Serigraph by John August Swanson beautifully depicting all of the elements
of the Cana Wedding story
Weddings have their own character and sometimes surprises. I remember the ones with the surprises: I celebrated one with a Catholic Mass that
ended with the bride singing “’Tis a Gift to be Simple” to her groom. Touching! I blessed another where some guests at
the reception reminded me about the Cana wedding. This one took place in a Protestant Church
followed by a dry luncheon in the Church hall, the bride a Protestant and the
groom an Irish Catholic. The groom’s friends
were hoping that somehow I could help them with the wine!
Jesus’ change of water to wine, takes
us by surprise. Yes, it does show Jesus
compassionate to his host. Yes, it does
give us a sense of his mother’s presence in his life. But this is a man who has been preaching with
authority about the Kingdom of God and this is a man who has been healing lepers
and driving out demons. What’s with the
wine? How can this display over
liquids be in character?
The archaeological digs in Galilee have found examples of the
big stone jars that held the water for ritual purification symbolized by
washing. Jesus, the same Jesus whom John the Baptist said would baptize not as he himself
did with water but rather with the Spirit and fire, the same Jesus who accused
the Pharisees of being clean on the outside but not on the inside, Jesus
changed the contents of these jars so that they became wine and a symbol that
cleansing began with the interior spirit….
…….Stone jars filled with water for exterior purification
will not suffice. The wine rather
symbolizes the requirement for a spirit of interior renewal and the communal
elements of that renewal. The miracle
helps us understand also why Jesus so often found a meal with others completely
consistent with his preaching of the Kingdom of God…..
(The stone jars as the Old Convenant; the wine as the New. v. Bruce Chilton's "Rabbi Jesus")
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