Monday, January 18, 2016

Wedding Feast at Cana (2nd Sunday Ordinary Time, January 17, 2016)

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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