But, this was a huge event. It involved a whole week of dancing, and feasting, and drinking wine. Often this would involve the whole town, and people didn’t move around much back then, so these are people who probably watched this young couple grow up- it would be like family. And this is the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry.
Hospitality was (and is) a huge issue in the Middle East. Your honour can be bound to your ability to be hospitable and welcoming. The preparation for this party fell on the shoulders of the groom. It was his job to talk to all his family and friends and neighbours and people who owed him favours to provide food and drink for all his wedding guests.
When the wedding feast runs out of wine it isn’t just embarrassing. This is socially disastrous. It brought shame. It implied a lack of helpful friends, or even untrustworthiness. It might even be considered a bad omen regarding the marriage. This was a disaster for the couple as they begin their life together.
Mary, being sensitive to all of this, comes to Jesus and says, “They have no wine”. We then have this awkward moment. … Jesus replies, “Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not come.” Calling his mother “woman” in this culture is not necessarily rude, though, it is somewhat distancing. Jesus will act in God’s time not anyone else’s. (Maybe a bit of the prophet Moses changing God’s mind?). … Here we can feel the pause as Jesus and Mary look at each other. … Then Mary turns to the servants and says, “do whatever he tells you”. It is an odd moment. Is he going to act?
Mary points to the need of the couple. They have run out of wine. They are on the verge of disaster. Mary trusts Jesus. She turns to the servants and says, “Do whatever he says”. As instructed, the servants take six large pots. They fill them, and Jesus turns the water into wine- A huge amount of wine- 120-180 gallons of wine. But, this wasn’t just about wine. No, this miracle was a sign- it points to something beyond itself.
The water pots were used for ceremonial washing. The pots represent the Old Law- the Law that seeks to manage and control Sin. In a sense, the old Law didn’t give life- it just attempted to keep Sin under control. Jesus uses those old pots and fills them with the wine that represents blessing and abundance and life. This is way beyond controlling Sin. This is about abundant life. The old order of things is replaced by the new.
During the 300’s, Ephraim the Syrian said,
We have a wedding as the backdrop for the beginning of Jesus’ ministry in the Gospel of John. This is not arbitrary. In John 10:10 Jesus says, “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” And in 15:11 he says, “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.” So, Jesus’s ministry is ultimately about a desire for joy- the joy that comes from a redeemed people prepared for and united to God in a heavenly marriage.
A first century Jewish wedding was a very joyous event. A modern wedding is usually the good part of an afternoon and evening. But, this was a huge event. It involved a whole week of dancing, and feasting, and drinking wine. Often this would involve the whole town, and people didn’t move around much back then, so these are people who probably watched this young couple grow up- it would be like family. And this is the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry.
Hospitality was (and is) a huge issue in the Middle East. Your honour can be bound to your ability to be hospitable and welcoming. The preparation for this party fell on the shoulders of the groom. It was his job to talk to all his family and friends and neighbours and people who owed him favours to provide food and drink for all his wedding guests.
When the wedding feast runs out of wine it isn’t just embarrassing. This is socially disastrous. It brought shame. It implied a lack of helpful friends, or even untrustworthiness. It might even be considered a bad omen regarding the marriage. This was a disaster for the couple as they begin their life together.
Mary, being sensitive to all of this, comes to Jesus and says, “They have no wine”. We then have this awkward moment. … Jesus replies, “Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not come.” Calling his mother “woman” in this culture is not necessarily rude, though, it is somewhat distancing. Jesus will act in God’s time not anyone else’s. (Maybe a bit of the prophet Moses changing God’s mind?). … Here we can feel the pause as Jesus and Mary look at each other. … Then Mary turns to the servants and says, “do whatever he tells you”. It is an odd moment. Is he going to act?
Mary points to the need of the couple. They have run out of wine. They are on the verge of disaster. Mary trusts Jesus. She turns to the servants and says, “Do whatever he says”. As instructed, the servants take six large pots. They fill them, and Jesus turns the water into wine- A huge amount of wine- 120-180 gallons of wine. But, this wasn’t just about wine. No, this miracle was a sign- it points to something beyond itself.
The water pots were used for ceremonial washing. The pots represent the Old Law- the Law that seeks to manage and control Sin. In a sense, the old Law didn’t give life- it just attempted to keep Sin under control. Jesus uses those old pots and fills them with the wine that represents blessing and abundance and life. This is way beyond controlling Sin. This is about abundant life. The old order of things is replaced by the new.
During the 300’s, Ephraim the Syrian said,
“Those jars were for the purification of the Jews, but our Lord poured his teaching into them, so that he might make it known that he was coming through the path of the Law and the Prophets to transform all things by his teaching, just as he had [transformed] water into wine” (Ephraim the Syrian- Commentary on Tatian’s Diatessaron 5.6-7).
Jesus was not doing away with the old ways, he was using them as a pathway, fulfilling them, and filling them with new life.
The wine Jesus made from the water is a sign. It points beyond itself. We read that this was the “first” of his signs. But it is deeper than that. It is not just the ‘first’ in a list of seven. This is the word arche, as in archetype, and that can also mean “foundation”, or “form”. This is the foundation of all that Jesus is about to do. This sign is not just about wine. It is bigger than that.
Wine in the Old Testament is often a symbol of abundant life and of the messianic age to come. This isn’t just about saving a groom from social embarrassment and dishonour. Through the Old Testament We hear about the stormy marriage between God and God’s people. The prophets often talk about the people as an adulterous spouse who turns against God. Here we see the marriage perfected in Jesus. The perfectly faithful human is united perfectly in love to the faithful God. Finally, the longing of God’s heart since the Fall, is fulfilled in the humanity of Jesus- In Jesus humanity is reconciled to God. The cracks in Creation, brought on by the rejection of those who bear God’s image, have begun the process of healing. And so it is time to celebrate. That wine is a symbol that this new messianic age has arrived- it won’t be full until the second coming, but it has begin- the invasion of the messiah and his kingdom has begun.
There is a sense in which this wine overflows into Christian churches throughout the world. Christians meet, and through the chalice, God offers his life. Jesus made the water into wine. And here he makes the wine into his blood, which in the Old Testament was the life of the animal. … This is part of what makes this pandemic so difficult, we are denied the ability to regularly consume that spiritual life that God offers us in the Eucharist. As St. Augustine said,
The wine Jesus made from the water is a sign. It points beyond itself. We read that this was the “first” of his signs. But it is deeper than that. It is not just the ‘first’ in a list of seven. This is the word arche, as in archetype, and that can also mean “foundation”, or “form”. This is the foundation of all that Jesus is about to do. This sign is not just about wine. It is bigger than that.
Wine in the Old Testament is often a symbol of abundant life and of the messianic age to come. This isn’t just about saving a groom from social embarrassment and dishonour. Through the Old Testament We hear about the stormy marriage between God and God’s people. The prophets often talk about the people as an adulterous spouse who turns against God. Here we see the marriage perfected in Jesus. The perfectly faithful human is united perfectly in love to the faithful God. Finally, the longing of God’s heart since the Fall, is fulfilled in the humanity of Jesus- In Jesus humanity is reconciled to God. The cracks in Creation, brought on by the rejection of those who bear God’s image, have begun the process of healing. And so it is time to celebrate. That wine is a symbol that this new messianic age has arrived- it won’t be full until the second coming, but it has begin- the invasion of the messiah and his kingdom has begun.
There is a sense in which this wine overflows into Christian churches throughout the world. Christians meet, and through the chalice, God offers his life. Jesus made the water into wine. And here he makes the wine into his blood, which in the Old Testament was the life of the animal. … This is part of what makes this pandemic so difficult, we are denied the ability to regularly consume that spiritual life that God offers us in the Eucharist. As St. Augustine said,
“my heart is restless until it finds its rest in you”.
We have a restlessness. And maybe it is a restlessness that is always there and exposed by the pandemic, but it is surely made worse by not having access to this life-giving chalice. We have a void in us that can only be filled by God pouring Himself into us- filling the cracks in our souls. Perhaps it is grace that has shown us this hunger within our soul.
Amen.
Amen.
Comments
Post a Comment