Part 1 of Water, Wine and Human Beings Fully Alive
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Our reading this weekend is from the gospel of John where we encounter the story of Jesus turning water into wine:
On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.”
“Woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.”
His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”
Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.
Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim.
Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.”
They did so, and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.”
What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him. (John 2:1-11)
When it comes to interpreting this week’s reading from the gospel of John, we have options.
Our story this week could have represented how the Johannine community understood Jesus-following in comparison to the Judaism their community evolved from. The water that Jesus would turn into wine was being held in water jars “used by the Jews for ceremonial washing.” The gospel of John is filled with antisemitic comparisons like these. The Johannine community viewed the changed wine, which symbolized Jesus, as far superior to any previous wine and different than the Jewish ceremonial washing water it had been made out of.
This story could also have been a commentary on previous versions of the Jesus story. It doesn’t take a scholar to see stark differences between John’s version of Jesus and the Jesus story in the synoptic gospels (Mark, Matthew and Luke). John’s gospel and many of its themes are quite unique. That includes this week’s story of the wedding wine at Cana. One more possible interpretation of the images in this week’s reading is an option before we seek to apply our reading to our justice work today. We’ll take a look at that in Part 2.
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