One thing that hasn’t changed very much since New Testament days is the place of weddings in our lives.  Weddings are charged with emotions of every kind!  You ask any pastor and they will tell you that funeral services are a lot more easily managed than weddings.  One pastor I know says that he has been much more successful with funerals than he has with weddings; at least the people he buried stayed that way!  With weddings there are so many things that can go wrong!  The wedding gown or the men’s tuxedos might not fit right.  Will the singers arrive on time and will they be in good voice?  Will the preacher remember to show up?  And what about the food?  Will the caterer have enough food and drinks for the reception?  It is no wonder that most parents would gladly give their sons and daughters thousands of dollars if they would just elope!  But still, weddings are important because they call together friends and family so that a new couple may be created and then presented to the community.

The Gospel of John tells us that it was in this setting – a wedding – that another kind of presentation happened.  It was Jesus’ debutante moment, the first time He displayed His power as God’s Son.  I know you well know the story of the wedding at Cana of Galilee and how Jesus turned water into wine.  But there are a few things about this familiar story that you may have not noticed before.

For example, you may not have noticed that Jesus had a deep respect for the rights of others.  He was careful to observe boundaries and not interfere in matters that were not His business.  When told that the wedding reception had run out of wine, He responded to His mother, “Dear woman, why do you involve me?  What concern is that to you and to me?”  Jesus knew His boundaries.  On another occasion when a man asked Jesus to make his brother divide inheritance between them, Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” Sometimes you and I take on burdens we have no business taking on.  It is someone else’s worry and we need to let it be.

And you may not have noticed that this was not the occasion that Jesus had been planning for his “coming out” moment.  We are used to seeing how candidates for public office are very careful in choosing the time for their public announcement.  The place, the time, and the manner of such announcements can often determine the success of such a venture.  In First Century Judah, with Romans occupying the streets, with the sons of old King Herod still ruling, the way one called attention to himself could be a matter of life and death!  This wasn’t the moment He had chosen to reveal Himself to the people and so He hesitate for a few moments.  That is why He told His mother, “My time has not yet come.”

Someone has said that Mary appears to be putting herself in the unaccustomed role of a stage mother, attempting to manage her son’s career!  She does seem to be prodding Him to do something about the fact that the wine had run out.  Even though we really don’t know much about the hidden years of Jesus’ childhood, this one thing we do know:  Mary had learned that her son was wise and resourceful and could be trusted to help out in times of crisis.  Have you learned that about Jesus?  He is wise and resourceful, one who can be trusted in your times of crisis.

So, perhaps wanting to seize the moment, Mary pushed Jesus to act.  Perhaps this is true, and perhaps that is why Jesus’ response to His mother seems so harsh and disrespectful, so much so that preachers spend a lot of time trying to prove that Jesus didn’t mean it the way it sounded.  “Dear woman, why do you involve me?  My time has not yet come.”   The NRSV doesn’t soften it much: “Woman, what concern is that to you and to me?”  It sounds pretty harsh to me!   Perhaps Jesus’ sharp response showed just how heavily His ministry was weighing on Him in the beginning.  He was thinking about it a lot right then – how He would begin and continue His work of redemption.  What if this wasn’t the right time to act?  Perhaps Jesus hoped for a more carefully chosen moment to present Himself to His people.  He dare not stumble onto the public stage.

But the really remarkable thing is that in spite of this upsetting of His carefully made plans, Jesus changed His plans and His mind and allowed this to be the moment of His first miraculous sign which revealed His glory to His Disciples.  Rev. Jack Good, a retired United Church of Christ pastor, says, “The story fails to mention one of its most surprising but covert features: the ease with which Jesus surrendered His preplanned strategy and embraced a new possibility.  He surely preferred whatever had been plan A; but He moved smoothly into plan B – the opportunity presented by unexpected circumstances.”

Jesus was always one who seemed to know how to “roll with the punches.”  He thought “fast on His feet.”  When an opportunity for teaching presented itself, Jesus would abandon other plans and take advantage of the opportunity.  He once sat down at a well, just waiting for someone to help Him get a cup of water to drink, and along came a troubled woman whom He led back to God.  Another time, a simple question, “Jesus, who is my neighbor” led Jesus to tell one of His most memorable stories.  Every time His opponents set a trap for Him, Jesus found a way to ensnare them in their own arguments.  Would that you and I would learn how to take advantage of the opportunities that come our way to help others and lead them to God!  May God  give us wisdom that we may give good responses to the hard questions we face.  And maybe the next time our well-made plans run into a brick wall, perhaps we will do as Jesus did and consider how that unexpected development might be used by God to accomplish God’s goals.

So, Jesus knew His boundaries and He was able to adapt Himself when an unexpected door for ministry opened before Him.  A third theme in this story you may have missed is that of transformation or change.  Look carefully at what Jesus did.  There were six water jars there that were used for washing hands.  Washing hands, people!  These were ancient lavatories!  I’d hate to try to calculate the number of micro-organisms per square inch that were present in those old, dirty water jars.  These would never be considered as suitable vessels to hold drinking water, much less wine!  But they were available, and so Jesus put them to good use.  That would become the pattern for everything Jesus did.  The fishermen James, John, Peter, and Andrew were not trained theologians or priests, but they were willing and available, and so Jesus transformed them and used them.  Matthew Levi was a cheating tax collector who worked for the Romans, but he was available when Jesus called him and changed him.  Mary Magdalene was sick or insane, one who was said to be possessed by seven demons, but she was available for discipleship.  Saul of Tarsus was the greatest enemy of the early Church but Jesus changed him into the greatest advocate and missionary the Church has ever known!  Jesus has always taken the very ordinary, the unclean, the outcasts and transformed them by His power into vessels for God’s Spirit to dwell in, and He still does this today.  So you dare not think of yourself as unfit for duty in the Lord’s army!  And you dare not think of anyone else as being unfit.  If you are available, Jesus will transform you and use you.

The theme of change continues as Jesus told the servants to put some fresh water into the water jars and then take some to the head caterer.  Somewhere along the way, the water had been transformed into wine.  Ordinary water had been changed into wine, excellent wine, wine so wonderful that it should have been served much earlier in the week!

As in every miracle that Jesus has ever performed, only a few actually are aware that a miracle has taken place.  Jesus knew, as did Mary and the Disciples. The faithful lowly servants who obeyed Jesus when He asked them to put water in the jars and then take some to the master of ceremonies, they knew.  But the head caterer had no idea where this new wine came from.  Only a few witnessed this miracle, but to them Jesus had revealed His glory.  They, too, were transformed.

Jesus respected boundaries.  He changed His plans and made this crisis the opportunity for His self-revelation.  Jesus transformed dirty vessels and ordinary water into things God could use.  Fourthly, you may not have noticed that Jesus enjoyed being where people were living their lives and having a good time.  He liked being at the lakeside with simple, ordinary fishermen.  He liked being in gardens.  And here He is at a party.  He was full of joy, happiness, and peace, and He gave those away everywhere He went!  Again quoting Rev. Good, “The work of Jesus began in a life-affirming setting.  The sign of His ministry would be wine, a symbol of human conviviality and gladness.”  So, expect to feel the presence of God with you when you are where life is happening and where people are celebrating.

Some folks find it a bit surprising that Jesus was at a party.  They expect to find Him in the Temple courts, teaching.  Preaching His sermon on the mount isn’t surprising.  Healing the sick, forgiving sinners – that’s where they expect to find Jesus.  But at a wedding party?  On a boat ride with His buddies?  At a leisurely dinner at Mary and Martha’s home?  Surely Jesus wouldn’t be found at those places!  Some folks would have been happier with Jesus if He had been more like John the Baptizer, separated from creature comforts, stern and austere.  But Jesus really enjoyed being with people.  He really enjoyed life.

One of the signs of the coming Kingdom of God was supposed to be abundance: abundant joy, abundant love, abundant justice, abundant mercy and peace.  Jesus created wine in great abundance – about 150 gallons of abundance.  In this miracle, Jesus was showing that the Kingdom had come, and this abundance proved it.  God, the maker of all life, wanted to share life with us, giving us the abundant life.

Jesus knew His boundaries; He didn’t go sticking His nose in other folks business.  He was adaptable, and His love produced transformations.  Jesus enjoyed life.  Those things are the wedding epiphanies of Jesus. Amen.

Arthur H. Holt