THE JOYFUL WINE

A Sermon for the Second Sunday after Epiphany
January 14, 2007
by Pastor Laura Gentry

John 2:1-11
On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, "They have no wine." And Jesus said to her, "Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come." His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you." Now standing there were six stone water jars for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to them, "Fill the jars with water." And they filled them up to the brim. He said to them, "Now draw some out, and take it to the chief steward." So they took it. When the steward tasted the water that had become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward called the bridegroom and said to him, "Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until now." Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him. (New Revised Standard Version)

Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Here we are in the beginning of the church year, in the season of Epiphany. The liturgical calendar takes us through the story of God’s creation of all things, of God’s calling and forming of God’s people, of Jesus life, death, and resurrection, and of the growth of the early church.

This morning, our Gospel focuses us on the very beginning of Jesus’ ministry, on the performance of his first sign, as John calls it. In this Gospel, seven or eight signs are described, depending upon how they are counted. These signs are more than just miracles—they are miracles with lessons and deeper, symbolic meaning that help us understand who Jesus was and what he was all about. So let’s dive into the sign of the wine and see what mysteries are being revealed in it.

Jesus, his mother and his friends are attending a wedding in the village of Cana. Ancient weddings, you must understand, were quite a party. Music played a big role in these celebrations. The Song of Songs preserves some of the singing that occurred at the festive weddings. One song, for example, that the groom would sing goes like this:

Arise, my love, my fairest!
Arise, and come away!
Lo, the winter is past,
the rain is over and gone.
Flowers appear in the land.
The time for singing has come,
the voice of the turtledove calls,
the fig puts forth figs
and the vines are in bloom.
Arise, my love, my fairest!
Arise, and come away!

There was great joy and revelry at these events in Jesus’ day. But in the midst of the celebration in Cana, there is suddenly a problem. The wine has run out! There’s no hiding the fact and news of it has begun spreading among the guests. They are, perhaps, saying things like, “Oh my, how can the groom provide for his new wife when his family can’t even provide for this wedding feast?”

This is a great embarrassment for this otherwise respectable feast. This could ruin the whole event! So Jesus’ mother, in an effort to save the day, looks at her son and says, “they have no more wine.” Clearly, she knows that it is within his power to change the situation.

Jesus responds by saying, "Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come."

But Mary knows better. She knows that it has. She doesn’t even try to talk him into it. Instead, she just goes over to the servants and gives them orders. "Do whatever he tells you," gesturing toward her son.

Mary is not their master and neither is Jesus, but they are guests of the master and so they take orders from him. “Fill these jars with water,” he tells them.

Now here is the shocking part that we are likely to miss. Those vessels of water that Jesus is referring to should already have been filled with water in order to fulfill the law of Moses. The water in them was used for ritual washings. But now we find out that they are empty! They are a pretense. The family is pretending to keep the tradition, but they do not. Their religious integrity is as empty as the jars.

The servants must be embarrassed now that the truth is out. It probably took some prodding to get them to go fill the enormous jars. But the jar-filling is an extremely important part of this sign. They must be filled for the miracle to take place. It symbolizes the fact that unless the tradition of the prior age is fulfilled, the new age cannot come.

The other Gospel writers explain this message in a different way. Matthew documents Jesus saying, “I came to fulfill the torah and the prophets.” Luke tells us of a son who came to redeem the people of the Jewish tradition, to validate all that they had lived for over the centuries. That’s what John is saying with this story of the empty jars. They remind us Jesus has come to fulfill the covenant that God made long ago with their ancestors, a covenant that they broke again and again. Only after Jesus had fulfilled the covenant could they taste the wine of new life, the wine of the resurrection.

Having filled these vessels with water, the servants serve water to the steward. They are probably shaking in their boots that he will be upset with them for serving water when wine is called for. But their obedience to Jesus is what makes the miracle possible.

And now comes the huge surprise—the climax of the drama! As the water is poured out, it becomes fine wine. In the giving, in the offering, the miracle occurs.

The guests are going to be overjoyed with this good wine. The steward goes to the bridegroom and says: "Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until now."

This is metaphorical language. What’s going on here is that there are two bridegrooms here and a true Father. The first bridegroom has fallen short. He couldn’t supply enough wine. All he could boast were empty vessels that made it look like they were religious people. But along comes the truer Son and the party is saved. This Son realizes that the empty jars have to be filled and then emptied in order to produce joy for everyone. As the water is poured out for the guests, so this Son pours himself out for the sake of the world. He offers his very self as wine for the world.

The story ends here, but it is now an end—it is the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. In this sign, Jesus has revealed his glory and now his disciples believe. He has revived the party, he has brought joy and gladness. He has shown us, as he did throughout his ministry, that this is the dawn of a new age.

In this new age, my friends, we are not judged as we deserve. That’s the good news we celebrate throughout our church year. Jesus, the bridegroom offers his life for the salvation of the world. He reveals himself to be the joyful wine that will never, never run out. As the bridegroom, Jesus calls to his beloved church: “Arise, and come away! Lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone. Flowers appear in the land. The time for singing has come!”

And that is an Epiphany of glory that should make our hearts rejoice! Amen.

© Laura E. Gentry 2007