Isahiah 62:1-5; Psalm 36:5-10; I Corinthians 12:1-11; John 2:1-11
The Rev. Candice B. Frazer
Jesus and his disciples walk into a restaurant and sit around a table. The waitress asks them what they would like to drink, and the disciples start to chuckle. They look at Jesus and he orders a round of water.
Brene Brown says that abundance is not a gross exorbitance but a recognition that what we have is enough. To live or think abundantly means that we trust there is enough for what we need. When we trust that there will be enough, we focus on our present and recognize that what we have in that moment is enough and thus, abundance becomes about revelation—an unveiling through trust. This is the story of God again and again throughout the scriptures—the pouring out of his abundant love on his people and their trust in that love.
In Jesus we hear stories of abundance. His most famous involves five fish and two loaves of bread to feed a crowd of five thousand. This morning, we hear the story of water turned into wine that far exceeds the “more than enough” theology of abundance. Estimates put the amount of wine at anywhere from 120 gallons to 1000 gallons—a sign of God’s overly abundant nature. The wedding feast at Cana is referred to as a sign, not a miracle. Though we recognize that turning water into wine is miraculous. If we get stuck there, we lose the greater depth and meaning of Jesus’ first sign.
John’s Gospel never speaks of miracles, only signs. Feeding five thousand, walking on water, healing, exorcism, and raising Lazarus from the dead are all defined as signs for John. John seems to associate these signs as both markers of the divine made manifest in the personhood of Jesus as well as attributions of belief. In almost every case, after the sign has been performed, John declares that those who witnessed it, believed in Jesus. This is true at the wedding in Cana. “Jesus performed the first of his signs….and his disciples believed in him.”
Jesus’ divinity is revealed to us for the first time at the wedding in Cana. Earlier in the gospel we have heard descriptions of Jesus as divine, but now we are beginning to see proof of that. The wedding feast at Cana and turning water into wine might seem a bit of a parlor trick—its setting is one of celebration and may seem slightly trivial for Jesus’ first miracle. The amount of wine made is extravagant. We even use this experience as fodder for jokes.
It is not simply that Jesus can make water into wine that offers us insight into his divinity—it is how we understand this sign within the context of his greater mission and ministry—particularly his death and resurrection.
There are three significant details in this scene at the wedding in Cana that foreshadow the way John wants us to understand the Passion of Jesus Christ. One of the most revealing tells is Jesus’ response to his mother, “My hour has not yet come.” Though many might interpret this to mean that Jesus was not ready for a public revelation of his power, in truth these words are foreshadowing his death—Jesus is not speaking about time, he is speaking about the cross. Jesus seems to equate this first miracle not with the abundance of joy that we understand it to be, but with his eventual doom. Evidence for this is suggested throughout the gospel, where multiple times Jesus will repeat these words, “My hour [or time] has not yet come.”.
Jesus also uses the word “woman” when addressing his mother in response to her request that he do something about the lack of wine, “Woman, what would you have me to do?” There is only one other time that Mary shows up in John’s Gospel, and it is at the cross. As Jesus looks down upon her, he calls her “woman” that time too as he ensures her care and responsibility “Woman here is your son; here is your mother.” The hour, woman—both of these are foreshadowing events. There is one other detail that lends evidence to Jesus’ foreshadowing of the end—the wine.
Here at a wedding feast in Cana, Jesus will turn water into wine. It is witnessed by his disciples and they believe in him. At the last Supper, Jesus will invite his disciples into an even greater witness of who he is. He has revealed his glory at Cana, he will do so again at Calvary. “He took the cup, and when he had blessed it, said, “This is my blood. Drink it in remembrance of me.” The hour, “woman”, the wine—details that point us to Jesus’ purpose and promise of our salvation through his death and resurrection. Even though this foreshadowing happens, the first of his signs, it is the nature of the miracle itself that gives us the greatest insight into what Christ’ Passion might mean for us.
It seems like Jesus might have picked a more substantive miracle to perform if he was knowingly foreshadowing his death. But, when you think about it, this miracle is meant to encourage a particular way of understanding God in the world. This is a sign of abundance—not simply due to the amount of wine created—but, to the abundant joy within which the miracle takes place. A wedding feast is a joyous occasion, and the free flowing of wine is a sign of celebration and joy. Weddings are sacramental—they remind us of God’s Grace and love for us and the connection to God and one another. The exaggerated amount of wine that is poured out for the steward serves as a metaphor for the measure of life that Christ pours out for us in his death and resurrection. Not only is that life poured out abundantly, it is down so joyfully, and it is the best life. Whereas most serve the good wine first, the wine that Jesus provides is so much better.
We get a taste of this good wine occasionally. Anyone who has been to Cursillo has known this good wine. Of course, I am speaking metaphorically the good wine is an allusion to living in the kingdom of God. At Cursillo, we get the opportunity to experience this over abundant pouring out of love and joy—the good wine, the kingdom. The weekend itself is one of renewal and it may be short-lived, but it is meant as sustenance to nourish us and reinvigorate our life in Christ through living out the fourth day—all the days after one has returned from a Cursillo experience. The good wine of Cursillo is the connections we make and how we grow in Christian community and fellowship with others. It is the realization that life is bigger than we can imagine and that even though doubt and darkness attempt to take hold of our hearts, the goodness of God is always greater than the bleakness of the world.
Jesus’ mother asks him to do something about the lack of wine, but this sign has a greatness that invigorates our hope and reminds us of who God is in the world. It is not simply about provision; it is about the promise of salvation. The promise of a God of abundance and joy. A God who will never abandon us. A God whose signs can lead to our renewed faith and trust in him. Jesus did this, the first of his many signs, and the disciples believed in him.
Amen