Chapter 2: Old an New, part 1
A sermon
delivered by Rev. Peter T. Atkinson
January 25, 2015
at Gordonsville
Presbyterian Church, Gordonsville, Virginia
John 2: 1-11
Hosea 2: 1-9
Let us pray,
Help us to see despite our eyes
Help us to think outside of our minds
Help us to be more than our lives
For your eyes show the way
Your
mind knows the truth
Your
being is the life.
Amen.
1
On the third day there was a
marriage at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there; 2 Jesus
also was invited to the marriage, with his disciples. 3 When the
wine failed, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” 4 And
Jesus said to her, “O woman, what have you to do with me? My hour has not yet
come.” 5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells
you.” 6 Now six stone jars were standing there, for the Jewish
rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. 7 Jesus
said to them, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. 8
He said to them, “Now draw some out, and take it to the steward of the
feast.” So they took it. 9 When the steward of the feast tasted
the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the
servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward of the feast called the
bridegroom 10 and said to him, “Every man serves the good wine
first; and when men have drunk freely, then the poor wine; but you have kept
the good wine until now.” 11 This, the first of his signs, Jesus
did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory; and his disciples believed in
him.[1]
So we continue our journey through John's
Gospel, and we have finally made it out of Chapter 1 and can look at Chapter 2.
So far we have seen John's prologue, introducing us to the Word, that was with
God and was God from before the beginning, going on and telling us to
"Believe and Receive," for that Word is light and the light of all
people, and we've seen John the Baptist introduced, telling us "Behold,
the Lamb of God", and then we've seen the recruitment of some the
disciples, by simply saying "Come and See." If you take just those
four statements alone from Chapter 1,
there is a lot that John has built up already. And Jesus really hasn't even done
anything yet, that we have seen. All that he has done so far is just simply
tell the disciples to Come See, and through his exchange with Nathaniel has
shown that he can see, outside of the normal limits of time and distance, and
said if you are amazed by that just wait, you will see Heaven Open and angels
going up and down, and now in Chapter 2, as they say, it's on.
I decided to make the title for this Sunday,
Chapter 2, Old and New, because that is one thing that holds the chapter
together, Oldness and Newness, being juxtaposed with each other, again and
again, all through two major events: Jesus turning Water into Wine at the
Wedding at Cana and Jesus tossing the tables in the temple, both beautiful
bountiful bouquets of alliteration, and finally we see some action. Jesus does
some stuff. At first I was going to just depict these two stories as separate
episodes, but the more I studied this week, and the more I thought about it,
the more I noticed that just like much of Chapter 1 seems to be related and
connected, so too do these stories from Chapter 2. And although I'm going to
take them separately one at a time, this week and next week, I wanted to
acknowledge that there is developing here a connected story, and these two
events take on much greater meaning when they are seen together. So as we go
through the Wedding this week, have the temple in your mind, and when we go through the temple
next week, do your best to remember what we discussed today, but I promise to
do my best to review briefly next week as needed. Mostly I want to highlight
this connection because I think next week is an important lesson, and this
week's does much to put it into the right perspective.
I knew alot about this passage before I
started. It is one of the more famous scenes in the Bible, and it is used to teach
many many lessons and make a bunch of different points. Quite possibly my
favorite, and maybe the first that I remember from my younger days, was that it
shows that Jesus was not a prude when it came to having a drink. There's a
great song called, "The Lord Loves the Drinking Man," it uses the
line, I heard he changed water to wine, anyone who'll do that is a good friend
of mine". . . but though I think it
is probably true that Jesus did not have as much trouble with wine as some may
believe, I don't think that is the point of this story. Another aspect of the
story I also knew was that according to John's Gospel, this is one of the first
things that Jesus does. . .and I remembered that Mary, Jesus' mother plays a
significant role in the story, getting Jesus to do the miracle, when Jesus
didn't really seem want to. But beyond these details I have never really given
this story that much thought, nor had I devoted all that much time to studying
it. So I did this week and I found so much stuff, a real treasure of different
takes and opinions.
One thing that I found that I'm not sure what
to think about, but found fascinating was the claim that the numbers given
throughout this beginning of John, the days of the week, that if you count them
and put them in some kind of order that it corresponds to the days of the
creation. The article I read went through it, and made a case for how it all
corresponds, and if you look at it most of the big events happen after the
seventh days, back at the first, highlighting the "let there be
light", they said forecasting the resurrection on Easter. Though it was
fascinating to think about, there was too much math involved, and it seemed too
much like codes and numerology, which I always tend to be skeptical about, much
like statistics, if you try hard enough and have enough creativity you can make
the numbers show anything you want. But it was a good explanation for why in a
gospel that doesn't seem to have much interest in telling a straight forward
chronological historical narrative retelling of the events would include a
detail like "3 days later" as this one does.
Another big idea that I came across this week
was the dynamic between Jesus and Mary that goes on here. There is no real
introduction to Mary in John's Gospel, no Magnificat, no Annunciation Scene
with Gabriel, no journey to Bethlehem on the donkey, and no, no room at the
end. Instead you have this scene and another at the cross, sandwiching the rest
of the story, motherly bookends, and there is something so very real about this
encounter at the wedding, in a mother son dynamic. Mary wants Jesus to help, Jesus
resists, saying, what is it to us, and it's not my time yet, but Mary is sure
that Jesus will do what he can. Without him even saying yes, she goes ahead and
tells the servants, to "do whatever he tells you" and so Jesus ends
up performing the miracle. This initial miracle of Jesus, this sign is paired
with the heart wrenching vision of Mary watching her son going to die,
"Woman behold your son. . .", where Jesus makes this disciple whom he
loved a real member of his family. It is all powerful stuff.
But the most important and interesting aspect
of this story that I found in my research was, like I said the connection of
Old and New, and how it corresponds to the second half of this chapter becausein
my research I came across some interesting facts about the ritual purification
that this story talks about, which is what the water was originally for, and
that changing it into wine had all kinds of symbolic meanings about purity, and
foreshadowing. . . yes my favorite thing. . . why is it that everything in
literature is foreshadowing?. . . Of course there is connection here to baptism
and communion, and then also more foreshadowing, this time beyond
communion, crucifixion, the resurrection
to the marriage supper of the Lamb. All of that was there, but also there is
the imagery of a new covenant being set, and that is what I found most
intriguing.
Obviously a wedding is a great setting for
covenant imagery. Two people are coming together and pledging their lives to
each other in love and service to one another. They are promising their mutual
belonging and forsaking all others. So the scene is ripe for the beginning of a
new covenant one that involves making a commitment to Christ. . . again we
remember the importance of Believing and Receiving here in John's Gospel. So
with the beginning of Jesus' ministry here at this wedding we see the beginning
of more than miracles but as relationship. Jesus in this very public way
invites us in, because we get to see, we've come and now we see, and Jesus at
once delivers, in a very simple and symbolic way turning water into wine. One
of the resources I've been using is N.T.
Wright's Study Questions, and he says that reading the gospel of John is like
going on a treasure hunt, and that John places clue after clue, each telling us
exactly who Jesus is, and this is the first clue, they are clues, but John
calls them signs. . . and with each sign, the refrain occurs: "he did this
sign, and the disciples believed." Again and again, these signs are clues
letting the followers of Jesus come to know, and we the reader with them.
But it's not just that Jesus is making
miracles, instead these miracles if looked into with more depth become more
than just, he is a magic man, but that he is God, he is setting forth new
covenant in himself, and he is inviting us to be a part of it. So where is this
covenant imagery? One of the major metaphors used for the covenant relationship
between God and the Chosen People of Israelites is that of Husband and Wife. God,
the Husband has been faithful, but again and again the Israelites stray from
the covenant relationship, and instead of forsaking all others fall into
idolatry with the Baals. And so here, at this wedding, Jesus is renewing,
making a new covenant. . . one sealed in his blood. It begins with water and it
is then sealed in his blood, the very blood we take and drink in his
remembrance. There is a sense that this water that was used for the ritual of
purification according to the old Jewish Rituals is being replaced by the blood
of the cross, that purifies, washing away our sins, and symbolically through
the wine of communion. I don't know about you, but I found that imagery, that
metaphor, that invitation of truth so interesting, so compelling, and so heart warming,
and hope fulfilling. I've always been captivated by poetic truth coming through
like that and this was really cool, much more than just Jesus filling a
celebration with a little more spirit, but Jesus filling this world with a so
much more hope, beyond what we had every expected, what people had expected.
Because this new covenant surpasses the old. Look again at the details of the
story, the wine that Jesus makes from the water is the best wine ever tasted,
so much so that the people wonder what kind of a host saves the best for last,
rather than blowing it all early. God is changing the rules, making new rules,
a new path, a new way, a new truth, and a new life. One beyond comprehension.
There is one thing that we miss often when we
study a passage so deeply that we get caught up in the weeds, we get so focused
on the trees that we miss the forest. So I want to close this morning not
thinking about symbols and poetic details, and foreshadowing, and just put
ourselves at the wedding. Kahlil Gibran wrote a series of Prose Poems about
encounters with Jesus in Gospel story. He writes imaginative fiction based from
the characters point of view in the ancient tradition of Midrash. He wrote one
on this scene from the perspective of the Bride. . . often fiction invites us
in to the experiential truth we can miss. Here it is "Rafca: The Bride of
Cana"
This happened before He
was known to the people.
I was in my mother's
garden tending the rose-bushes, when He stopped at our gate.
And He said, "I am
thirsty. Will you give me water from your well?"
And I ran and brought
the silver cup, and filled it with water; and I poured into it a few drops from
the jasmine vial.
And He drank deep and
was pleased.
Then He looked into my
eyes and said, "My blessing shall be upon you."
When He said that I felt
as it were a gust of wind rushing through my body. And I was no longer shy; and
I said, "Sir, I am betrothed to a man of Cana in Galilee. And I shall be
married on the fourth day of the coming week. Will you not come to my wedding
and grace my marriage with your presence?"
And He answered, "I
will come, my child."
Mind you, He said,
"My child," yet He was but a youth, and I was nearly twenty.
Then He walked on down
the road.
And I stood at the gate
of our garden until my mother called me into the house.
On the fourth day of the
following week I was taken to the house of my bridegroom and given in marriage.
And Jesus came, and with
Him His mother and His brother James.
And they sat around the
wedding-board with our guests whilst my maiden comrades sang the wedding-songs
of Solomon the King. And Jesus ate our food and drank our wine and smiled upon
me and upon the others.
And He heeded all the
songs of the lover bringing his beloved into his tent; and of the young
vineyard-keeper who loved the daughter of the lord of the vineyard and led her
to his mother's house; and of the prince who met the beggar maiden and bore her
to his realm and crowned her with the crown of his fathers.
And it seemed as if He
were listening to yet other songs also, which I could not hear.
At sundown the father of
my bridegroom came to the mother of Jesus and whispered saying, "We have
no more wine for our guests. And the day is not yet over."
And Jesus heard the
whispering, and He said, "The cup bearer knows that there is still more
wine."
And so it was indeed—and
as long as the guests remained there was fine wine for all who would drink.
Presently Jesus began to
speak with us. He spoke of the wonders of earth and heaven; of sky flowers that
bloom when night is upon the earth, and of earth flowers that blossom when the
day hides the stars.
And He told us stories
and parables, and His voice enchanted us so that we gazed upon Him as if seeing
visions, and we forgot the cup and the plate.
And as I listened to Him
it seemed as if I were in a land distant and unknown.
After a while one of the
guests said to the father of my bridegroom, "You have kept the best wine
till the end of the feast. Other hosts do not so."
And all believed that
Jesus had wrought a miracle, that they should have more wine and better at the
end of the wedding-feast than at the beginning.
I too thought that Jesus
had poured the wine, but I was not astonished; for in His voice I had already
listened to miracles.
And afterwards indeed,
His voice remained close to my heart, even until I had been delivered of my
first-born child.
And now even to this day
in our village and in the villages near by, the word of our guest is still
remembered. And they say, "The spirit of Jesus of Nazareth is the best and
the oldest wine."[2]
Yes the spirit of Jesus of Nazareth is the
best and oldest wine, because he is the wine that makes all things new, even
that which is Old. Amen.
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