It's not about the wine

Now, that might not be particularly good news for you nor would it have been for the wedding reception guests when they found out that the wine was all gone.  (John2.1-11)

They had been partying for 3 days and the wine was all gone.  But instead of signally the end of the festivities, the lack of wine would have been a huge faux pas for the hosts.  A sign of poor hospitality.  A sign of stinginess.  An embarrassment of the first order.  To quote David Lose, "Wine isn’t just a social lubricant, it’s a sign of the harvest, of God’s abundance, of joy and gladness and hospitality. And so when they run short on wine they run short on blessing".

So Mary 'suggests' that Jesus address the situation.  He thinks he isn't ready to get involved in such matters.  It is not yet 'his hour'.  She ignores him.  She was the one who gave birth to him and so she knows something about timing.  Babies come when they come.  It was time for Jesus to step out into this new world as he had been called. 

So he turns 180 gallons of water into wine - very good wine..."more than enough for even three more days. No one...could now leave this wedding thirsty, for abundance and blessing overflowed."

And yet, it's not about the wine.  It's about Jesus.  His time had begun, and he could bring full and abundant blessings into the most ordinary of situations, like walking and living among us as a brother in the flesh.  Jesus inaugurated a time of 'sheer possibility' and opened the future for all who had eyes to see. 

So enjoy the wine, it is a gift to you.  Brought to you by Jesus, the gift beyond all others.

It's about time

Ever have your watch break and it took you a couple of days to get a new one?
Know how disorienting it is to be unable to tell what time it is?
Am I late?  Am I early?  What's taking so long?  Wow!  That went quickly.

Live in the western world and most everything is about time.  Remember when you were small?  The big hand is on the 3 and the little hand is on the 7....what time is it?  I know that digital clocks are more accurate but an analog clock helps me visualize what time it is and somehow that works better for me.  Somehow time has more substance; is less ephemeral.

What time is it?  Whose time is it?  Will time run out?  Is this a good time?

Jesus is at a wedding in Cana and the wine runs out.  Bad timing! 
Jesus is at a wedding in Cana and the wine runs out.  Great timing? 
Who else can respond to this embarrassing need with a gift of grace and unimaginable bounty?

Sit up and pay attention.  The time has come for God's abundant grace to be revealed to....a wedding reception?  In fact, it is revealed only to the servants on the scene and of course, to us the readers.  Pay attention.  In John's telling of the story of Jesus, timing is everything.