St Thomas Burwood

"Oh it's-a lonesome away from your kindred and all
By the campfire at night we'll hear the wild dingoes call
But there's-a nothing so lonesome, morbid or drear
Than to stand in the bar of a pub with no beer."

In 1957 Slim Dusty's song "A pub with no beer" became the biggest-selling record by an Australian at that time. It probably says something about Australian culture. In 1959 his song was translated into Dutch and German and became a number one hit song in Belgium, Austria and Germany. I'm not sure what that says about the culture of those countries. In ancient Israel they might have sung about a wedding with no wine. I expect that most of us have heard today's reading before. We have heard how Jesus changed water into wine to rescue a wedding banquet that was in trouble. We have probably also heard that Jesus provided a great quantity of wine and that it was very good quality. These details are actually the clues to understanding what was really going on at the wedding in Cana. Why did Jesus turn the water into wine? Why did Jesus make so much wine? Why did Jesus make such good wine?

Verse 6 of today's reading tells us that the water Jesus changed into wine was poured into "six stone water jars." Now the translation "six jars" is not very accurate. In Australian language they were more like six "kegs" of beer. As the Gospel tells us they each held "twenty or thirty gallons." This means about 600-900 of our bottles of wine. Now I've been to a few weddings but I've never been to a wedding where the guests drank 600 bottles of wine. I think this is the clue we need. It is a hint that what Jesus did was about more than just fixing a catering problem. The jars of wine were symbols of something. In case anyone missed this John makes it clear at the end of the wedding. In verse 11 he tells us that:

"Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him." (John 2:11)

So the "wine" was a "sign" if you'll pardon the pun.  What was this sign saying? And why should we care anyway? It wasn't our wedding. Well, Jesus disciples seem to have got the message because John tells us that after seeing the sign they "believed" in Jesus. Even though they didn't have university degrees in biblical studies I'm sure Jesus' disciples knew their Bible (our Old Testament) well enough to answer our questions. They would have known that marriage was often used as a picture of the relationship between God and the people of Israel. And they would have known that the blessings of life in the Kingdom of God were often described as being like a wedding feast where the best wine was served. They were probably reminded of words like these from the prophet Isaiah:

"On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples
a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines,
of rich food filled with marrow, of well-aged wines strained clear." (Isaiah 25:6)

They would also have known that the prophets had described the coming of the Messiah when the wine never ran out. Some of us might prefer to think of a never-ending packet of Tim-Tams. Jesus' disciples were probably reminded of words like these from the prophet Amos:

"The time is surely coming, says the LORD,
when the one who
plows shall overtake the one who reaps,
and the treader of grapes the one who sows the seed;
the mountains shall drip sweet wine,
and all the hills shall flow with it.
I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel,
and they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them;
they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine,
and they shall make gardens and eat their fruit." (Amos 9:13-14)

Did Jesus' disciples believe in him just because he did something miraculous? No! They believed in him because he did something that was a sign. And the sign said that the kingdom that God promised was coming. And the Messiah that God had promised was now here. And Jesus was the Messiah. He was the one God had sent to rescue his people. As we read through John's Gospel we discover that it is full of "signs." In different ways each of these signs says the same thing. In case anyone missed it John tells us the meaning and purpose of Jesus' signs at the end of the Gospel. In chapter 20, verse 31, John wrote these words:

"Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name." (John 20:31)

But how was Jesus going to bring "life"? When we first read this passage it might seem like we don't get an answer. Doesn't Jesus tell his mother in verse 4 that his "hour" has not yet come? It is true that we don't find out until Jesus dies upon the cross in chapter 19 that the cross was Jesus' "hour." We aren't told this in chapter 2. But we are given lots of clues about what Jesus' death would mean.

Verse 6 says that the six jars were "for the Jewish rites of purification." The jars provided the water the guests needed to wash and purify themselves before eating the wedding banquet. The water was actually a condition of entry into the wedding. No one who hadn't purified themselves would have been allowed to share in the banquet. By filling the jars with wine Jesus is showing that he is the one who will purify the people so they can share in God's wedding banquet. When did people wash their hands with water? They washed before the banquet for purification. When did people drink the wine? They drank wine at the banquet, didn't they? The water the guests used to prepare for the banquet becomes the wine the guests shared at the wedding banquet. All the other details add to this picture. Why did Jesus tell them to fill the jars "up to the brim" in verse 7? It sounds like he was saying that there wouldn't be any room for anyone to supply anything else. Nothing more will be needed. Why does John point out in verse 9 that the when the steward tasted the water that had become wine, he did not know where it came from but the servants knew? It sounds like John wants to make sure that we don't focus on the water becoming wine but to pay attention to the person who changed the water into wine. Why are we told that the steward called the bridegroom in verse 10 and said to him, "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"? It sounds like the "good wine" that Jesus provides is a new, better way of purification. In Jesus God has given us the "good wine".

In the Old Testament a wedding banquet was a picture of the people's future life with God. In the New Testament the same picture is used for our future life with God. In Matthew chapter 8 Jesus says to his disciples: "I tell you, many will come from east and west and will eat with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven ..." (Matthew 8:11) And at the very end of the Bible in Revelation chapter 19 an angel says to John: "Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb." (Revelation 19:9) And, of course, the "lamb" is Jesus, sacrificed for our sins.

My friends, in a few minutes we are going to have a banquet. It will be the same banquet Jesus ate with his disciples the night before he died. During that banquet Matthew's Gospel tells us Jesus took a cup of wine and gave it to his disciples, saying,

"Drink from it, all of you; for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you, I will never again drink of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom." (Matthew 26:27-29)

When we drink the cup of wine we're reminded that our sins are forgiven. We are purified. Because of this we can also look forward to that day when we will drink it with Jesus in his Father's kingdom.

In my opinion one of the regrettable things that happened in the history of the church was when the Lord's Supper (or the Holy Communion or the Eucharist, whatever you call it) stopped being a community meal and became an individual snack. Instead of having a cup full to the brim we have a mouthful. And instead of a whole loaf we have a wafer. Every time I read about the wedding at Cana I think that communion is one meal that definitely needs to be super sized! Personally speaking, it is one of the first things I would change about the church. Unfortunately, I can't change it today. But I hope that when we drink the cup of wine today we will all be reminded that our sins are forgiven because of the death of Jesus. And we will all look forward to that day when we will drink it with Jesus in his Father's kingdom. Amen.