THE WEDDING AT CANA

Sunday - 22nd January 2006: Epiphany 3

Kingdom Season 13  |  Proper 38 : Track 1  |  Ordinary Time Week 3 (Year B)

Genesis 14.17-20  |  Revelation 19.6-10  |  John 2.1-11 : To see the current week's readings, click here

"Couple in shock double wedding!"

"Sam and Sue Clark were very unhappy to return from honeymoon and discover that they were not really married. Sue explained to our reporter “Our parish priest was called away at the last minute and someone else took the service. We thought it a bit odd when he began by saying that he wasn’t the real priest. And then he told a rather odd story about having wanted to marry his father to a widow lady, and how they’d all play bridge in heaven. And he didn’t seem to know the words very well, kept referring to the Holy Spiggot. And of course he got our names all muddled up. In fact Sam joked at the end of the service that he wasn’t sure whether he’d married me or the bridesmaid. Well it seems he hadn’t married either”.

"The mix-up occurred when the vicar was suddenly taken ill and a colleague agreed to find a substitute. He mistakenly contacted the wrong man. Wilfred Thornton said he had been delighted to be asked to help out, and hadn’t realised that you needed a qualification to perform a marriage ceremony. “Well it’s not exactly rocket science” he told our reporter “Anyone could do it, I can’t see what all the fuss is about”.

Sue Clark added to our reporter “The church were very good about it, they did our second wedding for free, choir and all, and they gave us a bottle of champagne, but what with needing another reception and having to alter my dress, because I seem to have put a bit of weight on, it did get a bit expensive. Still, I suppose it’ll be something to tell the grand-children”.

GETTING INVOLVED...

John writes “On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee”. And goes on to recount the first of Jesus’ miracles, the first of what John calls “signs”. I am fascinated by the fact that this first miracle takes place at a wedding; it takes place at a party. In a poor rural community, this was a rare opportunity to feast, to celebrate, to forget for a while how hard life was. And here is Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God, God Incarnate, right at the centre of community life, celebrating with a young couple a crucial rite of passage, the beginning of their life together as a new family.

And I have no doubt that this is exactly what St John wishes to tell us. At the start of his gospel he writes how “the word became flesh and lived among us”. And here he is, in his community, intimately acquainted with all aspects of its life, from the day by day need to earn a living to the special celebrations that went with a wedding, and the sorrows attached to sickness and death. Jesus isn’t a distant figure, the perfect man keeping aloof from the mess of human lives, he was right there in the thick of it all. And, he knew how to have a good time, he knew what a party was, what a celebration looks like.

AVOIDING SOCIAL SUICIDE!

Now, in middle eastern culture, and it continues to this day, hospitality was very important. This young couple needed their wedding feast to be seen as an act of generosity, with food and drink flowing abundantly. So when the wine ran out it was a massive disaster for them. At the very least it would have been seen as a disastrous start to married life, as an ill-omen. But worse than that, the family would have been disgraced, and that disgrace would have stuck for years. They’d committed social suicide.

It’s Mary, mother of Jesus who notices. And she knows that her son can help. You remember that phrase in Luke’s Gospel, after the visit of the shepherds to the stable “Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart”. For 30 years she watched her beloved son grow up. Remember those icons and paintings that show her gazing lovingly at him. And now she seems to realise that the time is right. St John has just told us that three days earlier Jesus had been baptised, and during the next two days he had started to gather a group of disciples around him. Things are on the move. So, when the emergency happens, Mary turns to him.

SLIGHTLY ROUGHENED UP IN TRANSLATION

Now his reply comes across in English as rather harsh “Woman, what concern is that to you and to me?” But this is a very typical example of just how hard it is to translate from one language to another. The word for woman, is actually a term of endearment. That’s how Anthony referred to Cleopatra. Perhaps if we picture a mediaeval court, with Ladies in flowing robes, and gallant knights and imagine a knight referring to his Lady, then that gives us a better picture of what Jesus is saying. But what about the next bit. But what about the next bit. Well, I’ve done my home-work, and some scholars just think that Jesus was telling her to mind her own business, but others point out that this was one of those phrases which conveyed more than the simplicity of the words suggests. For those of you who can remember some French it’s a bit like when you say Comment ca va, to someone, you’re not literally asking then how that goes, you asking how are you, how are things? So with this phrase which we have translated “what is that to you and to me”, when spoken gently, simply means, You’ve misunderstood, don’t worry, it’s all under control. And so Mary, turns to the servants and tells them “Do whatever he tells you”.

Actually we could do with taking those words to heart “Do whatever he tells you”. So there is our Lady, after all these years watching her son grow to manhood precipitating the first miracle. No wonder she is so dear to the church.
And what a miracle it is. The sheer abundance of the wine, gallons and gallons. And it’s not any old wine, it’s wine of the very best quality. Not that we should be surprised by that. God always wants the best for his children. So it may be tough to do what he tells us, but the results can be amazing.

AND FINALLY... A FEW SYMBOLIC BITS

Just another couple of things that I find interesting. The first is that these were stone jars used for ritual washing. Now St John was a very careful writer, who used symbolism right across his writing to get his message across. So here he is saying that the old rituals of washing are no longer necessary in the days of Christ the King. He has washed away our sins, we don’t need long washing rituals any more. So as Christians we have a symbolic washing at baptism and that’s it.

The second thing is that even here, in this joyful story of disaster averted and the abundance of wine, Jesus’ death is prefigured. Jesus says “My hour has not yet come” and that is the hour of crucifixion. And the gospel starts “on the third day”, the story will end, of course on the third day, the day of resurrection.

So this is our Lord, God made flesh celebrating with family and friends, totally involved in their lives. And that’s how he is with us, if we’ll let him. So may we, like the servants do whatever he tells us, and may we like the disciples, having seen his glory revealed, believe in him.