The story of the wedding at Cana is very interesting. It comes to us from the Gospel of John, and in John’s Gospel there are few to no parables. Parables are the stories Jesus would tell to make a point. Oftentimes parables begin with, “The Kingdom of God is like…” It’s peculiar that Jesus taught so frequently with parables according to Matthew, Mark, and Luke, but almost never in John. This has led some to wonder if John’s Gospel creatively embedded parables or wove them into memories of Jesus’ own life and teaching. The Wedding of Cana is one such example.
Consider the cast of characters in this story. Since it is a wedding there is a groom, but no mention of a bridegroom. There is a “chief steward” like some kind of ruler of the party, then there’s the servants, and finally sitting in on this celebration is Mary, the one who was invited and Jesus and his disciples sound as if they didn’t quite crash the wedding, but were allowed to come by the extension of Mary’s invitation.
There’s a problem. The wine has run out. This is a problem for a lot of reasons. First of all we know that people like to drink and have a good time at a wedding. Secondly, running out of provisions at a party in which you invited people would appear to be the height of ignominy, shame, and disgrace. Thirdly, and this is a historical point, wine was perhaps the only safe thing to drink. Wine in those days was much less potent than it is now. It had alcohol, but not as much. Wine was safe to drink because the fermentation process ridded the liquid from many deadly pathogens. Regular drinking water was not as safe to drink. You put all this together and you have a situation where the very first moments of this new couple’s life together is potentially cast under a very dark and disturbing omen.
Mary steps into the picture. Saint Mary. Hail Mary full of grace, blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus. That’s how Elizabeth greeted Mary, by the way. Mary nudges Jesus. She tells him that they are out of wine. In true motherly fashion she doesn’t exactly tell Jesus what to do, but she presents the problem to him. He balks. “Mom, I’m not ready.” No, that’s not right. “Woman! I’m not ready!” That’s what he says to his mother Mary. What kind of a response is that? I’d say it’s a combination of exasperation and respect. It’s fascinating that at the very end of this self same Gospel of John, Jesus after he resurrected will say to Mary Magdalene. “Woman! Why are you weeping?” It’s fascinating to me that Jesus would use the exact same word at the beginning and at the end of his earthly ministry, the first time with his mother and the second time with his most faithful disciple.
Mary is undeterred and unbowed. She says to a servant standing by: “Do whatever he tells you.” That’s a lot like what God the Father says at the transfiguration: “This is my Son the beloved, listen to him.” So Jesus’ aware that he has no choice but to obey his mother. Jesus instructs the servant to fill the ritual purification jars with water. What is a ritual purification jar? It’s an ancient sink for washing your hands before there was widespread use of plumbing. You fill up this very large ceramic vat and people go to town washing their hands. One right after the other. The trick of course, if you ever find yourself at an ancient wedding, is try to get in the front of the line, because the further back you are the less clean the water will be. Keep in mind that the party was already underway so all of the people had already washed their hands. So at this ancient handwashing station that was already full of dirty water Jesus says to the servants to fill them up the rest of the way, then fill up a cup, and take it to the chief steward, the ruler of the party. What you should be thinking right now is: disgusting! Outrage! To knowingly give someone to drink dirty contaminated sink water! Why would the servants even do this?
I have an idea. I think the chief steward, who was in charge of the wedding, was kind of a jerk. It would have been his responsibility to get enough wine in the first place. He was in charge of the party! And he had failed! Impending shame and doom was about to break out. This poor young couple would be disgraced because of an irresponsible chief steward. I think someone like this would have been a terrible person to work for! I bet when Jesus told them to scoop up dirty sink water to give to this guy, they were in on the joke. Give this guy what’s coming! Let him have a taste, quite literally, of his own medicine and the results of his irksome behavior. That would be a good trick. You can imagine the waitress sniggering as she brings the cup to the chief steward. He puts his nose in the air. He swirls it around. He sniffs it. He takes a drink. His eyes open in shock. But wait, he doesn’t spit it out! He takes another large draft. What is going on? He hurries to the groom, skipping on the balls of his feet, prancing with glee. He pulls the groom into a hearty embrace and begins, perhaps slurring his words a little as he speaks with a little hiccup now and then, “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!”
The groom looks like a deer in the headlights. Don’t they all? What is this guy talking about? The groom didn’t procure any special surprise wine, that was the chief steward’s job. But the steward is making an assumption, the steward knows he himself swindled them, and so he assumes that this groom must truly be a man of class and grace who went out of his own way to preserve this fine vintage. Before the groom has time to respond, to retort, or to stammer and objection: two more cups are brought forth one for him and one for his beautiful bride. A toast is being made, and the wine is swirling in his mouth, his bride’s eyes lighting his soul and heart, and he is warmed from the inside out forgetting any reservation, any doubt, and he leans in to love.
Meanwhile Jesus, the disciples, and Mary are all sitting at the back table in the corner. You know that table. The table where you put the pastor, or rabbi, his family and friends, and the unique aunt or uncle who nobody wants to sit with. Pastor Dave Nagler calls this the Isle of Misfit Toys wedding table. Mary holds out a cup to Jesus, and he clinks it with hers, and they drink too. This was the first of Jesus’ miraculous signs.
Isn’t that just wonderful? Isn’t that just the dearest story you’ve ever heard. There’s only one problem. How in Sam hill does dirty stinky sink water transform into the most delicious wine ever? How do you explain that to any rational person? How do you turn filthy water into wine? If you think Jesus can just wave his hand and do whatever he wants, you are missing the point.
Remember what I said at the beginning? There is more here than meets the eye. The wedding feast is a parable, and several variations of it figure prominently in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Each time Jesus tells of a wedding banquet, he says the kingdom of God is like a wedding banquet. And almost always if not always when we read about weddings in the Bible they are a metaphor for God’s relationship with Israel, or Jesus’ relationship with the church. Two sides of the same coin. This is a story about us, the church, the bride, and our relationship with our Savior Jesus, our groom.
Jesus is our groom, and loves us unconditionally despite our flaws as only two spouses can do, except Jesus’ love is even more, it’s even more than we can imagine. So in this story the people gathered at the party are the whole world, it’s all nations and people bearing witness to this commitment we have made to Jesus. Just as all the world sees the church. The servants are the disciples who are supposed to do whatever Jesus tells them. Mary is Mary. She’s the only person in the story who is uncomplicated. There’s just something about Mary. So then the question emerges: who is the chief steward?
The chief steward is the ruler of the age, the devil. He is jealous of the marriage, and bent on sabotaging the proceedings. He is the collective sin, death and destruction that plagues us as individuals and our civilizations. He is the one the people try so hard to cleanse themselves from through ritual washing, religion, and other imperfect means. But it would seem that Jesus loves even his enemy. Jesus literally converts the dirt and sin of the people, and the attempted sabotage of the ruler of the age into sweet honeymoon marriage wine, something so beautiful that not even evil can resist it’s attraction.
But still the question remains: how? How does Jesus convert the sin of the world and evil intent into pure goodness? I think you already know the answer. It’s actually incredibly simple to understand, but profoundly difficult to do. Jesus, our groom, turns the water into wine by offering his own life for us on the cross. His side was pierced and water and blood flowed out. He didn’t just wave a magical hand over the purification vessels. No, nothing like that. This first miraculous sign of his glory, and his glory is the cross. He climbed Golgotha, opened up his arms wide, had his hands and feet nailed to the cross, and he gave his life, his blood, for us and for our salvation. It cost Jesus dearly to give the wine that day. It cost him everything; just as it cost the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King Junior 54 years ago. Not through works-righteousness or oppression, but through non-violent faith. We are saved by Grace.
God’s grace is an inexhaustible source of life and joy, the best wine ever made. Given and shed for you. So eat and drink. Have faith. The body and blood of Jesus Christ given and shed for you. Amen
Leave a Reply