JOHN 2:1-11
I DON'T KNOW IF IT'S SOMETHING BURIED
DEEP IN HUMAN NATURE OR PECULIAR TO OUR CULTURE, TIME AND PLACE, BUT
OVER MY LIFETIME I'VE SEEN INNUMERABLE INSTANCES WHERE A MAN IS
DESIGNATED TO DO SOMETHING AND IT TURNS OUT THAT A WOMAN OR SOME
WOMEN ACTUALLY DO THE WORK. AS A PHYSICIAN, I WOULD SET DIRECTION,
AND MY NURSES WOULD CARRY OUT DETAILS. AS AN ADMINISTRATOR, I WOULD
HAVE TO WRITE A REPORT, BUT GATHERING THE DATA AND PUTTING THE
RESULTS INTO A FINAL COPY WOULD BE DONE BY MY SECRETARY. AND THIS
GOES ON IN EVERY PARISH IN THE CHURCH, EVERY PROTESTANT CONGREGATION,
EVERY JEWISH COMMUNITY – WOMEN HOLD THE WHOLE ENTERPRISE TOGETHER.
I'M NOT SAYING THIS IS EITHER GOOD OR BAD. I EVEN THINK THAT IN MOST
CASES, NEITHER THE MAN NOR THE WOMAN WOULD HAVE IT ANY OTHER WAY.
AND IF YOU ARE LIKE ME, YOU KNOW HOW
OFTEN A WOMAN RESCUES SOME ENTERPRISE BECAUSE SHE HAS NOTICED
SOMETHING IS MISSING, SOMETHING THAT HAS BEEN OVERLOOKED BY THE
PEOPLE IN CHARGE. I READ ABOUT A LAVISH HOME THAT HAD BEEN
COMMISSIONED; THE ARCHITECT HAD DRAWN UP DETAILED PLANS AND THE HOME
BUILDER WAS ABOUT TO SIGN OFF ON THEM WHEN HIS WIFE ASKED A SIMPLE
QUESTION: WHERE ARE THE BATHROOMS? BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD. HERE
IN SAINT MARY'S IT'S NO DIFFERENT. IF WE PUT ON A PARISH SUPPER OR
SOME OTHER EVENT, YOU WILL SEE WOMEN MANNING THE TABLES CHECKING
PEOPLE IN, TAKING MONEY FOR TICKETS – AND OFTEN THEY ARE THE SAME
WOMEN EVENT TO EVENT.
IN JESUS' TIME THINGS WERE PROBABLY NO
DIFFERENT. AT A LITTLE COUNTRY WEDDING TO WHICH MARY AND JESUS HAD
BEEN INVITED IT IS MARY WHO NOTICES A LOOMING PROBLEM: THE WINE IS
RUNNING OUT, AND THERE ARE STILL SEVERAL HOURS OF THE PARTY LEFT TO
GO – THESE AFFAIRS SOMETIMES STRETCHED ON FOR FOUR OR FIVE DAYS.
NOW IT'S IMPORTANT TO NOTICE TWO THINGS: FIRST, JESUS HASN'T DONE
ANYTHING YET. SURE, THERE WERE WONDERFUL AND STRANGE EVENTS THAT
WENT ON BEFORE HIS BIRTH AND DURING HIS EARLY INFANCY, BUT SINCE THEN
JESUS HAD BEEN LIKE ANY OTHER YOUNG MAN IN PALESTINE – HE PRACTICED
A TRADE, HAD A BUNCH OF FRIENDS, TOOK CARE OF HIS MOTHER AND THERE
BEING NO TELEVISON IN THOSE DAYS, HE WOULD GO OFF AND LISTEN TO JOHN
THE BAPTIST AND OTHER PREACHERS. IN THE MIDDLE AGES AND EVEN IN THE
EARLY DAYS OF THIS COUNTRY, A GOOD FIERY SERMON WAS GREAT
ENTERTAINMENT.
MARY NOTICES THAT THE COUPLE ARE
RUNNING OUT OF WINE AND COMMENTS ON THIS TO HER SON. DOES SHE EXPECT
A MIRACLE? PROBABLY NOT. MAYBE SHE'S JUST ASKING WHETHER HE'S GOT
ANY IDEAS? AND JESUS SAYS, “WHAT IS IT TO ME AND YOU? MY HOUR
HASN'T COME YET”. IF YOU REMEMBER THE OTHER GOSPELS JESUS GOES
BACK TO HIS HOME TOWN TO START HIS MINISTRY – IN THE SYNAGOGUE.
THAT IS HIS TIME. BUT MARY TURNS TO THE SERVANTS AND SAYS, “DO
WHATEVER HE TELLS YOU.”. MARY HAS DONE ALL SHE CAN. SHE'S NOTICED
A PROBLEM, DECIDED SHE CAN'T SOLVE IT BY HERSELF, BUT DOESN'T WANT TO
GIVE UP. SHE TURNS TO HER SON, THE CARPENTER, AND HIS BUDDIES AND
LEAVES EVERYTHING IN HIS HANDS.
ONE THING WE DON'T NOTICE IN THIS
PASSAGE IS THAT WHEN JESUS DOES WORK HIS MIRACLE, HE DOESN'T JUST
SOLVE THE PROBLEM; INSTEAD, HE MAKES ABOUT 150 GALLONS OF WINE, AND
GREAT WINE AT THAT.
JOHN THE EVANGELIST NEVER WRITES
ANYTHING WITHOUT A REASON. THIS STORY IS NOT SIGNIFICANT BECAUSE OF
THE MIRACLE. RAYMOND BROWN, A GREAT SCHOLAR OF JOHN'S GOSPEL, SAYS
THAT WE SHOULD LOOK AT THE LAST WORDS: “JESUS DID THIS … AND SO
REVEALED HIS GLORY, SO THAT HIS DISCIPLES BEGAN TO BELIEVE IN HIM.”
THE POINT IS THAT EVERY JEW WHO HAD ATTENDED SYNAGOGUE AND LISTENED
TO THE SCRIPTURES HAD HEARD THAT WHEN THE NEW AGE CAME, WHEN THE
MESSIAH SHOWED UP, ONE OF THE SIGNS WOULD BE THE ABUNDANCE OF WINE.
AND IN FACT, THE LACK OF WINE IN THE OLD TESTAMENT WAS EQUATED WITH
THE WITHDRAWAL OF GOD'S FAVOR. SO IF YOU HAD EYES TO SEE, IF YOU
KNEW YOUR SCRIPTURES, YOU WOULD SEE IN THIS MIRACLE A FULFILLMENT OF
ALL THOSE PROPHECIES AND UNDERSTAND THAT GOD'S FAVOR HAD RETURNED IN
SPADES TO ISRAEL. THAT'S WHY THEY BEGAN TO BELIEVE IN HIM.
JOHN WANTS US TO UNDERSTAND THAT MARY,
WHO FOR JOHN REPRESENTS THE FAITHFUL PEOPLE OF THE FIRST TESTAMENT,
IS NOT JUST WAITING AROUND FOR THE MESSIAH, BUT IS ACTIVELY INVOLVED
IN TRYING TO BRING ABOUT THE WORLD TO COME. EVEN IN THE ABSENCE OF
EVIDENCE THAT GOD IS WITH HER, SHE EXPECTS SOME SORT OF INTERVENTION
FROM GOD. SHE HAS GREAT FAITH. JESUS, WHO IS THE MESSIAH, REWARDS
HER FAITH BY AN ACT WHICH TELLS HER THAT THE MESSIANIC AGE HAS
DAWNED.
THE ONLY OTHER TIME WE WILL RUN ACROSS
MARY IN THE GOSPEL OF JOHN IS THAT SCENE AT THE FOOT OF THE CROSS,
WHEN JESUS COMMENDS HIS MOTHER (REPRESENTING THE FAITHFUL WHO HAVE
WAITED FOR THE MESSIAH) TO THE “BELOVED DISCIPLE” (REPRESENTING
THE FOLLOWERS OF JESUS). THIS ALSO IS A “MESSIANIC “ ACTION,
SINCE THE FIRST TESTAMENT PREDICTS THAT IN THE AGE TO COME, ALL
NATIONS WILL STREAM TO JERUSALEM – TO LEARN FROM THE ISRAELITES
ABOUT THE TRUE GOD.
AND OF COURSE THIS STORY TELLS US
SOMETHING AS WELL. LIKE MARY, THE CHRISTIAN IS TO NOTICE THE WORLD
AROUND HIM, AND IF HE SEES SIGNS OF DISTRESS, HE'S TO DO WHAT HE CAN
TO RELIEVE IT, FAITHUFLLY TRUSTING THAT GOD WILL MAKE SURE THAT HIS
EFFORT IS IS NOT WASTED. OUR FAITH TELLS US THAT GOD'S REPLY TO OUR
PRAYER IS A GIFT OF ABUNDANCE, AND THAT EVERY CHRISTIAN HAS IT IN HIM
OR HER TO BRING INTO THE WORLD A BIT OF THE WORLD TO COME, THE WORLD
WHEN CHRIST RULES WITHOUT CHALLENGE FOR ALL ETERNITY.
