Welcome
to the Party: John 2:1-11
Sermon
Delivered at the First United Methodist Church in Freehold, New
Jersey
January
20, 2013
Introduction
On
Monday, the 21st
of January the 57th
Inaugural Ceremonies will take place, on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
and President Barack Obama will be sworn into a Second Term of Office
as the President of the United States of America. This for some will
be a day of great celebration and for others a day of sadness.
Whatever you response is to this day, it is a historic occasion that
will be met with great anticipation and be filled with enormous
amounts of symbolism. The President will be sworn into office not
only on President Abraham Lincoln's Bible but also on Dr. Martin
Luther King's Bible. These symbolic actions are meant to transform
this ceremony and give them even greater historical significance,
they are meant to take us up into a larger historical narrative of
the country and speak in ways that words cannot. I am sure that
these actions in the future will be lauded by historians, saying that
we have entered a New Age, or perhaps a New Dawn broke forth in
American politics, or quite possibly the President himself will draw
on the Lincoln/King narrative in his address and say that he is going
to take a country that is broken and fractured and unite them once
again as these great figures did. Whatever the language that will be
used by either the President or Historians in the future I can assure
you that these symbols are meant to invigorate the event with
monumental meanings.
In
today's text we find another such inauguration on the 2nd
Sunday of Epiphany, the Inauguration of the ministry of Jesus. This
story the writer proclaims is meant to show us and reveal something
to us about his nature and his character.
What
Does the Text Say
Written
near the turn of the 1st
century the Gospel according to John is one of the most beautiful
attempts at a theological poetic prose. It attempts to dance between
theology and history in artful way that invites the reader to
transcend the historical perspective and see it from the divine.
Furthermore, the author of this Gospel is extremely helpful because
he gives us his
interpretive key for the entire book in order to guide this
transcendence. He writes, “Now
Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which
are not written in this book; but
these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ
(that is the Messiah of the Jews), the Son of God, and that by
believing you may have life in his name.”
The key to unlocking the theological nature of John's Gospel is
understanding the signs that Jesus was performing, because they were
recorded that we might believe,
and the first of those signs is presented to us our text in John
2:1-11.
Our
story begins by given us the setting, “On
the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee...”
Having just been married 3 months ago I understand how weddings can
be and the craziness that involves the nature of these events.
However, Jewish weddings culturally at this time where not just one
day affairs, but were multiple day extravaganzas that could last up
to one week. One scholar writes describing them, “The atmosphere
of this joyous occasion consisted of a procession in which the
bridegroom's friends brought the bride to the groom's house, and that
was followed by a wedding supper that could have lasted as little as
one day but as long as one week. Presents were given and the hosts
were expected to supply plenty of food and wine for the guests.”
So in some respects they are not unlike modern weddings.
Secondly, we are introduced
to the characters and the problem of the story, “...The mother of
Jesus was there. Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his
disciples. When the wine ran out the mother of Jesus said to him,
'They have no wine'” Jewish weddings were a large family and
friend affair, numbering around 100 guests, with prominent figures
being invited. I believe that Jesus was a young Jewish Rabbi who was
invited shortly afterward because his mother somehow knew the family.
However, because disciples followed their Rabbi everywhere they also
came along with Jesus. Quite possibly, some have suggested it was
because they came with him that they ran out of wine and this is why
Jesus' mother comes to him. Others have suggested that the wine
would be stored near the brides chamber and thus Mary would have
noticed and thought to tell Jesus in order to get him to help
somehow.
Regardless
of the reason why they ran out of wine this was a serious social
problem, the couple and the bridegroom whose family was responsible
for providing the food and drink, could have faced a law suit from
the bride's family because of the shame that would have incurred on
them due to the lapse in hospitality. However, before any else can
find out Mary tells Jesus most likely because she wanted to avoid the
embarrassment and social shame that would have incurred. Upon
hearing of the issue Jesus replied, “Woman,
what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.”
This exchange between Jesus and his mother has been met with
difficulty among the commentators, and myself. If I talked to my mom
like that she would have smacked me. And I say to all the youth and
children here this is the one time not to follow Jesus' example by
calling your mother Woman and say, “what does this have to do with
me.”
Jesus'
response of woman
however, is more like saying, “Ma'am or Ms, but still no one, not
even back then called their mother Ma'am and his follow up statement
is the same thing that demons reply to Jesus, “What have you to do
with us, Jesus of Nazareth.” Clearly, there is something combative
going on here between Jesus and his mother. However, Jesus' response
must be coupled with his second thought, “My
hour has not yet come.”
The phrase my
hour in
John's Gospel relates directly to mission of the cross where his
Glory and God's glory will be fully revealed when it culminates in
his resurrection and so that time has not yet come, we are only in
the 2nd
chapter on the third
day,
yet you ask me for a foretaste of that, for what reason?
However,
the text shows the great example of faith, “His
mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” She
knew the character of her son and she knew that he somehow had the
ability to deal with this situation, despite his apparent
apprehension at first. So the text continues, “Now
there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of
purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to
the servants, "Fill the jars with water." And they filled
them up to the brim. And he said to them, "Now draw some out and
take it to the master of the feast." So they took it. When the
master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not
know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water
knew)...”
Certain Jews at the time of
Jesus, believed in washing and cleansing rituals and they were
probably there to aid in that process. Their size is enormous, if we
take the pots being 25 gallons each then we have 150 gallons of
water, that will become wine. If you want to know how much wine that
is, it is 567.8 L or approximately 757 750mL bottles of wine, and not
just any wine but the best wine. This means that a wedding that had
most likely been going on for several days, lets' say 3 days, and the
longest they would last is one week we shall say that there were 3
days left of partying, if they are breaking for the Sabbath.
Therefore, Jesus produced if it was an average wedding of 100 people
about 7.5 bottles of wine per person or 2.5 bottles of wine per
person per day. That is the equivalent, given a 6 fl oz wine glass,
of almost 11 glasses of wine per person per day, for the next three
days. Jesus said, “Welcome to the Party!” It wasn't like a frat
house party where the question is, “Who brought the keg, but this
was who brought the beer truck!” It was a super abundance of wine,
an over indulgence of wine.
Now some might protest, why
would Jesus produce that much alcohol, or possibly he wouldn't have
produced alcohol. The issue in the scripture isn't drinking it is
drunkenness but at this party, Jesus gives the possibility for over
indulgence, and it is up to us to decide what we will do with that,
he is not going to violate our free will.
The
story continues, “The
master of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him, “Everyone
serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then
the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.” Wine
would be diluted by people in the Mediterranean Culture by mixing as
much as 1 part wine to 20 parts water, especially for children but
also in order to stretch it. The exact ratio that was used typically
is unknown. However, a wedding would start with the strong wine and
then move to the more diluted wine. It seems that the Master of the
Feast, who was responsible to control the quality of the wine and its
distribution, was allowing free drinking to go on and they had run
out. So when he received this new he was surprised because he did
not know where it came from and then he congratulates this young man
because as it reads in the Greek, “Everyone serves the good wine,
and when people have
become drunk,
then the poor wine.” However, in this case you have kept the
undiluted stuff until now! Welcome to the PARTY!
The
author goes on to note, “This
is the first of his sign, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and
manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.”
What
Does it Mean
This passage invites us to ask the
question, “How does this reveal that Jesus is the promised Messiah
to Israel and therefore to the World?”
First, it reveals to us the compassion
of God towards his people. This would have been a huge social
embarrassment and would have brought tremendous life long shame to
their marriage. People would have forever remembered them as the
couple who ran out of wine, and not only them but their families
because they were supposed to have provided for this. However, Jesus
saw their need and despite his initial apprehension, he comes to
their aid, he comes to their rescue, when they didn't even realize
they needed it and freed them from their shame. Shame, was the
initial feeling that Adam and Eve felt in the garden when they ate
the fruit of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. However, just as God
covered them in the garden Jesus covers this couples shame, but this
covering exceeds the first covering in that it is not just merely a
blanketing over of the problem. Rather, Jesus brings a super
abundance of the very thing they lacked so that now their shame would
be turned into honor, so that the celebration of their marriage would
be remembered as a great party. So it wasn't before kings or priests
that the first miracle was performed but at a poor village wedding
ceremony.
Secondly,
this is the wine of God's New Age. Jesus places this miracle on a
time table, by saying, “His hour had not yet come.” Jesus knew
that as the Messiah of God his responsibility was to bring into the
present the promised Age
to Come.
If you remember I have talked about this in the past. During the
time of Jesus Jews thought of time in terms of two distinct ages,
there was the Age
and the Age
to Come.
Currently
they were living in the Age which was a time of Evil, Death,
Destruction, Sickness, when the Law was not Obeyed and God was not
known, essentially they believed that they were in a time of exile
from God. However, they also believed there would come a time when
God would fulfill his promises to Israel which he made to them while
they were in exile in Babylon and liberate them completely from their
enemies at their repentance, thus ending the exile. This meant that
God would defeat the powers that were holding them in bondage and
thereby establish himself as King and Lord. This was the Promised
Age to Come a time of Wholeness and Peace where the Shalom of God
rested over the land, it was a time of life where death would be
defeated, that which was laid to waste would be built up again and
become like the Garden of Eden, Sickness would loose its hold over
humanity, the Law would be obeyed because he would write it on our
hearts and God would be known for he would dwell in their midst.
When Jesus preached that this world was breaking into their present,
he said, “The Kingdom of God was at hand.” Because that metaphor
doesn't make a lot of sense for us in our contemporary context, I
say, “This is the World that God imagines coming into our present.”
One
of the controlling images that spoke of this inauguration of the
World that God Imagines was wine, and not just a little wine but wine
in super abundance. One of the central acts of Jesus' ministry was
that he was celebrating this inauguration by eating and drinking with
sinners and tax collectors, which caused the religious elite to say
that he was a drunkard and a glutton. However, they were missing the
point, Jesus was giving a sign in the present that was anticipating
the day when he would as it says in Isaiah, “On
this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of
rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of
aged wine well refined. And he will swallow up on this mountain the
covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over
all nations. He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord GOD will
wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he
will take away from all the earth, for the LORD has spoken. It will
be said on that day, "Behold, this is our God; we have waited
for him, that he might save us. This is the LORD; we have waited for
him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation."
It would be on this day, that mountains
will drip sweet wine and all the hills will flow with it.”
Therefore, Jesus, out of the old system of ritual purification takes
water and transforms it into the wine of the New Age, he makes the
wine of the Kingdom of God, which shows to the people who have eyes
to see and ears to hear that he is the Messiah of God, and the one
who is going to ushering in this promised World that God Imagines.
What
Does it Mean to Us
So what does this all mean for us? I
want to invite you to think about two things in closing:
1. God cares about the little things and
the big things. His first miracle wasn't to raise someone from the
dead or regrow a limb but to reveal his glory in removing the shame
of a young couple who didn't even know they were in danger of it. He
came to their rescue when they didn't even ask. I tell you that God
wants to and is willing to come to our rescue, and he is able to do
exceedingly and abundantly more than we could ever dare to ask or
hope for. He has things dreamed for us that we haven't even thought
of, which he is waiting to fulfill.
2.
God is looking for us to be the people who celebrate the
inauguration of his promised Age
to Come. He
is looking for us to be a people who can come together and share
feasts that will be a foretaste of the great meal that we will share
with him in the Age
to Come.
Anything less than a joyous celebration of his inauguration of the
Kingdom is not living up to the potential that he desired for us.
The earliest Christian Gatherings were called Agape
Feasts, and people literally thought they were having wild parties,
but it was only because they were celebrating the Resurrection, they
were celebrating New Life and we should be celebrating this New Life
in Jesus together. I invite you, to celebrate this inauguration
wherever you go whenever you go in whatever you do, and invite people
to celebrate it with you. I say to you, Welcome to the Party!