Seven signs (1) - Water into Wine - John 2:1-11

The Story.
John tells us the Gospel (Good News) of Jesus in a different way from Matthew, Mark and Luke.  That doesn't mean he's making it up.  John is simply painting his picture of Jesus for us.  John himself admits Jesus did loads of things, too many to write up in a book. He picks out seven of these miracles Jesus did, that are especially important to him. He calls them the "seven signs".  We're looking at these signs because we aim as a Church to be "Learning to show the Father's love." It's time to focus on the signs that demonstrate God's character.

Bocksbeutel style Bottle
by "Prince Grobhelm."
Used under GNU license

And the first story is all about a wedding in a village called Cana, about 10 or so miles north of Nazareth in Galilee.  I guess things were a bit tight. Weddings were a big occasion with lots of guests, (maybe the whole village!) Before the celebrations were over, the wine ran out. Mary, Jesus' mother came and told Jesus. It looks as if she was expecting Jesus to do something.  Jesus responded by saying "Why are you asking me  this? My time has not yet come."  He wanted his Mum (who seems to have been on the catering team for the wedding!) to stop fussing around him. But he wasn't refusing to help. He knew what he had come to do and the right moment would come - to sort out this problem and to sort out the world's problems.   Mary told the servants to do what Jesus says - and Jesus had them collect water - 100-150 gallons of it. That's how much the six stone jars would hold.

I would not have relished the task of filling up the glass of the guy in charge of the banquet, from one of these jars.  After all, they had been filled up with - water!  It must have been a bit of a step of faith to ladle a drink from one of these jars, but it was turned into wine - and not just any old wine, but the best wine that had been served all night!  So good that the master of ceremonies complimented the Bridegroom on keeping the best until later in the feast.

And the Point?

Road sign in Callander.

John himself tells us the point. The point is that in this sign Jesus gave a glimpse of his glory. He revealed it, manifested it....  And his disciples put their faith in him.

This was a supernatural event.  There's no evidence that Jesus was somehow manipulating the situation and performing some sort of trick.  And the resulting drink was the best wine!  John is describing a miracle. The point is that supernatural things - and I'm in no doubt this was a miracle - are signs. They tell us something.

This sign revealed Jesus' glory.  It pulled the curtain back on who Jesus is and what he is all about, his identity as the Word who was with God and is God; his sonship; his Kingdom.

And as a result of this sign, his disciples - the seven he had already gathered together - read the sign, and trusted in Him.  They said "Yes, this guy really is God with us!"  The signs release faith.

Do you have a problem with this passage?  
It raises some questions, doesn't it?   For a start, why wine? Why so much wine?  Why do something that would just help a wedding to go better, when there were sick people in various houses in Cana, maybe even some of them present at the wedding, needing his healing?  Isn't it just a bit of a stunt? A bit of indulgence? Let's be clear about some things.

Firstly, Jesus is NOT showing that it's OK to get drunk.  He isn't suggesting that excess is OK.  That is important to say in our increasingly alcohol-soaked Scottish culture. Remember the sign isn't about how to live our lives - it's to reveal his glory, his character and identity!

Secondly, Jesus is not putting on a cheap sideshow to give everyone a good time and make everyone rush to follow him.  Only Jesus, Mary, the disciples, and the servants knew what had happened. It wasn't that public. And it was still an act of compassion - to run out of wine at a wedding was a big deal, a real disgrace: in fact you could be sued! This was not a publicity stunt, and it wasn't extravagance. It was an action designed to reveal his glory - his character and identity.

So what's the difference?
Turning water into wine - lots of wine, enough that if the whole village was there with a population of about 600 people, everyone would have a whole bottle each - gives us an insight into the nature of Jesus, his Kingdom and his Father. When Jesus takes these jars of water used for Jewish ritual washing, the sign is clear. Jesus transforms the water of Jewish legalism into the new wine of Christian freedom.  He is saying that his Kingdom is "New Wine" that cleanses, transforms and releases us, in the present, and is to be enjoyed at the wedding feast of the Lamb in glory. He is saying "I am the One who can take water and turn it into wine. I am the one who can take shame and turn it into approval.  I am the one who can take inadequacy and weakness and turn it into strength. I am the one who can take what is insipid and unpalatable, and turn it into what is rich and wholesome and enjoyable. I am the one who can what is messed up and sad, and turn it into something joyful."  This Kingdom is about celebration, it is about joy; it is abundant and extravagant in the way God showers his love upon us.

The difference for us is that we are learning to show the Father's love.  We can demonstrate Father's love in a number of ways. We can do so through
* Charismata or Gifts
That means healing the sick; it means praying for God's provision; it means speaking a word of knowledge, it means living those moments when there is the tangible sense of God's presence in our worship.
* Compassion or Generosity
Jesus himself called his message "Good News to the Poor".  We need to be good news to the last, the lost and the least in or world.  That is what John Hayes from Inner Change calls "the Other Miracle" - caring for the poorest of the poor.
* Character or Godliness
Jesus replaces the water of purification with new wine.  We can't improve ourselves; we need God to transform us.  Can the character of Jesus, the fruit of the Spirit, be seen in your life?  Love, joy peace, patience kindness goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. These are a miracle, too!  There once was a man who was standing on the street corner speaking out against Christianity and pouring scorn on the idea that Jesus could turn water into wine. One of the bystanders was a recently converted alcoholic, who challenged him: "I don't have much education and don't know about Jesus turning water into wine, but I do know that in my home he has turned whisky and beer into food and clothes and shoes"

We need to be wineskins full of the new wine of the Kingdom.  We need to have Jesus turn the water of our failure, our religion, our weakness and inadequacy, into the new wine of his Kingdom, his triumph, his joy and his glory.  We need to show the Father's love in charismata, compassion and character.  We need space for each of these.

And those signs, those demonstrations of Father's love, are designed to build faith.  As we show the Father's love we build up one another's faith; and we draw others to put their trust in Jesus too.



© Gilmour Lilly June 2012

The Mission of the Three-in-one.: Isaiah 61 1-6

What is God like?  Answers on a postcard!  Israel knew the Lord as the everlasting God, YHWH, the great "I am" - who had revealed Himself to Moses in the burning bush and made a path for them through the Red Sea; who had gone before his people in a pillar of cloud and fire, who had given them a new land to live in... This God is strong and powerful and active; he is mighty and mysterious and holy and pure....

And this God has always had that habit of "hovering", creatively touching people, so that a mortal like Samuel or David or Isaiah could see visions and speak God's own word... when the "Holy Spirit of the Lord" came upon them.  This Holy Spirit is God-at-work, God on the move, God on a mission, in and through people he anoints...

There's a story of someone who was asked, "Do you believe in a god who can change the course of events on earth?"  And answered, "No, just the ordinary one."  But that doesn't make sense, for this God - the God of Exodus, the God of the Red Sea, the God who hovers creatively over his servants - to do nothing.  The idea of a God who doesn't do anything is a daft idea.

So what's this God 's agenda?  What is it he is about doing in his world? What's God's agenda, God's plan?  We find out in Isa 61. 1-6.  God's plan involved:  
* Good news to the poor;
* Bandages for the broken hearted (crippled inner-lives)
* Liberty to the captives
* Cutting loose for those who are tied up...
* A year of Jubilee!!!  Jubilee in Israel meant the time every 50 years when land that had been mortgaged returned to the people who originally owned it, people who had become bonded labourers to pay debts were set free and debts were cancelled.  But that "Year of Jubilee" becomes the "Day of the Lord" when God works out his plan for his world, Messiah comes and evil is judged.
* Comfort for those who mourn.
* Israel is blessed as the nations bring their wealth to her and becomes "A priestly community". As a priestly community, Israel is to do for the nations what the priests do for Israel: prayer, sacrifice, reconciliation.
* And all of this is worked out through a person Isaiah, over and over, calls "The Servant.  Look at Isa 42. 1-3  "Here is my servant! I have made him strong. He is my chosen one; I am pleased with him. I have given him my Spirit, and he will bring justice to the nations.   He won't shout or yell or call out in the streets. He won't break off a bent reed or put out a dying flame, but he will make sure that justice is done."  This servant suffers and dies to deal with sin and bring people back to God.  Isa 53:5  "He was wounded and crushed because of our sins; by taking our punishment, he made us completely well."
That is God's agenda... That is what Israel expected her God to do.

Then Jesus came... Born because of the Holy Spirit's power touching Mary; soaked in the Spirit when he was baptized, led by the Spirit in the desert, Jesus now came to the synagogue, was handed the scroll, and read these words.  Then he preached the kind of sermon you wish I would preach: it is only 9 words in both English and Greek: "Today, this scripture has been fulfilled, in your ears."    (Actually, Luke says "he began to say to them, so this was just the opening sentence!  But what an opening!}   Today this is fulfilled: Jesus is saying that he is  "The Servant", the anointed one.  He's the final piece of the jigsaw. As he takes away sin, his life and work are all about
* Good news to the poor;
* Bandages for the broken hearted (crippled inner-lives)
* Liberty to the captives
* Cutting loose for those who are tied up...
* Jesus' ministry actually began in an Israelite Jubilee year; and he brings in the Jubilee "Day of the Lord" when God works out his plan for his world.
* Comfort for those who mourn.
* Israel is blessed as the nations bring their wealth to her and becomes "A priestly community".

It's good to know Jesus as the Suffering Servant who takes our sin away, the lamb of God who takes away the Sin of the world (John 1. 29) .  It's essential that we know Jesus in that way, and that we know he has taken or sins away.  But it's also essential that we know Jesus as the Anointed Servant who comes proclaiming the Kingdom - good news to the poor, liberty for captives, healing for the broken, comfort for the grieving.  And it's essential that we know Jesus the Anointed Servant who calls his people to be a Priestly community bringing prayer, sacrifice and reconciliation to the nations.  

Today, this scripture is fulfilled in your ears. At a moment in time.  In a wee synagogue in a Northern town in Palestine, in front of a crowd who knew Jesus, had watched him grow up and had now fixed their eyes upon him...  And Jesus says "Right in your ears this word is fulfilled."  Never mind your eyes; use your ears.  Don't judge by what you think you know.  Judge by the world of God.


But that "today" goes on.  I H Marshall (in his commentary on Luke, New International greek text Commentaries) says, 'The "today" of Jesus is still addressed to all readers of the Gospel.'  Paul says, "Listen! This is the hour to receive God's favor; today is the day to be saved!" (2 Cor 6. 2) Today, God's agenda is still:-.
* Good news to the poor; how are we good news to the poor?  Not by preaching a prosperity Gospel. Not by saying, "Send us a cheque and God will make you rich!"  But by saying, "here, you are welcome. Here, you matter. Here you will be cared for. Here you will not be judged by your clothes or your hair-do.  Here, you don't have to pay to belong."
* Bandages for the broken hearted (crippled inner-lives)
* Liberty to the captives.  What holds people captive?  Addicitons, habits, debt, poverty (the poverty trap), abusive relationships, guilt, shame, illness, depression, loneliness, fear, superstition, and demonic forces.
* Cutting loose for those who are tied up...
* It's not just social action; it's the Jubilee "Day of the Lord" when God works out his plan for his world.
* Comfort for those who mourn.
* And we are "A priestly community" who do for the nations what the priests did for Israel: prayer, sacrifice, reconciliation...

So, on this Trinity Sunday, what is God like?  He's Father, Spirit, Son.  Mysterious and beyond our understanding.  The I am, the God who hovers over his people, the one who comes and brings Jubilee.  What's God like?  He's like Jesus; he's the Jubilee god...  Now is the day of salvation. Today, we want to fulfill our destiny as his priestly community.  We need to be able to say, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me..."  Never mind what you see. Hear God's word.


© Gilmour Lilly June 2012