2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time: The Joy of Christ’s Mission
A wedding in a barrio in the Philippines is always a big event of rejoicing for the whole barrio. It is a time where almost the whole barrio come together to help prepare and celebrate the wedding. It is a celebration that lasts for days. It is a celebration of the union of the husband and wife but also of their families and of the whole barrio. During the wedding banquet, all of the barrio share in the food and drinks that everybody has helped to prepare.
Wedding in the Christian tradition has always symbolized the union of God and humanity. In the Scriptures, one of the major metaphors that illustrate the relation between God and His people is that of marriage. In the Hebrew Scriptures, Israel is presented as God’s wife who, despite all that Yahweh has done for her, is unfaithful and commits spiritual adultery with other gods. The New Testament, in continuity with the Old Testament, presents the church as the bride of Christ. In the gospels, Jesus depicted his ministry as an ongoing wedding celebration where he considers himself to be the a bridegroom. His messianic ministry was an anticipation of the eschatological banquet, the ultimate union between God and humanity as a wedding banquet.
In today’s Sunday, Jesus perform his first public miracle at a wedding in a small town called Cana. A Jewish wedding feast usually lasted seven days, and in a small town like Cana, it is likely that everyone took part in the celebration, in one way or another. In the Gospel account, Jesus, his mother and his disciples are invited to this wedding, and when the wine runs out, at the request of his mother, Jesus delivers a sign of his glory by turning water into the very best wine. By providing 150 gallons of the most excellent wine Jesus was able to make possible for people to continue to enjoy themselves in each other’s company for such a long celebration.
Jesus’ first miracle is a continuation of what the Father has always done to his chosen people in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament). God the Father has always transformed a forsaken people into ones that are his delight. This is expressed by Isaiah in the First Reading by saying that God is going to give his people a new name. They will be called “My delight.” Their land will be known by the name, “Espoused.” The Lord will marry them and bring forth abundance from their lands.
Jesus’ first miracle is an anticipation of the great joy and nourishment that Jesus’ ministry will bring to God’s people. Wine, in biblical terms, is joy (“he gives wine to cheer the hearts of men” Ps 105). Water turned to wine is, indeed, a wonderful image for a people who are fresh out of hope and need to drink of the promise. Only God in Jesus can supply this real refreshment. When Jesus miraculously gives them the best wine they’ve ever had, he gave them a foretaste of what will come into greater focus at a later hour when the glory of God is most fully revealed in Jesus, the hour of his death and resurrection (12:23, 27; 13:1). The hour in which he gave himself wholly to us and for us, for the forgiveness of sins, for our liberation from sin and death—the wine of our redemption.
Jesus’ first miracle is not just an anticipation of Jesus’ earthly ministry but the ultimate expectation of a future by the whole humanity that would be characterized by greater blessings than anything that had come before. The Messianic wedding feast with the best wine is a marriage of heaven and earth, the hoped for time of union with God, not just for Israel but for “all peoples.”
The acknowledgment and acceptance by humanity of God’s promise of joy and abundance is represented in the gospel by Mary. John’s gospel never gives us Mary’s name, in his Gospel she is always referred to as “the Mother of Jesus.” Mary says modestly to Jesus, “They have no wine” [symbolically, the human race is desolate]. Jesus replies strangely: “Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come.” Mary leaves the matter in her son’s hands and directs the servants to do whatever he tells you (Jn 2:5)—her last recorded words in the Gospels. Jesus eventually complied with his Mother’s request and performed a great miracle by converting water into wine. In John’s Gospel, this is not just a conversation between Mary and Jesus; but a conversation between the Mother of humanity and God. Mary’s trust inaugurates humanity’s acceptance of her Son’s messianic mission. She precedes the disciples in faith, who come to believe in Jesus after the miracle occurs.
Lord, through your grace, we cannot be “Forsaken” anymore, our land no longer “Desolate.” Help us leave everything to you. Help us to do whatever you tell us. Lord, we are water. Turn us into wine.
I am passionate about the intersection between new media and technology. I continue to research and apply new media in theology and vice-versa. I am also a fan of Our Mother of Perpetual Help and her continuing relevance in today's digital world.
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