John 2:1-11
1 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 put their faith in him.
First off, before I break this down, I think it’s important to clear up what Jesus says to his mother. The word for “woman” in the Greek is actually a term of respect and endearment. Odysseus in Homer’s Odyssey refers to his beloved wife that he fights 2/3 of the book to get back to as “woman.” What this really means is more like “lady” or “madam.” And the phrase Jesus uses, “why do you involve me?” is actually a conversational phrase that means, “What can I do for you?” Or it could mean, “For what reason do you need me?” So essentially Jesus is saying, “Madam, what can I do for you? Keep in mind that my time has not yet come.”
Now that that’s cleared up, the main question is, why is this story included? New Testament authors were known to include only information that was crucial to the point they were trying to make. They would leave gaps in their stories just because the information would distract the reader from their core message. So why is the story included in John’s gospel? It’s because Jesus is the “New Wine.”
The point made by the master of the banquet is that normally you bring your best wine out first so that your guests have a good first impression and feel valued by their hosts. Later once the guests have already been enjoying themselves and are less concerned about the quality of drink, you bring the cheaper wine out and your guests neither notice nor care. At these wedding festivals, the master of the banquet was essentially the head waiter. He is appointed by the groom’s family to make sure the guests are satisfied. And the point he makes about the wine is the same point that John is making about Jesus Christ. The wine served first by the hosts was probably good quality wine. But Jesus presented wine that was better than good. John is telling his Jewish audience that Jesus is the “new wine.” Every detail in this story is meaningful. In verse six, John feels it is important that the reader know that these jars that Jesus had filled were the kind of jars typically used for ceremonial washing according to the Jewish Law. Water was poured from these jars onto the hands and then onto the feet of a Jew upon entry of a home before they were to be considered clean. Also, there were six of these jars. According to the Jewish tradition, six was a number that communicated that something was unfinished. Seven was the perfect number. The number six meant that something was incomplete. What we can see is that Jesus came to take the incomplete Mosaic Law established in the Old Testament and complete it. He came to establish a New Covenant. And the old law was good, undoubtedly. But Jesus is in the business of taking things and making them far better. He is the embodiment of the perfect law of God.
So what does that mean really? Well first of all, consider this. Each of those jars for ceremonial washing was traditionally large enough to hold 20 to 30 gallons of water. There were six of them. That means that you’re looking at anywhere up to 180 gallons of wine. No wedding party on earth can drink 180 gallons of wine. See, Jesus lived by the law of love and grace. And his law, his grace, is all sufficient. There is no end to it. It cannot be depleted. It cannot be used up. There is no person on earth that cannot have a taste of this grace. There is no person that can be so far degraded by sin that Jesus cannot have enough regenerative grace to bring them back. There is no person who can fall too many times and so use up all the grace that Jesus Christ has budgeted out for them. See, Jesus has no need for a budget. A budget is for resources that are limited. The storehouses of grace can be tapped into any number of times by any number of people.
So what does that teach us about how we ought to live? Like we established, Jesus is in the business of taking things and making them better. We ought to be in the same business as our savior. Where we go, we ought to make the situation better. We ought to be in the business of benevolence instead of intending harm and delighting in other’s failures. Jesus Christ re-orients us so that we can have our ears attuned to locating pain and struggles. He makes us alert to the situations of others. And where there is need, he empowers us by the power of the Holy Spirit to be agents of change for the better. Christ took water and added flavor. He added color. He took something ordinary and made it extraordinary. And that’s what we can do as believers. We can speak color and flavor into situations. We can take ordinary situations and make them extraordinary. We can turn need into rejoicing because of provision.
The predecessors to our denomination understood this. The Wesleyan Methodists were the foremost active body of believers acting out against slavery. They understood the “old way.” They understood that people don’t want to break tradition. They don’t want change. But they understood that Christ broke tradition by establishing a new law that was not accepted by the Jews warmly. He was crucified for the change he brought. Similarly, many pastors were sent to their death because of the their message against slavery in America. Under the Methodist Episcopal church, abolitionist preachers who spoke out against slavery were told to be silent by their administrating bodies. But when they refused to be silent at the pulpits, they were reassigned different parishes. They were sent to churches in the deep south so that if they continued to speak out against slavery, they would be killed by their parishioners. And this happened. They refused to change their message. They preached to slave owners against slavery and were hung and beaten for their words.
This is a rather extreme example, but I believe that the Lord wants us to be agents of change in our lives here today.
Joyfulness
It’s important to note the setting of this story. By simply observing the situation Jesus puts himself in, we can understand more characteristics of Christ better. One of those characteristics is that Jesus Christ is comfortable in joyful and jubilant situations. He places himself in the middle of a celebration in a small town.
Charles Spurgeon writes in his book Lectures to my Students, “Sepulchar tones may fit a man to be an undertaker, but Lazarus is not called out of his grave by hollow moans. An individual who has no geniality about him had better be an undertaker, and bury the dead, for he will never succeed in influencing the living. I commend cheerfulness to all who would win souls; not levity and frothiness, but a genial, happy spirit. There are more flies caught with honey than with vinegar, and there will be more souls led to heaven by a man who wears heaven in his face than by one who bears unhappiness in his looks.”
From this story, we can see that Jesus values lightheartedness. Not only that, but he also values simple people and family. He enjoys the little things.
William Barclay comments on this passage of scripture saying, “We must note when it happened. It happened at a wedding feast. Jesus was no severe, austere killjoy. He loved to share in the happy rejoicing of a wedding feast. There are certain religious people who shed a gloom wherever they go. There are certain people who are suspicious of all joy and happiness. To them religion is the thing of black clothes, the lowered voice, and avoiding social fellowship. They descend like a gloom wherever they go.”
From this passage, we see that Jesus wants us to be happy. He wants us to be energetic. He wants us to enjoy deep friendships and to cultivate relationships based on joy.
It’s also important to notice where the story happens. It takes place in a home. Christ was comfortable in the confines of the home. He is, in a sense, domesticated. He wants to be a part of our everyday lives. He doesn’t want to be limited to the bad times in our lives. It’s easy to let Christ slip our minds when things are going great and when we’re lounging around the house. But I found that it’s all too easy to only run to the Lord when things get tough. Jesus wants to have a close relationship with us. He doesn’t want to just be our savior, but he also wants to be our friend.
Have you ever had a friend who only called you or visited you or had a conversation with you when something was wrong? You know what I’m talking about, the kinds of folks who don’t seem to value you very much until things are hard for them. After a while, it almost feels like they are leeches who feed on drama and strife. You begin to associate them with depression and with sadness. It’s because they don’t talk to you about the good things. I believe Jesus wants more than a relationship based on need. He wants to be there for us when we fall and when we hurt, yes, but he also wants to share in our joy. He wants to share in our lounging. He wants to share in our small-talk. He wants to share in our evening meals and our lunch breaks. He wants to inhabit every faculty of our lives.
I think it’s also important to note why Jesus exerted his power in this situation. In Eastern tradition, hospitality was a huge deal. Their culture was based on shame as opposed to guilt. Western cultures, like the one we live in, are based on guilt. We have a more individualistic approach to life. We don’t feel bad about ourselves unless we feel we have broken some code or law. And as a result, we feel guilt for our actions. Guilt focuses on ourselves. It looks at what we have done wrong. Shame based cultures think more about how they are perceived by others. They feel bad about themselves when they feel they have shamed themselves in front of any number of people. They are primarily concerned not with their own actions and abiding by rules, but rather they are concerned with how others view them based on how they treat others. Hosting a party in the Middle East is a big deal because you have a lot on the line. There are lots of people for you to be taking care of. You are trying to put your best foot forward. You are offering your resources to others in order that you might bring honor to your family. Jesus is called upon by his mother because the groom and his family will be shamed and made a public spectacle if they fail to provide for their guests. And Jesus takes pity on these simple people from a small town. And it was a small town. Cana of Galilee was easily visible from Jesus’ home town of Nazareth. It was a little settlement with common people. But Jesus took pity on them and felt sympathy for them. Even though it was not yet his time, he tapped into his power as the son of God to save this family shame.
There is a natural human tendency to delight in the misfortunes of others. Sometimes it’s easy to find humor in situations where another person is shamed. We feel it almost naturally when our enemies are brought to their knees. When the person we dislike the most is put to shame. Think of America’s Funniest Home Videos. We crack up at people falling off ladders, getting hit in the face with food, and being scared out of their minds by a practical joker. And think of Candid Camera. Ever watch that show? It’s the same scenario. Consider American Idol. The first several episodes in a season are a compilation of a few talented singers and a seemingly endless number of strange and talent-less people as far as music is concerned. They make the episodes that way because Americans are humored by people making fools of themselves on national television. Now I’m not suggesting we stop watching America’s Funniest Home Videos, Candid Camera, and American Idol. But in everyday life, we ought to remember that Jesus is in the business of protecting the names of others. It’s not limited to not taking pleasure in others’ misfortunes. It’s going out of our way to make sure they aren’t unfortunate. It’s taking a preventative, proactive stance against the embarrassment of others. This is easy when the people we attempt to protect are friends. It’s even easy when they are simply acquaintances. But it’s very hard when the people who are set up for failure are our enemies. Jesus Christ’s supply of grace is endless. There was and is still enough grace in heaven for his enemies. We too need to pray that the Lord would make us both understanding and naturally kind.
Conclusion
So we have established that the Lord wants us to be agents of change wherever we are in our lives, and he wants us to be joyful in the little things in life enjoying social interaction and life at home. I think a good literary piece to illustrate this further is a poem written by A. E. Housman in the early 1900’s called Reveille. Housman writes from the perspective of one trying to wake a young adolescent and tell him all that his life could be if he were to get out of his bed and go out and meet and know his world. It’s worth looking up really quickly and reading. Similar to Housman, the Lord wants to call us out of mundane and into extraordinary lives. Like He added color and flavor to water, He wants to add color and flavor to our lives too. He wants us to answer the calling he places on our hearts and wake up to what he has in store for us. He wants to give us joy. He wants to inhabit our lives. And the best way to move in that direction is to read his word daily and pursue him in prayer as well. You will never get to a point in your life where God has no more use for you. Every person is always capable of speaking change into the world we live in. That change could be subtle and take place in the confines of your home. Or it could call you to places far from home. Whatever call the Lord is placing on your heart now where you are in your life, I challenge you to answer that call and to step out in faith with the Holy Spirit filling your sails
