St. Luke's Episcopal Church
Cleveland, Tennessee

2 Epiphany
14 January 2007

What I want to do this morning is largely a teaching, because this passage is a wonderful passage to study very carefully, and to read between the lines, and really see what is happening here. One of the things I love about this Gospel passage is that it is such a very human story. This is something that we all can relate to. This is a very human moment. It is a snapshot of a very realistic scenario from daily life.

First of all, a couple of comments about the culture of this time. Just imagine how easy it is for us to take for granted things like modern medicine. Think for a moment of what your life would be like if you could not call a doctor when you are sick. Think about what life would be like if we did not have modern heating and air conditioning. Think back to what it would be like if we did not have indoor plumbing, - - things that most of us just take for granted. Think for a moment of what life would have been like for these people in this ancient time period. Life was hard, every day to get through it was hard. Every day would have been a challenge. They did not know the conveniences we know. I understand that, but still, just to get through the day would have been a series of challenges. And when you are sick, there is very little they know to do as far as medicine. So here is my point. When they had a reason to celebrate, people in this culture celebrated. Wedding feasts, like the one pictured here, could go on for a week. The guests stayed in the area, and the party went on for a week, because life was hard. So when they had time to celebrate, and a reason to celebrate, they celebrated. That is how life was. So that is what we see pictured here. This is a wedding banquet. This will go on for days for the family hosting it.

We see that Jesus has been invited. Now Cana is about nine miles from Nazareth. So it would have been in walking distance. By some connection that John does not tell us, Jesus got invited to this party, and his mother is there. So Mary is there along with Jesus and his disciples. Then what happens? The wine gives out. Now this is a problem! To the host who has guests in for days, somebody has made a mistake! This is what I love about the passage - - it is so human. We were having a function at our house sometime within the last year, and Debbie was planning the menu, and counting the cost. I said, “Honey, I don’t think we are going to have that many people.” And the answer to that was, “We cannot run out.” So running out is not an option! That is what has happened here. The host is going to be embarrassed. Either more people have come to the party than they invited, or thought would come, or the stewards have made a mistake. These people can hire domestic help. That is what the stewards are, they are the help in the household. So somebody has made a mistake here. It is very human, very believable.

Now Jesus’ mother goes to him, and says, “They have run out of wine.” It is very interesting what Jesus says, “Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come.” Now a couple of things. This sounds harsh in English. “Woman” is not what I would say to my mother. I would not say to my mother, “Woman what are you talking about?” I would not do that. Believe me, I was taught better. The Greek word used here is gynai. It is the same word used in John, Chapter 19, when Jesus is on the cross, and he sees Mary, and he says, “Woman, behold your son.” So in English the synonym for this word would probably be madam or ma’am. We southerners would say ma’am. So this is not a putdown. It is important to know that Jesus is not putting down his mother here. It is a translation issue. He uses the Greek word of respect, woman, madam, ma’am.

So now that we have dealt with that, here is something that is very important. “What concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come?” What is happening here is that Mary knows that Jesus has this power from God. She did, after all, give birth to him. So Mary knows that Jesus could step into this situation, but Jesus knows that this is not what he is about. His power from God is not about bailing out a host who has run out of wine. So that is what is happening here. “Why are you telling me this?” is what Jesus is saying. “This isn’t what I am about, to bail the host out.” But none the less it is an issue because the host will be embarrassed. Something has gone wrong, and the party has run out of wine. Then Mary says something very interesting. We will come back to this at the end. But she says to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” In other words, Mary is saying, “I am leaving it up to him. This is his. So do whatever he tells you.” So Jesus sees the situation. He knows that these water jars are available for the Jewish rites of purification. He says to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they do that. Then he says, “Draw some out, and take it to the chief steward, the person in charge of the domestic help. Take it to him.” And so the steward tastes the wine that Jesus has made come forth from this water, And he say to the bridegroom, and again this is so very human, “Everyone serves the good wine first and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk.” You don’t start with the cheap stuff! You start with the good stuff. And as the evening goes on you supplement it with the cheap stuff. This is just how it is. And the steward says to the bridegroom, “Where did this wine come from?” And, of course, it is what Jesus has brought into being.

John finishes the passage, “Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him." This is a very human story, but there is nothing flippant about this. This is very important. Jesus shows, for the first time, the power from God that he has. This isn’t a sideshow here. That really is the point I am making. He doesn’t do this to show off. But Jesus sees a host who is in trouble, who will be embarrassed, and he does allow his power to be used to help this man out. But John tells us, “He revealed his glory for the first time, and the disciples believed in him.” He had gathered the disciples already, but after this incident, they must have thought, “This rabbi really is special. No one else can do this.”

About this last verse, John uses the word signs when he talks about Jesus’ power. It is very interesting that throughout the Gospel of John he never uses the normal Greek word for powerful act. That word is dynameis It is the Greek root from which we get the English word for dynamite. Dynamite is power. It is powerful. So dynameis is the Greek word for a powerful act. John doesn’t call it that. Terata is the Greek word for miracle, and John never uses that word about Jesus’ mighty actions. He doesn’t use the Greek word for miracle. He calls them signs. The Greek word is semeia. Semeia means signs. And what do signs do? Signs point to something. A road sign tells you which direction to go in, or a highway sign tells you what to do: to stop, to yield, to turn left, to turn right. So signs, John is saying, are a way to see who Jesus is. Jesus doesn’t use his power here to show off, to show what he can do. He uses it to bring comfort to this family who are throwing a party. And it is the first time he lets people see the kind of power from God that he has. So these are signs that will go on later in John’s Gospel to point to the reality that Jesus is the Christ.

Last week we referred to John the Baptist. In John’s Gospel, John the Baptist, when he introduces Jesus, says, “Look, here is the Lamb of God.” And that is what happens here. We see Jesus’ power coming into fruition.

I want to finish by going back to the quotation from Mary. Mary gives us here some timeless advice, advice that is always relevant. She shows the situation to Jesus, understands that he can do something about it, and leaves it in his hands. And she says to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” That is timeless advice. “Do whatever Jesus tells you.” Amen.