John 2:1-11
The Rev. Dr. Robert S. Langworthy, preaching
January 19, 2025
I wonder whether today’s scripture is one on which many of us have never before heard a sermon preached.
I wonder too whether that’s due to a lot of pastors, out of sensitivity to our alcoholic brothers and sisters in Christ, feeling uneasy about talking about Jesus’ making enough wine to waste an aircraft carrier’s worth of sailors
Yet, here’s the story in the Bible; and John, inspired by the Holy Spirit, put it at a prominent place in his Gospel. He presents it as “the first of [Jesus’] signs” by which He “revealed His glory”. The story demonstrates both Jesus’ greatness and His goodness.
Understanding the cultural context of the story may alleviate the concern of those who’d hate to see any member of the faith family caused to fall.
God’s people had always understood drunkenness to be sinful. Thus, to moderate the impact of drinking, kosher wine was diluted to a mixture of two parts of wine to three parts of water. For all that, however, wine was also viewed as a gift from God that He welcomes us to enjoy. Psalm 104:15 in fact says God created wine to “gladden the human heart”.
In 1st century Palestine, wine was a necessity for the joyous celebration of any wedding. Back then, the festivities lasted more than a day. After the ceremony, the happy couple did not go on a honeymoon but went home to host a week-long open house, during which proper hospitality called for the serving of wine. If they ran out of it, they’d be disgraced and suffer harsh tongue-wagging from the town gossips.
So, when Jesus’ mother Mary found out a shortage of wine was about to create a social disaster, she informed her remarkable Son about the situation, clearly with the expectation He’d do something about it. Many are shocked by what sounds like a rude and coldly indifferent reply from Jesus. He says to His mother, “Woman, what concern is that to you and me?” But it’s not what it initially appears to be.
First, while addressing one’s mother as “woman” sounds discourteous to our ears, back then gunai was a respectful term by which, say, a grateful husband might address a beloved wife. There is no English word which renders the meaning of gunai exactly; but “lady” comes closest, at least in conveying its courtly graciousness. Gunai is also how Jesus tenderly addressed Mary when, while dying on the cross, He made sure she’d be well taken care, after He was gone, by telling her and John to adopt each other as mother and son.
Second, while to our ears the rest of Jesus’ response to Mary sounds as if He were saying, “Why should the wine shortage matter to us? It’s not our business. Let them fend for themselves,” that’s not how Mary heard it; for she immediately responded by telling the servants to do whatever Jesus told them, which suggests she still expected Him to take action to solve the problem, likely with their help. Moreover, no small number of biblical scholars think Jesus was using there a flexible colloquialism whose meaning could convey different messages, depending on the context and the tone of the speaker’s voice.
It’s significant that right after raising a question about the concern about the wine, Jesus added that His “hour has not yet come”. Whenever Jesus spoke of His “hour”, He was referring to the revelation of His glory in His life, death and resurrection.
Now Jesus’ primary concern was always to fulfill the will of God His Father. That meant sticking to the itinerary that His Father had determined for His earthly journey, and to the schedule that His Father had devised for the revelation of His glory. Thus, Jesus’ seemingly apathetic concern about the wine was not an expression of indifference to the needs of some dear friends, but of deference to the plans of God His dear Father. Jesus’ time was not His own, but God’s; and therefore, what was to be done, and when, wasn’t His or Mary’s call.
As it turned out, it was time for the first of Jesus’ signs; but it’s worth noting that Jesus deliberately limited the extent of the revelation of His glory by performing His miracle in such a way that during the festivities no one but Mary and a few servants knew something supernatural had happened. Everyone else just enjoyed the party and the arrival of some fabulous wine.
That day Jesus transformed about 180 gallons of everyday water into a prodigious amount of the best wine the wine expert at the party had ever tasted.
And how was that a sign, a revelation of the glory of Jesus? Let me mention two ways.
First, it revealed the extravagant generosity of the Lord. Jesus did not provide just enough wine to keep a party going until everyone had to get back to work. No, He supplied them with a super-abundance of top-shelf stuff.
That’s just like the Lord. He loves us and loves to love us. Therefore, He can’t do too much for us; and He’ll never hold back and do the bare minimum. When it comes to blessing us, nothing is too wonderful for God. After all, God the Father sent His Son Jesus that, as Jesus said, we may have life, and have it abundantly. The Lord wants us to have, even on earth, the time of our life; and He enjoys our enjoying ourselves. I imagine Him grinning ear to ear when we’re having a blast. He wants to build jubilant gladness into our souls, and make us cheerful and genial people who bathe others in the sunshine of our exuberance.
Second, this miracle revealed the Lord’s power to make things better. Jesus can transform situations and people that seem to have no potential for positive change. Nothing is impossible for God. He who once turned water into wine can turn winos into happy and productive people, fearful folks into brave souls, self-centered narcissists into lovers whose hearts and hands are ever open, the downcast into the uplifted, the inwardly weak into the spiritually powerful, people unable to find meaning into men and women full of exhilarating purpose.
All it takes from our side is our giving up on making our own way and trusting Jesus who still reveals His glory by working miracles. Let us pray!
Write a comment: