But the gospel is about much more than a wedding. In fact the wedding mentioned twice at the outset then seems to be forgotten in light of the reception to follow. It reminds me of the couples who have to have a certain date and your church because they fit so well with the already booked reception place. They wonder why I give them a rather cool look at that point. What stands out in the Gospel passage is the water turned into wine. Many is the time late at a party or some parish event that the organizer has said to me, “Give us a quick miracle, Father.” We have all heard the sermons about those jars which were huge holding gallons of water. So what is startling about the miracle is not only that water was changed to wine but the sheer quantity of it. As it is easy to respond, “it must have been quite a party.” It is worth noting that Middle Eastern weddings like Greek or Italian weddings could be large affairs and held over several days so the quantity might not look so impressive in that context.

But what is the “first miracle that Jesus wrought” all about? We tend to think of miracles to do with people healed or waters calmed not putting the local liquor shop out of business!

But John puts this one first so you suspect that it has some special place in his schema. Note he calls it the first of Jesus’ signs. In fact there are seven such signs in John’s Gospel. The subject matter of marriage and wine needs some comment for in it lies an abundance of clues. After all the “miracle” is so much more than an extraordinary happening or simply an event beyond human possibility. John uses this word “sign” that is something pointing to something else.

Let’s think about marriage for a moment. I love that moment when discussing the marriage service with an eager couple (I was going to say young couple but that is coming less likely today with the median age of marriage creeping up towards thirty) when I come to that bit in the introduction when it states that marriage “signifies to us the mystery of the union between Christ and his Church.” I talk briefly about the sacramentality of marriage, that is that every marriage points beyond itself to the deeper reality of the relationship between God and Humankind. It is this understanding and the further understanding that marriage is an image related to messianic fulfilment that informs John’s use of the marriage at Cana as the locus for the sign. We see the background to this in the beautiful lesson from Isaiah: “You shall no more be termed Forsaken, and your land shall no more be termed Desolate; but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her, and your land Married; for the Lord delights in you, and your land shall be married. For as a young man marries a young woman, so shall your builder marry you, and as a bridegroom rejoices over the bride so shall your God rejoice over you.” Here the restored relationship between God and his people following the exile in Babylon is celebrated in terms of a marriage. This use of marriage imagery is used both in Isaiah and in Hosea and appears both in the teaching of Jesus and the writings of St Paul.

It is a beautiful way of describing the fulfillment of the relationship between the community of faith and God. It is like a marriage with all the related joy, intimacy and mutuality.

I have to say as an aside that as I thought of the passage from Isaiah, one of the most beautiful in the Bible, I could not but think of its power with relationship to this city and region following Katrina. As the prophet lifted the spirits of the people of Jerusalem I pray that your spirits are strengthened and encouraged by the prophet’s words.

So the marriage setting has important clues as to the meaning of the sign in John’s Gospel. But what about all that wine? The first thing to say about it is the contrast with the water. One is replaced by the other but not with any old wine but with the best wine. The water in its huge jars was for Jewish purification rites. What is being effected is not just a short term solution to a problem at a party but in John’s schema the old order with it rules and regulations and rites is being replaced with something new. The Synoptic gospels use the image of new wine and old wineskins. John’s version of that is water changed into wine. What is being said of course is that in the person and work of Jesus we are dealing with a new order of things replacing what has gone before. We heard at Christmas from the first chapter of John. “In the beginning was the Word. And the Word was made flesh. And we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son of the Father.” And here at Cana we see the first sign of that in the ministry of Jesus. It is only a sign because there is more to come.

But before considering that there is a second and equally important point to make. And that is about the sheer abundance of the wine. As noted earlier we are talking of a lot of wine here. Jesus does not simply make provision for immediate needs. But he provides wine of the best quality and in abundant quantity. Once again it is worth noting the background to this abundance in the Hebrew scriptures. In the prophets there are numerous references to our future life in God in terms of a Messianic Banquet made up of abundant food and wine, and wine of the best quality. This wonderful celebratory and hospitable image is one that we can readily understand. There is nothing quite like a good dinner around a table with those we love. How much more will we delight in sitting at the banquet table of the Lord. We are anticipating that of course as we attend the table of the Lord this morning. With that in mind what is John saying about Jesus by using this image. What is it a sign of? For John Jesus is not only the one who brings about the new creation but he pours out upon us the abundant life of God, the manifold gifts of God’s grace.

But this incident is a sign. It is pointing forward in the gospel as the subsequent six signs will do. Jesus says to his Mother in the opening encounter “My hour has not yet come”. That hour as we know is the Hour of the Crucifixion, when Jesus is lifted high on the Cross and in which the Glory of God is revealed. In other words it is by Jesus’ obedience in his death that Resurrection, the New Creation, the Abundant life and the outpouring of the Spirit take place. This abundant life of which the abundant provision of wine at the Wedding of Cana is a sign, this abundant life flows to us through the Spirit of Jesus poured out upon us at Pentecost. Paul develops that understanding in the second reading which speaks not only of the source of all spiritual gifts that is the Triune God but that the gifts are given for the good of the community of the church. So by our baptism we are recipients of God’s abundance in and through the Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. And those gifts are not for personal gratification but for the good of the church and the world. May all of us know and experience the abundant life of God in Christ.   Amen

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