Today is the third Sunday of our Lenten series, John 2:1-11, The Miracle Worker. Picture Jesus at a wedding feast when an embarrassing problem comes up; the wedding runs out of wine. This is a shameful thing for the groom and his family, so Jesus’ mother asks him to help. Jesus replies that it’s not his time yet, but in a spirit of grace, Jesus turns 6 jars of water into the best of wines. This was the first of many signs revealing his glory. Our focus today is the meaning of this sign.
Today is the third Sunday of our Lenten series, John 2:1-11, The Miracle Worker. Picture Jesus at a wedding feast when an embarrassing problem comes up; the wedding runs out of wine. This is a shameful thing for the groom and his family, so Jesus’ mother asks him to help. Jesus replies that it’s not his time yet, but in a spirit of grace, Jesus turns 6 jars of water into the best of wines. This was the first of many signs revealing his glory. Our focus today is the meaning of this sign.
The Miracle Worker
John 2:1-11
This story of Jesus’ first miracle has always fascinated me because it seems like such a strange way to begin his ministry; doing some as small and insignificant as turning water into wine because they run out at a wedding in the small insignificant village of Cana, hometown of one of Jesus’ disciples, Nathanel. Many of us have been to weddings where that might actually have been a good thing. Cana, according to the Jewish historian Josephus, was also a military headquarters and staging ground during the first century Jewish revolts against Rome, which led to the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in 70 AD. It was out of the way of any major routes and in the hill area so it was difficult to sneak up on.
Jesus and his disciples are invited to a wedding and his mom is also there. Like many smaller villages in rural and semi-rural areas, much like Central Alberta, everyone is either related or somehow connected to each other, so when something happens, it’s not unusual that Mary would come to Jesus to help out. Mary is never called by her name in the Gospel of John, and only appears here and at the cross, the beginning and culmination of Jesus’ ministry. John does this on purpose to frame the work of Jesus, beginning with this miracle revealing Jesus’ glory which culminates in Jesus’ glory revealed in his death on the cross as witnessed by John himself, “The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe. These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken,” and, as another scripture says, “They will look on the one they have pierced.” John’s goal in writing his gospel is to lead others to believe in Jesus as the promised Messiah.
Weddings were often weeklong affairs, and the groom and his family were responsible for hosting the guests during that time. This is what hospitality looked like at that time. Suddenly, Jesus’ mother approaches him, “They have no more wine.” I often ask people who are exploring the Christian faith, or those who are interested in learning more about who Jesus is, to read the Gospel of John first, and many of them have asked, “Why did Mary tell Jesus about the wine running out; it wasn’t his problem, it was the groom’s family’s problem, it was their shame.” Part of the reason is that Mary knows that Jesus isn’t someone ordinary, he’s God’s son through the Holy Spirit, he has a compassionate heart, and people matter to him. Yet there’s more to this story that became clearer as I did some research on the references in the Bible about wine, especially in the Old Testament.
Jesus tells his mother, “My hour has not yet come,” he’s preparing to engage why he’s come to join humanity here on earth by becoming human, but that is going to happen according to his timing, to his listening to his Father’s guidance, not his mother’s, yet Mary still tells the servants to do what Jesus tells them to do. Mary also seems to have a sense of the Father’s timing too. Now comes the part of the story that we often focus in on, “Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim.” The stone jars were used for ceremonial washing, everyone was to wash at least their hands before eating, as the Pharisees observed Jesus’ disciples not always doing in Matthew 15, “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat!” On the night before Jesus was crucified, he went even further than washing hands, he washed the feet of his disciples, reminding Peter when he protested, that physical washing is a sign of something deeper, of the state of our souls, “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.”
Now Jesus doesn’t seem to do anything; he doesn’t pray over the water in the jars, he doesn’t perform any ritual over the jars, he doesn’t lay hands on the jars, he simply tells the servants, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.” They do as Jesus says. I wonder whether the servants, when they drew the water out of these jars used normally for purification, noticed that the water has been changed, that it’s now wine. Now this isn’t everyday wine; when the master of the banquet tastes it, he calls the bridegroom over wonders, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.” Jesus transforms insipid water into the finest of wines; the best of the best.
It echoes back to all those passages in the Old Testament that connect wine to divine blessings. Genesis 27:28, we hear Isaac blessing Jacob, “May God give you heaven’s dew and earth’s richness—an abundance of grain and new wine.” In Deuteronomy 7:13, Moses is looking ahead with Israel to God’s blessings in the Promised Land, “He will love you and bless you and increase your numbers. He will bless the fruit of your womb, the crops of your land—your grain, new wine and olive oil—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks in the land he swore to your ancestors to give you.” In Proverbs 3:9–10, King Solomon calls the people to “Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.” Jesus’ miracle is a blessing to the bride and groom, taking away their shame, blessing them in his generosity.
Jesus’ generosity also echoes back to the prophets. The prophets were usually given the task of calling the people back to God, often bringing warnings of punishment or consequences for the people if they don’t. But the prophets also brought messages of hope, renewal, and reconciliation after their time of punishment, pointing ahead to the Day of the Lord and the coming Messiah. Amos points to restoration in 9:11–13 using the image of new wine flowing from the mountains, “In that day “I will restore David’s fallen shelter—I will repair its broken walls and restore its ruins—and will rebuild it as it used to be, so that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations that bear my name,” declares the Lord, who will do these things. “The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when the reaper will be overtaken by the plowman and the planter by the one treading grapes. New wine will drip from the mountains and flow from all the hills.” Joel shares a very similar image in 3:18, “In that day the mountains will drip new wine, and the hills will flow with milk; all the ravines of Judah will run with water. A fountain will flow out of the Lord’s house and will water the valley of acacias.” Isaiah picks up on this too in 25:6, “On this mountain the Lord Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine—the best of meats and the finest of wines.” The prophets point to a God who doesn’t just give us what we need or ask for, but a God who is willing to pour out his blessings in ways we can’t even image or hope for.
In turning water into wine, Jesus is pointing back to the prophets and Old Testament, giving them a glimpse that God is at work here, reminding them of those passages that point to the Day of the Lord and the coming Messiah, offering them a glimpse into the kingdom of heaven, of the generosity and quality of the gifts from God. We’re given glimpses of Jesus’ character, of the generosity of his grace, of his hospitality as seen in his welcoming all those who believe in him, of the outpouring of forgiveness as seen in the man brought to him on a mat for healing and Jesus’ first act is offering forgiveness, and how Jesus’ gifts are so superior to the gifts the world offers as seen in the cross, resurrection and outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Jesus’ greatest gift as our saviour is the gift of his life given for our sin on the cross so that we can have reconciliation with God the Father and be adopted into his family as his beloved children. We see Jesus use this experience at the wedding to give us an image of what the kingdom of heaven is like; a time of celebration where God’s blessings our out like the finest of wines on his people.
Yet it’s important to remember that Jesus didn’t always perform miracles when asked. In his hometown of Nazareth, the people’s disbelief in him prevented him from performing healing miracles, while he was tempted by Satan, Jesus refuses to use his miraculous power to satisfy his needs. John calls Jesus’ miracle a sign, something that points to a deeper truth beyond itself. This sign, as John says, “revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.” This is why we have been given the Scriptures, why Jesus sent his Spirit, so that we might believe in him as the Messiah who comes to pour out blessings like wine pouring down the mountains like a stream!