Vegas Vows
John 2:1-11 - 1/11/2004
Over the past week or so, we’ve been hearing a lot about Britney Spears and her marriage, which lasted 55 hours, short even for a star. She said it was a “joke that went too far.”
Michelle is a Michigan woman who works at a 7-11 convenience store. She loves her customers, her work and her fiancé. So she married him on the asphalt outside the 7-11 on 7/11 — July 11th — carrying her bouquet in a Big Gulp cup. At the reception, hot dogs and Slushies were served at reduced prices.
In Washington state, a wedding was celebrated 18 stories up atop the Tacoma Narrows Suspension Bridge soaring over Puget Sound and high above the speeding traffic whizzing by down below. The happy twosome walked what may be the longest aisle in wedding history.
In Maine, one couple first met at their town transfer station — locally known as The Dump. He had just starting working there. She had just brought her first recyclables. They plan to be married where they met while standing in the bucket loader. Town folk have been donating returnable bottles to build a honeymoon fund. The couple is seeking ways to incorporate recycled objects into their wedding outfits. They can’t wait to say “I do” at The Dump.
I married a couple once, long flowing white gown for her, formal black tuxedo for him—and they left the church parking lot on a 4-wheeler, tin cans and streamers trailing behind.
The Little White Wedding Chapel. Vegas vows. Campgrounds, city parks, back yards. What made your wedding memorable? Does it really matter where weddings take place — even if they are in exceptional or unconventional places?
Many mothers apparently don’t think so.
The wedding at Cana was not exceptional for its location. But there was a minor stir when the wine ran out and that’s when a Jewish mother intervened — Jesus’ mother.
And that’s when Jesus officially stepped out of his humanity and into his divinity, changing mediocre water into vintage wine.
The gospel text, John 2:1-11, tells us the intention of this miracle: (READ JOHN 2:1-11)
“Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him” (v. 11).
The truth be told, most weddings, as lovely as they are, are forgettable — except your own, and the ones on bridges, or at The Dump. Unforgettable weddings usually have an unpredictable facet — like a fainting bride, or a cold-footed no-show groom, or a bridesmaid who fell in the mud on the way in the door, or a smiling minister who repeatedly and confidently calls the bride and groom by the wrong names.
Jesus, his mother and his friends attended an unforgettable wedding in Cana. And people are still talking about this one.
Three features this wedding story deserve special attention. First there is the wedding banquet itself. Second is the interaction between Mary and Jesus. Third is the replenishing of the wine.
Throughout the gospels, we are put on alert that something holy is about to happen whenever Jesus is around food. In the first four books of the Bible, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John all report of Jesus using the metaphor of the banquet to describe how the power of God drastically reverses the religious and social status quo. Jesus reinforces this reversal by sharing meals with religious and social outcasts, and he changes forever the meaning of bread and wine the night before his death. And in all four books, Jesus amazes thousands by feeding them all with only a few loaves of bread and fewer fish.
Looking at the wedding at Cana, we see that apparently it was just your typical, traditional wedding celebration with an average and pleasant reception — until the wine gave out. Customarily the better wine was served first at these week-long, Galilean wedding receptions. This makes sense, when you think about it. You serve the good wine first, when the palate is fresh and expectant. After a few pints, who cares? Both the guests and their taste buds are dull, and the cheap stuff can be brought out for the final slide into inebriation.
But to run out of wine before it is time — that was an unforgettable hospitality indiscretion that would have caused minor humiliation for the host if the problem was not hastily fixed. In short — it could have been a social disaster. Picture a stressed-out host trying to find more wine while quietly badgering his servants. Picture the servants’ fear. For whatever reason, Mary, Jesus’ mother, got involved in the wine problem. We don’t know why. Maybe it was the wedding of a relative. Maybe Mary thought that marriages were worth celebrating. We can almost hear Mary saying, “Don’t worry about it, I’ll talk to my son — he can fix anything.”
So Mary tells Jesus, “They’re out of wine.” I like to look at this passage with a sense of humor. It reminds me of conversations we have as parents with our children, only reversed. “They have no wine” (v. 3), Mary tells Jesus. “Woman, what’s that to you and me?” (v. 4) Jesus replies. The Greek here literally reads, “What to me and to you, woman?” Perhaps it could be more colloquially translated, “Woman, why are you bothering me with this?” or “Woman, tell someone who cares!” or more loosely still, “Woman, please!”
Much has been made of Jesus’ apparent rebuke, particularly the way he addresses Mary as “woman” instead of “mother.” Is Jesus embarrassed by Mary, even angry at her, so embarrassed or angry he does not even acknowledge her as his mother? Does Jesus view Mary’s request being beneath his pursuit of higher purposes? Is the writer of John’s gospel highlighting this exchange to illustrate a distance between Jesus and Mary that underscores how Jesus thinks in terms of the heavenly concerns of his Father, while Mary — like Nicodemus (in 3:1-15) and the Samaritan woman (in 4:1-15) — focuses on earthly concerns?
At issue here for Jesus is the completion of his response to Mary telling him there is no more wine — ”My hour has not yet come” (v. 4). Jesus’ “hour” is his passion, death and resurrection, which he knows is coming but not yet. Mary knew her Son was the Son of God and she was certain he could fix any problem. Do we, too believe that? (PAUSE FOR REFLECTION)
And when we bring our problems to him, do we also, like Mary did here, think we know how Jesus should take care of our problems instead of submitting and letting him deal with it the way HE sees best?
It was Jesus who performed this first public miracle, but it was Mary who saved that wedding day. She led Jesus to it. His miracle was simple. Fill six large ceramic jars with water. Dip a cup. Take the cup to the wedding coordinator. Let him taste. Suddenly there were 120 to 180 gallons of excellent wine. That was no doubt enough wine for the rest of the reception.
Certainly the guests tasted the quality improvement. They speculated: “Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until now” (v. 10). In the same way, we can lead Christ to our problems but then we must trust that He can handle our situations in the best way, even though we may think we have a better way.
So what else does this story of Jesus turning water into wine mean for us?
First of all, the wedding at Cana is where Jesus “revealed his glory,” and where the disciples first “believed in him.” He showed the world that he had power over nature and would use it to help others, speak with authority from God, and be personally in touch with all people. Second, it took seeing this miracle for his students—the disciples—to believe that Jesus was indeed the Son of God, the Savior, the Messiah.
Third, it means that if Jesus can change water into wine, he can change us, too. Almost every miracle Jesus performed while he was on earth was a renewal of our fallen humanness—restoring sight, making the crippled walk, even restoring life to the dead.
We can become His miracle of transformation.
As one wife put it after her alcoholic husband encountered the transforming power of the resurrected Christ, “Jesus changed beer into furniture.” That is, money that had been spent on beer was now being spent on the family.
Jesus can turn the sour into the sweet.
Jesus can turn bitterness into peace.
Jesus can turn hatred into love.
Jesus can turn anger into joy.
How many of us have observed miracles straight from God and dismissed them as something else because we can’t seem to grasp that He is all powerful and able to do exceedingly and abundantly far more than we can ever ask for or even dream of!
The wedding at Cana goes beyond symbolism. When Jesus changes water into wine, the transformation of the world according to God’s holy purpose is becoming a reality through the presence of Jesus — the Word, the Son of God, the Messiah, the Christ. The wedding at Cana is a metaphor for new, transformational beginnings, just as weddings are new beginnings for two people to begin a life together, to become one.
Let us use this example—and the fact that it is January, the beginning of a fresh, new year—to experience our own new beginning and transformation. Whether it be a renewed commitment to healthy eating and exercise, regular church attendance or even saying “yes” when asked to take a big step beyond your comfort zone.
A trip to Las Vegas won’t be necessary for this new beginning. Vegas vows are irrelevant for your transformation. His disciples “believed in him.” So should we.
Source: Leslie, Candace. “Wacky or wonderful? Unusual weddings.” Lovetripper.com and The Portland Press Herald, July 5, 2003, 2B.
