The Wedding at Cana - John 2:1-12
This is the first of the seven miracles in recorded in John’s Gospel. All seven miracles are manifestations of God’s grace – “grace upon grace” - showing who Jesus is - i.e. the Son of God. In fact Philip makes this confession at the beginning of John at end of ch1 – The one whom Jesus knew before he met him face to face, when he was studying under the fig tree, the place of meditation and reflection for a Jew. Philip was almost certainly studying the Genesis ch28 story of “Jacob’s Ladder” - Philip the Israelite in whom there was no guile, unlike Jacob the twister.
The great grace is that Jesus – the Son of God came down to earth and lived among us in the flesh so that we might have life, and life in abundance – but most Israelites did not recognise him, unlike Philip who did. This story is the first of the ‘signs’, of this super-abundant grace of God in Christ. It is a divine revelation. Not for nothing did Jesus tell Philip that he would see heaven opened …
The marriage feast was a favourite celebration in Israel, not just for the celebration itself but the religious dimension inherent for the religious hope of the people. There is much for the imagery of Israel being God’s bride. Marriage brought security for Israelite women. Marriage also presaged the bearing of children and all the promises of multiplication to Israel that that foresaw.
But what is going on here … ?
The failure of the wine during the wedding feast was not just a catering disaster, but a social and shameful disaster too. The bridegroom had made inadequate provision for the celebration – he had failed on the one big day of his social lifetime. But the failure of the wine was a deeper picture of the failure of contemporary Israel. The six stone water jars for ritual cleansing were also for an inadequate cleansing. Figuratively, the wine was running out for Israel - the old religion was failing.
But here the real bridegroom, Jesus, steps in incognito and saves the situation. Jesus effectively takes over at the wedding feast – though they were not worthy of his help. He supplements the inadequate wine supply and transforms and replaces it with something far better, with the best wine ever created. Not only did he replace and supplement the wine but did so in superabundant quantities. The wedding feast which was about to fizzle out embarrassingly came alive again and became memorable indeed. So Jesus takes over a Jewish festival and transforms it in a positive and powerful way, as he would to other Jewish feasts in John’s Gospel.
We as Christians are cleansed with the endless flow of the blood of the Lamb, but there is also an ongoing need for the superabundant supply of God’s grace. Living the Christian life and doing spiritual work is not like running a business: lots of hard work, brilliance, wits, right staff, long hours, bonuses. But God’s work is done God’s way. In fact the life God wants us to live is to be lived God’s way. The commands are to be kept God’s way … by grace alone.
Now to the main point: The question is this: How are you living your life? Is your wine running out? Is your wedding feast of Christian life fizzling out?
Are you struggling with your spouse? Is the wine running out? Are you struggling with your roommate, your children? Is the wine running out? Your assignments? Teaching classes, even running a college? Is the wine running out? Are we doing it God’s way? Is Jesus present at the feast of your Christian life? Is Jesus even invited? I ask that about myself as well, not just everyone else – I do not speak down to anyone. Doing things in our own strength, by your own cleverness, by your wits, by your charm, by your own experience … but deep down you know the wine is running out.
We need Jesus’ wine. When we have that afresh, I do not think there will be any more trickery, or winging it, going by the seat of our pants. Then there will be fruit. We need re-reminding! “I can’t do this Lord, you can.” Yes, in a sense you could do it, but there will be no abiding fruit.
One problem is ignorance. The other problem is pride and self. Self-righteousness, self-pity, self-fulfilment, self-aggrandisement: N.B. the 52 “selfs” in The Collins English Dictionary. All those hyphenated selfs have to die at the cross not just you. Self-pity, self-promotion, self-aggrandisement ....
I wonder if that bridegroom in Cana ever owned up to what he knew very well, that it was not his wine being drunk around the tables that afternoon. I suspect not. Pride – another self.
So how do we get to drink of this superabundant grace? Four things:
Know God’s grace in Christ is there available to us.
Engage in right true worship of God regularly through Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit – in surrender to God.
Admit we cannot do it on our own.
Die to all the things we are proud of in ourselves. Self- this self- that!
Then Jesus can move in and do the works of God. What must we do to do the works of God? As Jesus said … “Believe in the one whom He has sent.”
When you become a missionary your own wine will run low very quickly, but by the superabundant grace in Christ, the wine does not need to run out - it will always be available.