You have kept the good wine until now!

 

 On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there.  Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding.  And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, "They have no wine."  Jesus said to her, "Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me?  My hour has not yet come."  His mother said to the servants, "Whatever He says to you, do it."  

 

Now there were set there six waterpots of stone, according to the manner of purification of the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece.  Jesus said to them, "Fill the waterpots with water."  And they filled them up to the brim.  And He said to them, "Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the feast."  And they took it. 

 

When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom.  And he said to him, "Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior.  You have kept the good wine until now!"

 

This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.  After this He went down to Capernaum, He, His mother, His brothers, and His disciples; and they did not stay there many days. 

 

- John 2:1–12 

 

In yesterday's reading, we were given the fourth day of Christ's public ministry: The following day (after Andrew and Simon Peter became His disciples) Jesus wanted to go to Galilee, and He found Philip and said to him, "Follow Me."  Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.  Philip found Nathanael and said to him, "We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote -- Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph."  And Nathanael said to him, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?"  Philip said to him, "Come and see."  Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward Him, and said to him, "Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!"  Nathanael said to Him, "How do You know me?"  Jesus answered and said to him, "Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you."  Nathanael answered and said to Him, "Rabbi, You are the Son of God!  You are the King of Israel!"  Jesus answered and said to him, "Because I said to you, 'I saw you under the fig tree,' do you believe?  You will see greater things than these."  And He said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, hereafter you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man."

 

  On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there.  Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding.  On the third day is an expression which my study Bible says means "two days later," as it includes the current day in its calculation.  Therefore this begins the sixth day of Christ's public ministry.  Paralleling the creation of man and woman in Genesis 1:26-31, the wedding in Cana of Galilee takes place, giving birth, so to speak, to Christ's ministry in Galilee.  My study Bible further explains that this setting is significant.  In the Old Testament, marriage feasts symbolized the union of God with His Bride, Israel.  Jesus intentionally begins His ministry at Galilee (see yesterday's reading, above) which had a large Gentile population; this was a sign of the spread of the gospel to all the world.  That the wedding took place on the third day gives a resurrectional tone to this event, showing that the marriage of God and God's Church will be fulfilled in the Resurrection of Christ.  There are other parallels to this marriage and the Resurrection account in John 20:1-18, which my study Bible names as that involve a woman named Mary who makes an appeal, and in both passages the disciples are invited to witness the event.  Moreover, the Resurrection account (John 20:11-18) has a striking similarity to Song of Solomon 3:1-5, again showing the unity between marriage and the Lord's Resurrection.   Additionally, by Christ's presence at the wedding He declares marriage to be holy and honorable (Hebrews 13:4), a sacrament of the Church.

 

 And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, "They have no wine."  Jesus said to her, "Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me?  My hour has not yet come."  His mother said to the servants, "Whatever He says to you, do it."  This is an example of Mary's gift of intercession.  Even now, my study Bible says, Mary continually speaks to her Son on our behalf and she is our preeminent intercessor before His Throne.  This is confirmed as Jesus grants her request in this passage.  Here, wine is symbolic of life; so, there are two levels of meaning in Mary's statement, "They have no wine."  First, a marriage is not complete without the presence of Christ; and second, the old covenant was not able to bestow life even on the most faithful people.  My study Bible moreover notes that, contrary to certain modern usages, Woman is a sacred title in Scripture, and it conveys deep respect and distinction (John 4:21; 8:10; 19:26; 20:13; compare to Genesis 2:23).  "What does your concern have to do with Me?" is translated more literally, "What is that to Me and to you?"  Most significantly, in the Greek, these are the same words used by the widow Zarephath in the Septuagint version of the Old Testament, when she questioned Elijah after the death of her only son following her help to the prophet (1 Kings 17:18).  In effect Jesus is using a kind of "shorthand" with His mother, asking if she is prepared for what is to follow once His signs (or miracles) begin.  Christ's hour is the time of his great glorification in the Cross at His Passion.  That Christ fulfills her request teaches several things, according to my study Bible:  First, that He is Lord over hours and seasons and is not subject to them.  Second, the wedding party needed to be aware of their lack of wine first so that they might learn that it is Christ who fulfills all needs.  Third, we need to have perseverance in our petitions before God (Matthew 15:21-28).  Finally, the intercessions of the righteous have great power (James 5:16).  

 

 Now there were set there six waterpots of stone, according to the manner of purification of the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece.  Jesus said to them, "Fill the waterpots with water."  And they filled them up to the brim.  And He said to them, "Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the feast."  And they took it.  Waterpots were made of stone because, according to rabbinical teaching, stone could not contract ritual impurity.  That there are six of them (one less than the perfect seven) indicates that the Law, illustrated by water reserved for Jewish purification, was incomplete, imperfect, and unable to bestow life.  My study Bible says that this water is changed into wine, symbolizing the old covenant being fulfilled in the new, which is capable of bestowing life.  The overabundant gallons of wine illustrate Christ's overflowing grace which is granted to all. 

 

 When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom.  And he said to him, "Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior.  You have kept the good wine until now!"  My study Bible comments that in patristic commentary this transformation is seen as prefiguring the transformation of bread and wine into the Body Blood of Christ in the Eucharist.

 

 This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.  After this He went down to Capernaum, He, His mother, His brothers, and His disciples; and they did not stay there many days.  Christ's glory, according to my study Bible, refers both to His divine power shown in His signs and wonders, and also to His humble service to humankind, shown most perfectly on the Cross (John 12:23-32; 13:31).  Through such manifestations of glory, Jesus reveals that He is the One sent from the Father.  This beginning of signs, the transformation of water to wine, is the first sign of seven in the Gospel of John.  According to my study Bible, John uses the term "signs" to show that these miraculous actions point beyond themselves to the truth that the Kingdom of God has come among us in the Person of Jesus Christ.  The following day ("after this He went down to Capernaum") marks the seventh day in this beginning of Christ's ministry, and it parallels the seventh day of rest in the creation story (Genesis 2:1-3).

 

Over the past two readings, we have taken note in commentary how Christ's ministry has unfolded on a very human scale.  The disciples have been called one by one, and they have personal connections to one another (two are brothers; a third comes from the brothers' same hometown; they are first introduced to Christ as the Lamb of God by John the Baptist as they were John's disciples earlier; Jesus personally calls Phillip by finding him and telling him, "Follow Me," Nathanael understands that Christ knows him in ways he finds impossible to explain).   But here, finally, on this sixth day given in John's Gospel, we have a striking example of the manifestation of Christ's glory, His miraculous first sign of turning water to wine.  My study Bible gives in its notes cited above many reasons for this setting and its meanings.  But perhaps in the context of our previous commentary we might note how Christ's Incarnation and its step by step, rather plodding growth of His ministry in the persons of the disciples who come to join Him is in stark contrast to this lightning-fast sign of water becoming wine.  This is impossible to understand except through divine help and power, where both time and space are seemingly suspended for what is a natural process to take place in a miraculous way.  One means to say that it is not impossible to turn water to wine through the addition of grapes and the process of fermentation, that this is a common human endeavor (and particularly so in Christ's time and place).  But in the case of Jesus, it is His divine will and power at work that creates this miracle, and it is a sign of God's presence with Him, a manifestation of God's grace and glory in the Person of Jesus Christ, the Son.  Perhaps it is, in fact, this deeply human story of the Incarnation that is itself the backdrop and contrast to Christ's miraculous power so that we truly understand the stupendous shock of the presence of God in our midst.  That very contrast teaches us about Christ and His identity and the transcendent reality of the Incarnation.  One also finds that this "secret" process of the water transforming within these large stone pots as a kind of parallel to the Incarnation itself.  This great transformation takes place hidden from human eyes, inside the darkness of the waterpots set aside for purification as holy vessels in some sense, and Christ Himself is also hidden in the plain sight of the fully human Jesus.  He is both fully human, and fully divine, but not all will understand His divinity, and it will remain hidden -- as it does today -- to many, despite His "signs."  Our faith, even until today, works in this same sense.  We can't see God's presence obviously among us and in our world, we don't perceive the kingdom of heaven ("The kingdom of heaven does not come with observation" - see Luke 17:20-21), but it is within us, it dwells among us; it lives in us through faith; it is present in our sacraments and liturgies, and Jesus Himself has taught that "where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them" (Matthew 18:20).  So the Incarnation of Christ, among its many attributes, also helps us to know by contrast the power that is in Him, His divinity, as well as to understand how in our every day world the hiddenness of the Kingdom is something we live with, and through faith we know its presence, and may participate in it, and moreover that Kingdom may even participate in us, for Christ has come not only to assume all the aspects of life as one of us, but to share with us even His divinity and grace as well, including all the gifts and fruit of the Spirit.  As St. John writes, "And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ" (John 1:16-17).