A Sermon
Presented by Rev. Merlin T. Batt,
Interim Pastor
St. Matthew’s United Church of Christ,
Maiden, North Carolina,
On the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time,
January 14, 2007

Scripture Lesson:  John 2:1-11
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I once had a photocopy of a simple line-drawing of Jesus laughing, not just smiling, but really laughing, his head thrown back in abandon, his eyes aglow with delight, and his mouth wide open in hearty laughter. Over the course of the years and several moves I lost the picture, but I am often reminded of it, as I am today when I hear the story of Jesus attending a wedding party in the Galilean town of Cana, nearby to Jesus’ hometown, Nazareth.
 
Of course, no one knows what Jesus really looked like. There were no cameras in the first century, of course. And, if they ever existed, no sketches of what he looked like survived the centuries. How Jesus appeared to others was not the point. Rather, the point was what Jesus said and did, and what God accomplished through his life, death, and resurrection, and therefore who he was and what he means.

In 1940 artist Warner Sallman painted the famous “Head of Christ” – an image which has become etched deeply into, particularly, our Protestant imaginations. Sallman’s rendering of Jesus has been used to illustrate the pages of the Bible, Sunday school literature, calendars, posters, church bulletins and even bumper stickers. It is one of the most popular works of all time, having been reproduced over 500 million times at last count.

Figuring that this famous painting of Christ would be found here at St. Matthew’s, as in every other church I’ve served, I went on a walk through the building last week, and it didn’t take long for me to find it. Sallman’s “Head of Christ” is displayed prominently in the Conference Room, and had I walked downstairs as well, I think I would have found even more copies. But, my point proven to myself, I simply returned to my study without going downstairs!

Sallman’s “Head of Christ” is an image of Jesus which is beloved by many, as it portrays a personal Savior whose intimacy and tenderness are at the heart of their faith. But its somber, blue-eyed, fair-skinned, flowing-haired, white-robed image doesn’t prepare us for today’s story from John’s Gospel, a story in which we find Jesus at a wedding reception.

What I mean is, the image of Christ etched into our imaginations doesn’t fit with the clear implication of this story, that Jesus the Jew was a wedding guest - laughing, dancing, celebrating, eating rich foods, drinking good wine, and sharing with his friends in the high-spirited, convivial atmosphere of a first century wedding party in Palestine. Unlike such events in our day, wedding parties lasted for days, even weeks. They were the highlight of life, and everyone participated, even Jesus! Once we get over this shock, we’re ready to hear what the Gospel writer wants us to understand about Jesus, and about what we can expect as Jesus’ followers today.

The story line is simple, if many layered and highly symbolic. Jesus and his disciples were at the party as invited guests. Jesus’ mother was there also, we’re told. The party had been in “high gear” for some time, and the wine supply became exhausted, the wine ran out! One Biblical scholar points out, “Running out of wine was not just inconvenient, but a social disaster and disgrace. The family would have to live with the shame of it for a long time to come; bride and groom might regard it as bringing bad luck on their married life.” (N.T. Wright, John For Everyone) It was not only an embarrassment, but a crisis in that family’s life.

Like a good Jewish mother, Mary went into action. She found her son and said to him, “They have no wine.” Now, as someone with 60-some years at being a son, it’s clear to me that Mary was not simply reporting a fact; she was telling Jesus to get busy and do something about the problem.

Jesus’ response to his mother appears awkward, if not bordering on disrespect. He said, “Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come.” I don’t know what you hear, but I hear at least two things in Jesus’ response. First, he does what I think every adult must learn to do, and that is, identify who owns the problem, and therefore who has responsibility to solve it. Jesus was clear that the problem was neither his nor his mother’s! The problem of the wine running out belonged to the family which threw the party.

But also he said, “My time has not yet come.” This is a bit harder to grasp. Had Jesus done something miraculous to solve the problem in a public kind of way, he would have been put into a position he wasn’t ready to be thrust into. Somehow the timing was wrong. So what Jesus did out of compassion for the family who hadn’t provided enough wine for the party was to act quietly, behind the scenes, in a way that only his inner circle of disciples would be aware.

John tells us that there were six, large, stone water jars nearby, each with a 30 gallon capacity. Now I’ll do the math for you – six jars, 30 gallons, that’s a total of 180 gallons. Jesus ordered the stone jars filled to the brim with water (where they got so much water on short notice, we’re not told). Then at Jesus’ direction, the servants took a cup to the chief steward for tasting. He was amazed at the quality of the wine he tasted, so he went to the bride and groom, and said incredulously, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until now.” And not only that, but there were 180 gallons of that good wine, enough not only for the party-goers to drink, but almost enough to swim in! It wouldn’t be the last time that Jesus would act compassionately for people in need, but would deal with their need in unexpected ways!

Only Jesus’ disciples knew what had happened behind the scenes that day. John tells us in his Gospel, “Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory, and his disciples believed in him.”

So what did they believe about Jesus as a result of seeing him turn water into good wine? Well, at the very least, they believed he was Israel’s Messiah, the Christ. After all, they knew their Scriptures. These men may have been unsophisticated, everyday folk, but as Jewish men they would have known their Bible. And so they recalled the promise of God recorded in the Book of Amos, where it said,