Life is too short to drink bad wine

 ‘…you have kept the good wine until now..’ (John 2:10)

John 2:1-11 (Year C: Epiphany+2)

Sex, booze and partying are things one would not typically associate with ‘religious folk’. Yet, this week’s very familiar reading about the wedding in Cana and the miracle of water being turned into wine at a wedding party implies just that: sex, booze and partying.  Not that one is suggesting for a moment sex outside or before marriage!  Such things were practically never heard of ancient Jewish times or here in Ireland until the arrival of TV in the 1960s! Strange as it is we do not read about parties celebrating celibacy in the gospels – much esteemed as it was among some who were called to follow Jesus in a particular way both then and now.  Let’s say that the Jews got their priorities right when it came to these matters. We Christians (who are Jews spiritually) should never forget that even if some distortions in teaching and practice reflecting human standards, only, have been present both now and in the past including the times before Jesus.

The first of many signs

The evangelist John is fond of ‘signs’. The action of Jesus in this particular story is described by him as ‘the first of his signs’. John uses the occasion of a wedding party, the consumption of large quantities of wine.  Six stone water jars for ritual ablutions according to Jewish custom would have been equivalent to 600 litres of wine which, if there were 500 non-teetotalling guests, would be equivalent to a bottle and a half of wine or 9 glasses of wine over say a day or two given that wine had already run out after the first or second day (so that this top up would have been in addition to a large amount already consumed). One assumes that cousin John the Baptist was not present but busy preaching in the desert or baptising at the Jordan.  Indeed, this level of consumption would well exceed government health guidelines on units of alcohol for men or women.

Wine a very key ingredient of Middle Eastern culture and life is part of the signage that this story sets up.  In addition to wine, water, bread and oil also provide key signs at various other parts of the Johannine story.  A Mediterranean cultural context surely pervades.

There is no evidence that Jesus showed up at parties with the specific aim of preaching and do miracles (however, we might speculate about whether 100s of invitations were issued to Jesus across the land after the Cana event?!).  But, the killer punch of the story was not just the transformation of water into wine but the production of good wine much to the amazement of the stewards.

Something more than a party or a spectacular miracle …

This particular party was the occasion for a dramatic sign that gave witness to the Glory of God and the presence of the kingdom of God in our midst.  There was something going on here that was much more than a wedding, wine and a miracle.  Jesus took, according to this story in John, a very Jewish and near Eastern custom of celebrating marriage and all that this entails, added some water and made it into wine and left many awe struck (as well as a few inebriated).

The primary message here is not that we should go partying or drinking lots of wine (the latter in any case ought to be done in moderation or not at all if driving camels) but, rather, that God can powerfully act and transform very ordinary materials, relationships and situation if we let him.

Mary, the mother of Jesus, plays a key role in this story. She alerts Jesus to the impending disaster because the wine was running out and then strongly advises the stewards at the wedding to ‘do whatever he tells you’ (verse 5) after what seems a very abrupt exchange between Jesus and Mary (‘Woman, what concern is that to you and to me?’). That conversation might suggest that Jesus and Mary were not much given to wine.  Here we can hear a rich and deep message relayed by Mary – the first disciple among equals – that we should follow Jesus and do whatever he tells us.  Mary plays a key role, here, at the outset of Jesus’ public ministry as she does at its close where, at the foot of the cross, Mary is given to the beloved disciple John as mother (and many see this as confirmation of Mary as not only our sister in faith but our spiritual mother in faith as well).  The exchange between Mary and Jesus echoes that between Jesus and John in last Sunday’s story of the Baptism of Jesus as well as the story of magi’s visit to Bethlehem when they followed God’s promptings and not those of Herod in returning from Bethlehem.

And so what ….

To make wine, especially good wine, we need to simply do what Jesus asks us to do which is to fill up the water jars of our life. God does the rest including the transformations into the best of wines.

This story serves a secondary purpose which is that it is good to party –  even in monasteries. However, as monks and others pray Psalm 4 in the evening time after an occasional early evening party to mark a special occasion (known sometimes as a Gaudeamus which is the Latin expression for ‘let us rejoice’): ‘You have put into my heart a greater joy than they have from abundance of corn and new wine’(verse 8).  Or, as St Paul writes: ‘For the kingdom of God is not food and drink but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.’ (Romans 14:17).

There is a truth and power that goes beyond the very good things of parties, wine and marriage. It is the kingdom of God in our midst now, today, here among us as well as deep within us. It’s time to wake up and see it (‘and [Jesus] revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him’). Trust and openness are the key and this is the point of the wedding feast story. The signs are there if we look.