The wedding at Cana
Ordinary Sunday 2: 18th January, 2004
Fr John Davis, Vicar of St Peter's, Eastern Hill
Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory, and his disciples believed in him. (Jn 2:11)
In the Sundays of ordinary time during the church year, we get the chance to explore the actions and the teachings of the Lord. Again and again we are going to see how he led by example, how he very much understood the pressures and patterns of everyday living, how people were attracted to him, how people's lives were turned around by him. This year, our focus is going to be on the gospel according to Luke and next week that will begin. But today we have as our gospel the first of the 'signs' in John's gospel – the wedding feast at Cana, that abundant provision of exceptionally good wine when the supplies failed. This was the sort of wedding party that the whole community would have been involved in and it probably went on for the best part of a week. Hospitality, generous hospitality was absolutely expected. It is easy enough to imagine that Jesus was getting these family friends out of a social disaster. His mother was there and has a significant part to play. "Do whatever he tells you". (2:5) The disciples were also there and watching everything unfold. There is the steward of the feast, who has an admiring observation to make about the exceptional quality of this new lot of wine. (2:10) There are servants who know exactly what is going on. Somewhere nearby is the wedding party itself and their families and all the other guests. It is noisy, crowded and happy – like every good village wedding should be. And all ends well.
If that was all we had in this little story, it would be just that. A charming little diversion from the more serious business of healing the gravely ill or rasing the dead. A tentative step only. It is clearly more than that. Although Jesus tells his mother that his 'hour has not yet come', still he does go ahead and do something – something quite remarkable. And we can note the God's grace often seems to be at work in meals and banquets in the Scriptures. The mass after all is a meal – a very special meal. We see too those big stone water jars – six of them – 'each holding about a hundred litres'. They were there for the ritual washing that would have taken place at the end of the meal and they were therefore part of the expected religious ceremony. There was a lot of water that was turned into wine – another example of superabundant provision, as later in the feeding of the five thousand. Very much more than enough – 600 litres or so. I can't work out how many dozen bottles that would be. That fluid was all there for one particular purpose, now, changed into something new, it is being put to another. And I also never could work out what the Temperance Union would have made of this particular part of the gospel either! The Lord is clearly not intending to close down the party. But let us with some care put all that wine to one side.
Our story is book-ended by two phrases with enormous associations. This narrative begins with the words 'on the third day'. Now that might well just mean a couple of days later, but we certainly cannot hear those words without immediately thinking in terms of the creed – "on the third day he rose again from the dead, according to the Scriptures." The phrase carries with it associations with all the new beginnings of the Resurrection. The new life in Christ begins here. The new public ministry of the Lord began here. So we watch the story unfold.
And then, the telling of the incident ends with the response in new faith of the disciples who were there, because Jesus in this first sign 'revealed his glory' – they believed in him. No hearer familiar with the gospel according to John could not recognise the echo of the words of the Prologue in chapter 1.
'And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth'. (1:14)
The glory that is in Jesus and that the disciples have now recognised in this first of the signs, is the wonder of God's presence. The glory is God's action in him in what he says, what he does, who he reaches out to. That now is to be the unfolding pattern of the gospel. Those disciples had already just been drawn to Jesus after his baptism by John. That was only a few days before. After all, John had said publicly, 'Look, here is the Lamb of God' (1:36) Andrew had reported to his brother Peter 'We have found the Messiah' (1:41) and they had followed him. Now, after the wedding at Cana in Galilee, we are told that they believe.
So what we have here is a foundation for all the ministry of Jesus that is to come after this, and something to be considered alongside the way that over the next two weeks we will hear Luke covering the same ground. We are being prepared for our exploration through the year of what the Lord taught and said and did. The gift, the power and the glory was there, right at the beginning. We too, like those first of the disciples, are going to be encouraged to respond in faith.
Our first reading from Isaiah picked up the theme of a wedding celebration. After this, it doesn't really seem surprising that Jesus should intervene in the way that he did, to ensure that the celebration could continue.
'for the Lord takes delight in you
And your land will have its wedding' (Is 62:4)
'And as the bridegroom rejoices in his bride
so will your God rejoice in you' (62:5)
In this celebratory mode, the psalm response invited us to 'Proclaim God's marvellous deeds to all the nations' and the epistle was that well-known passage from First Corinthians where Paul talks of the gifts of the Spirit that we can all actually see in the Christian community, in our Christian communities. This too is a matter of celebration. Varieties of gifts from the one Spirit, all sorts of service, but for the one Lord. All sorts of gifts and acts of service, but the same Spirit 'working in all sorts of different ways in different people; it is the same God who is working in all of them'. (1 Cor 12:5) Obviously, any community is the richer for the presence of these gifts and the encouragement for them to be more fully exercised.
In our own Christian community, we are at this particular stage both honouring some new beginnings and warmly commending some that are coming to an end. Fr Tat Hean has now been exercising his priestly ministry amongst us for nearly two months. Fr Craig has been back with us for nearly a month. Sr Valmai CHN will be joining us at the end of February. And next weekend. Fr Neville will be having his last Sunday with us as assistant priest at St Peter's. Fr Neville's long and varied service as priest of the Church will of course continue after his very well earned retirement and return to his beloved South Australia. But we have been most privileged to share in these last three and a half years of it. Our community here is much the richer for his presence and the gifts that he has exercised. Next Sunday, he will be doing just about everything it is possible for one person to do, liturgically speaking, so we do hope that, even though it is a holiday long weekend, there will be a goodly number of us here to wish him well. There will be modest versions of the wedding feast at Cana to mark the occasion.
The Lord be with you.
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