THE PRELUDE
THE MESSAGE
When I began attending Baptist churches in 1985, I was told that Baptists do not recognize the authority of the Pope, but they do recognize a good casserole when they see one. Sharing food at fellowship meals or potluck events is a big part of the Baptist experience. Sharing food and drink is a major theme in Jesus’ story, particularly in the Gospel of John. So Baptists may be demonstrating some theological insights through fellowship meals and potluck dinners.
Biblical scholars have concluded that Christianity spread primarily through sharing testimony, gospel accounts, and New Testament writings at communal meals. Even from my own childhood, I can recall two things about mealtimes. First, no one ever ate alone. My father always prepared breakfast for each person in the household and sat with them while they ate. My mother made lunch for the family every day, and everyone ate together. The same was true for dinner. Meals together were a time to share what was going on with each person and to talk about history, values, and beliefs. In the United States, family meals began to decline in the mid-1970’s and accelerated into the 1990’s. Even now, when people dine together, they may not share as much with each other as they do with their Smartphones. That is not a good thing.
Biblically, family meals, communal meals, feasts, and festivals played a central role in sharing God’s Word, deeds, and promises. When we look at the formation of the Hebrew people, as chronicled in the Old Testament, we see that food was enormously important to that process. The Torah, the first five books of the Bible, lays the foundation for the Hebrew people's dietary laws. The Torah contains between 80 and 100 verses that define the Hebrew people's dietary restrictions. These laws set the Hebrews apart from the surrounding peoples.
Now, almost every group of people, ancient and modern, shapes its culture and identity through its choices of food and drink. It becomes part of that group’s identity. Not sure what I mean? Look at the types of food and drink people consume, and it will likely tell you something about their homeland and history. People in Italy and people in China consume very different food and drinks. In America, which has incorporated many cultures, people enjoy and celebrate those different cultural food selections. So the Hebrew people, moved from Egypt by the hand of God, became an identifiable group, in part through the dietary laws God set forth. We should not be surprised, then, that food and drink would be a theme or vehicle for telling Jesus’ story. Over the next few weeks, I would like to use the food-and-drink theme woven into the Gospel of John to strengthen our faith journey, starting with a familiar story of a wedding in Cana of Galilee.
In the opening chapter of John’s Gospel, we find that Jesus had been baptized by his relative, John, who called Jesus, “The Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29b). We find that Jesus then met his disciples Andrew, John, Peter, James, Philip, and Nathanael. Andrew, after meeting Jesus, told his brother Peter, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ)” (John 1:42b). Philip shared with his best friend Nathanael, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph” (John 1:45). Nathanael, upon meeting Jesus, said to Jesus, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel” (John 1:49). Clearly, Jesus’ first disciples were immediately overwhelmed by the person and the teachings of Jesus believing God sent him in fulfilment of God’s promises in the Hebrew scriptures.
After meeting Nathanael, Jesus decided to leave the River Jordan, the place of his baptism, and go to Galilee, about 75 miles away. John wrote, “1 On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 2 Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples” (John 2:1-2). The opening words of this passage show that John intended to narrate Jesus' story through a gathering involving food and drink, specifically through a wedding celebration. We never learn the identity of the wedding couple or their families, but clearly Jesus and his family knew them. The text implies that Jesus’ mother was at the wedding venue as a guest when Jesus and his disciples arrived. John's details matter because this is the first time Jesus and his disciples, along with Jesus’ mother, are identified as a group. Up to this point in Jesus' story, John treated each character separately. Now, Jesus, his disciples, and his mother form a group. John’s identification of this group at the beginning of the story means whatever follows will be done for this group's benefit. Any other characters we may encounter or dialogue they offer ultimately serves to reveal something to this group. And since we are reading from John’s Gospel, anything about food or drink in this story serves to tell Jesus’ story and strengthen this newly formed group's faith journey.
Finally, we want to keep in mind that wedding scenes are used throughout the Hebrew Scriptures, what Christians call the Old Testament, as a symbol of God’s covenantal relationship with Israel and the coming of the Messianic age and salvation. Therefore, John’s original readers would likely have expected something significant about God’s promises to follow during the wedding scene with Jesus, with the backdrop of Jesus’ baptism and the announcements of different disciples that Jesus is:
- John the Baptist - “The Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29b).
- Andrew - “The Messiah” (that is, the Christ) (John 1:42b).
- Philip – “The one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph” (John 1:45).
- Nathanael - “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel” (John 1:49).
And so, let’s look into this scene and experience what God intended.
John wrote, “3 When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, 'They have no wine’” (John 2:3). We quickly learn that the wedding celebration was apparently going just fine. Plenty of food and wine were provided for all the guests. But Jesus’ mother reports that the wine was all gone. “They have no wine.” Interestingly, John did not write that Jesus’ mother said, “We have no wine,” or “There is no more wine.” Instead, Jesus’ mother said, “They have no wine.” Her expression conveys two things. First, practically, if anyone is looking for wine, there is not a drop to be had. Secondly, her expression separates Jesus, her, and presumably his disciples from the rest of the guests. There are two groups. In Jesus’ mother’s view, there is the " us " group: her, Jesus, and his disciples, and the “they/them” group of everyone else. “They have no wine.” This helps John’s readers stay focused on that newly formed group and what makes it different from everyone else.
Jesus, hearing his mother’s words, “They have no wine,” used those words to take the conversation in a different direction. This may be the first time Jesus took someone’s statement and shifted the conversation from human experience to divine revelation, but it would not be the last time. Jesus replied, “4 And Jesus said to her, 'Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come’” (John 2:4). The first part of Jesus’ response, 'Woman, what does this have to do with me?’ plays out in two ways. First, the lack of wine at this gathering did not concern Jesus. His mission was not about wine to quench a physical thirst. But wine was nevertheless an important symbol in this story and in Jesus’ mission. In the Hebrew Scriptures, wine symbolized God’s relationship with His people. The absence of wine, 'They have no wine,’ would have been seen as a sign of God’s disfavor. Here are a couple of Old Testament examples.
- 10 And joy and gladness are taken away from the fruitful field, and in the vineyards no songs are sung, no cheers are raised; no treader treads out wine in the presses; I have put an end to the shouting. (Isaiah 16:10)
- 11 There is an outcry in the streets for lack of wine; all joy has grown dark; the gladness of the earth is banished. (Isaiah 24:11)
- Though they plant vineyards, they shall not drink wine from them. (Zephaniah 1:13b)
The message that “They have no wine,” while referring to the lack of wine to drink at the wedding, also refers to their separation from God's presence.
This leads us to the second part of Jesus’ response to his mother’s statement. Jesus said, “My hour has not yet come” (John 2:4), meaning the time for Jesus to reveal himself to the other group as the “Lamb of God,” “The Son of God,” “The Messiah,” and “The Prophet” had not yet come. Timing mattered, and symbolism mattered. Jesus intended to use the lack of wine to show this new group God's presence by changing the situation from no wine to an abundance of wine. Why? Because the Hebrew Scriptures also said that the abundance of wine would symbolize God’s blessing and the coming of the Messianic age. Again from the Old Testament:
- 6 On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined. (Isaiah 25:6)
- 18 And in that day the mountains shall drip sweet wine. (Joel 3:18a)
- 13 The mountains shall drip sweet wine, and all the hills shall flow with it. (Amos 9:13a)
Jesus’ response, “My hour has not yet come,” conveyed that now was not the moment for him to reveal to the others the presence of God’s blessing and salvation-in a word, the Messiah- but it was time to confirm the testimony of his own disciples. His mother’s reply, perhaps without knowing it, was the perfect reply for the newly formed group and those who would seek to be part of it. She said, “Do whatever he tells you” (John 2:5b).
John, our narrator, interjected, “6 Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons” (John 2:6). In this scene, John pointed out to his readers that there were stone jars able to hold between 100 and 180 gallons of water. These jars tell us something about the other group of people, the “they/them.” “They” were observant Jews who followed dietary and cleanliness laws by washing their hands as well as their eating and cooking utensils. It was to these jars: “7 Jesus said to the servants, 'Fill the jars with water.’ And they filled them up to the brim. 8 And he said to them, ‘Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.’ So they took it. 9 When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom 10 and said to him, ‘Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now’ (John 2:7-10).
The water of purification had now been transformed into abundant wine of the finest quality. The wedding festival could continue. This is the practical side of this event. More importantly, the water of purification had been transformed in a way human desire could not. In fact, water is not directly used to make wine. Wine is 80% to 90% water, but that water comes from the crushing of grapes. So changing water into wine represented a change in God's creative process. No one in the “them/they” group knew where the wine had come from. They only knew that they were out of wine and now were not. And for this story, that was fine because the actions weren't for them. The story was always for another group's benefit. We see that point being made as John finished up the story this way: “11 This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him” (John 2:11). And so we see that the food or drink in this story serves to tell Jesus’ story and strengthen the faith of this newly formed group of disciples.
What then do we do with this story? I would like us to consider one thing.
This account of the wedding at Cana is less about the miracle of turning water into wine than it is about affirming that God is a God of promises. God promised to send the unmistakable Messiah to inaugurate the new covenant. It would be a covenant in which God would not just be a presence but would live within the believer. The wedding party and the master of the wedding were observant Jews using their purification practices as a means of seeking God. The new group under Jesus would have the Holy Spirit within them to guide their inner thoughts, not just their outer behaviors. Symbolically, the water of purification would no longer be needed because God’s presence would be poured out into the disciples like huge amounts of the highest-quality wine.
The Gospels are describing the formation of a new people group. They are the people of the new covenant. They are the people who have come to believe that Jesus is the “Lamb of God,” “The Son of God,” “The Messiah,” and “The Prophet.” They are people saved by faith. The earliest among this new group were Andrew, John, Peter, James, Philip, and Nathanael. And now this group includes you and me.
If you have accepted Christ, then you are part of Jesus’ group. You have been called out of the world and into God's presence. You can come to God’s table because he has forgiven your sins. We know this to be true because Jesus would later say, “20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me” (Revelation 3:20). We were never designed to eat alone. God always intended that we would dine with Him and with other believers. Since we are now part of Jesus’ group, let us then “Do whatever he tells you.” Amen and Amen.