Sermon given by Revd Sue McCoan St. Andrew’s 19th January 2024
John 2:1-11
If you were here last week, or in any church that follows the lectionary, you will have heard the reading from Luke’s gospel about the baptism of Jesus. You will have heard John the Baptist announcing Jesus as the one who is to come, who will baptise with the Holy Spirit and with fire, who will come in judgment, sorting out the wheat from the chaff. John paints a picture of Jesus that is full of energy: a picture of a powerful and essential mission. Then, in the baptism of Jesus, the voice of God affirms that Jesus is indeed the one. So this is it! The kingdom of God is launched into our midst.
You might be surprised, then, if you didn’t know the gospels very well, to come and hear this week’s reading about Jesus being at a wedding. What’s he doing at a wedding? How is it that, with such a massive amount of work to do, Jesus has time for a party?
And if you went back to Luke, or Matthew or Mark, to check, you might be even more surprised. Because those three gospels all say that, after his baptism, Jesus went into the wilderness for a time of testing and reflection – quite the opposite of a celebration.
The gospel of John has a different emphasis from the other three. All four gospels describe events in the life of Jesus, but John is particularly concerned with the meaning of those events. He is more interested in who Jesus is, than in what Jesus said and did. So it is quite possible that John has chosen to record the events not in chronological order, but in the order that helps him build up the picture he wants to show of Jesus.
Let’s go back to the beginning of John’s gospel, to the familiar verses we often read at Christmas, ‘In the beginning was the Word’. John identifies Jesus with the Word, the logos, of God; the word that spoke creation into being, the word that brings light and life, the word that has now become flesh and dwells among us. When John the gospel writer describes the preaching of John the Baptist, he doesn’t mention repentance; he simply says he is preparing the way for the one who will come after him who is so much greater than he. And then, when Jesus appears, John says, ‘Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world’.
Here is Jesus as gift; the eternal Jesus, one with God, in the world to take sins away – and it does not depend on any human response. The gift is given, whether we want it or not, whether we receive it or not.
And now John begins to unwrap the gift. First, with the calling of four disciples. ‘Come and see’, says Jesus to Simon and Andrew, when they wonder where he’s staying. ‘Come and see’, says Philip to Nathanael when he’s sceptical abut Jesus. And, when Nathanael does respond, Jesus says, ‘You will see greater things than this’.
We’ve peeked into the wrapping paper. Here we are now at the wedding, and Mary the mother of Jesus wants to start ripping the paper. The wine has run out – that’s unheard of at a wedding – come on, Jesus, you can do something about this. But the time has not come. Not yet. Of course Jesus can do something, but this is really not the moment to make a big gesture. We’re not ripping the paper; but we are going to have a better look, while nobody else is around. Jesus and Mary have a quiet word with the servants, busy in the background, unnoticed by any of the guests. On instructions from Jesus, the servants top up the big stone jars with water, and then draw some of the water out and go to the steward of the feast and hand him what they think is a cup of water.
The steward drinks it, and tastes fine wine. He naturally assumes this is from a secret stash that the bridegroom had hidden away – he compliments the bridegroom on serving such good wine. None of those people – servants, steward, bridegroom – knew the whole story; none of them knew what Jesus had done. None of them got to see what was under the wrapping paper. That’s as Jesus intended – the time has not yet come. But Jesus knew. And Mary knew. And we know. And, John tells us, this is the first sign.
And what a sign!
There is so much symbolism here.
First, it’s a wedding.
This is not just any feast, but a wedding feast.
On a human level, it’s great that Jesus, who would never get married himself, is able to participate in other people’s celebration. But a wedding, in the bible, is often used as a metaphor for the kingdom of God – the uniting of two people, and two families, standing for the uniting of God and humanity, or Jesus and the church. Jesus here plays a key role in the feasting.
Second, it goes from scarcity to abundance.
The story begins with scarcity. The wine runs out. The resources that the host had provided are not enough. Jesus provides more wine and plenty of it. Those 6 stone water jars, we’re told, each hold 20-30 gallons. That’s about 100 litres each, so 600 litres altogether, equivalent to 800 bottles of wine. That should be enough to keep them going for a bit!
This is not just enough. This is ridiculously more than enough, far more than you could possibly need, an embarrassment of riches. Jesus provides abundantly far more than we can ask or imagine.
Third, it goes from purity to celebration.
The water that Jesus turns into wine is the water that was used for the rituals of purification. If a person became unclean, through eating the wrong food, touching the wrong person, infringing the law, then a purification ritual using water, from hand-washing to full immersion, was a way to restore ritual cleanliness – and in so doing, to allow the person to resume their place in the community.
That’s wonderful. But Jesus goes much further than purity. Jesus takes the water from the jars that would be used for washing, so for external use, and changes it into wine which you can drink. Jesus is moving us from a faith based on observance and practice, to a faith based on inner transformation; from a symbol of purity, to an experience of joy.
The wedding at Cana, the turning of water into wine, is a picture of overflowing generosity and joy. It’s a picture for us to hold onto, as we move on into an uncertain and unpredictable year. Today, a ceasefire has started in Gaza – thank God. But it is so fragile; there is so much damage done; and there are still people who think, yes, we’ll do the ceasefire for 6 weeks and then we can carry on fighting again. Tomorrow, Donald Trump will be inaugurated as the new American president. We don’t know exactly what he will do, but we know already that he has little time for traditional diplomacy and international law, and that makes it hard for other countries to know how to respond.
The story of the wedding at Cana reminds us that when the world gets dirty, we are not to hide away and keep ourselves pure – we are to be bringers of joy. When the world is hungry and in need, we are not to be drawn into the mentality of scarcity and hanging on to what we’ve got – we are to show generosity to others. And when that gets difficult, as it sometimes will, we are to remember that we are part of God’s kingdom, that we have received the abundance of God, which is more than enough to keep us going.
Let’s pause, and dwell on that, and then I‘ll end with a short prayer.
Loving God,
Thank you
For welcoming us into your kingdom,
And blessing us with more than we can imagine.
Whatever is going on in our lives,
And in the world,
May we always know your life, your wholeness, your joy,
And share that with generosity and love.
Amen.
