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Week 18
Tim Bossenbroek, University of Illinois
18.1 A Taste of Wine
“ [The master of the banquet] said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.”” John 2:10
For years you have read the labels on the backs of cheap wine, tasted the wine, thought that the overuse of the word “hints” was apropos – such as “hints of oak and spice” - and thought you should have used your creative writing skills working for a vineyard. But then you taste a 1995 Granache Mouvedre. The aromas wafting up from the glass transport you to an Italian chalet in the mountains as you sit before a log fire. The wine feels like velvet on your tongue and you are reminded of eating ripe cherries plucked from the tree. The juice, warmed by the sun, bursts out of your mouth and drips down your chin. You discover a richness and a complexity of a choice wine that delights and satisfies, while the mysterious combination of all the flavors leaves you longing for more.
Jesus turns water into “choice” wine at the wedding in Cana not just to save the groom from an enormously embarrassing situation, but in order to give his disciples a taste of God’s new age through faith. John reports that through this miracle Jesus “revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him” (2:11).
Faith in God and in Jesus Christ is a bit like tasting “choice” wine. Through faith we come to know God as a personal being who, like all persons, has all the depth, character and complexity of good wine. The Apostle John invites us to join Jesus and his disciples at a wedding in Cana for a taste of wine.
Prayer:
We taste thee, O Thou Living Bread,
And long to feast upon Thee still;
We drink of Thee, the fountainhead
And thirst our souls from Thee to fill.
- Saint Bernard18.2 On the Third (?) Day
“On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee.” John 2:1a
As far as first lines of a story go, John’s first line of the wedding at Cana is not much to speak of. First lines are supposed to grab your attention and entice you with a bit of information about the story. But this line grabs lightly and entices little.
If you attend to the details of John’s story, however, it becomes more promising. “On the third day …” Of what? Several of the preceding stories begin with “and the next day.” If we keep turning back to find the beginning, we arrive at the first story in John’s gospel, “In the beginning was the Word” (1:1). Here we have a first line with lots of promise. It is the start of the creation, the story of Genesis.
Counting the days from this point, we find that “the third day” is actually the seventh day. Now we realize that John wants us to read this story of the wedding in Cana in the context of the seventh day of the creation, the Sabbath.
On the seventh day of Creation, after God had surveyed his whole creation and pronounced it “good,” God rested. It is a picture of shalom, the Hebrew word for peace, a picture not just of the absence of war, but of a world in which everything is ordered so that the creation and the creatures might flourish. At the root of this shalom are good relationships between God, his creatures and among his creatures – relationships characterized by justice, love and faithfulness. Faith is about experiencing a bit of Sabbath rest, a bit of God’s shalom – experiencing an edifying and fulfilling relationship with God that spills over into our relationships with others and the created world.
Prayer: Take all hate from my heart, O God, and teach me how to take it from the hearts of others. Open my eyes and show me what things in our society make it easy for hatred to flourish and hard for us to conquer it. Then help me to try to change these things. And so open my eyes and my ears that I may this coming day be able to do some work of peace for you.
- Alan PatonQuote: “Sentences in Scripture, like hairs in horsetails, concur in one root of beauty and strength: but being plucked out one by one, serve only for springes and snares."
-John Donne
18.3 To Know and to Be Known
“On the third day [or the seventh] a wedding took place in Cana of Gallilee.” John 2:1
“I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.” Revelation 21:2
The other day Rev. Tony Van Zanten and his wife Donna spoke to our church about their 30 year ministry in urban Chicago. Two years ago Rev. Tony suffered a stroke which affected his memory. He will say something, but then forget why he started saying it in the first place. For some inexplicable reason he can no longer read. He can write, but if he wants to go back and check what he just wrote, he can’t read it.
Even with this impairment, Rev. Tony was able to speak eloquently of his ministry and his hope that through him and the church God would somehow bring a part of the heavenly city of Jerusalem down into the heart of Chicago. Donna asked him questions, reminded him of what he was speaking about, and led him to his next point. From their talk it was obvious that she knew him better than any other human being. She knew his heart, his soul and his mind.
You see this in couples who have been married for years and years. They fulfill the promise of Genesis 2:24, “and they shall become one.” They know each other’s thoughts before they are spoken, and anticipate each other’s needs even before the other is aware of them.
In his gospel, John tells us that eternal life is to know God and Jesus Christ (17:3). Jesus’ first miracle occurs at a wedding and so his ministry opens up to us a relationship with God that is somewhat like a marriage: through faith we can begin to trying know God as fully as we can, as we are known by him.
Prayer: O Holy Spirit, As the sun is full of light, the ocean full of water, Heaven full of glory, so may my heart be full of Thee.
- Puritan PrayerQuote: Thou movest us to delight in praising Thee; for Thou hast formed us for Thyself, and our hearts are restless till they find rest in Thee. Lord, teach me to know and understand which of these should be first, to call on Thee, or to praise Thee; and likewise to know Thee, or to call upon Thee.
- Augustine, Confessions, I:1.
18.4 Abundant Life
“When the wine was gone, Jesus ’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.” “Mother, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied.” John 2:3-4
Of all Jesus’ miracles, turning water into wine seems to be the most superfluous, the most gratuitous. In his other miracles, Jesus gives sight to the blind, cleanses people of leprosy, casts out demons, and even raises the dead - the stuff of a new creation. Jesus’ miracles renew physical life and spiritual life as well. Those who were barred from the temple can worship again. And through his miracles people come to place their faith in him.
We can sympathize with Jesus’ rather abrupt response to his mother. Why should Jesus be concerned about an embarrassing social situation?
Mary, however, pays Jesus no mind and orders the servants to do what he says. Jesus relents. He orders the servants to fill 6 stone jars with water. Miraculously the water is changed into wine.
John tells us that the jars held from 20 to 30 gallons – that equals from 600 to 900 bottles of wine. Moreover, they normally diluted their wine, which results in around 1,800 to 2,700 bottles of wine. Jesus hasn’t just provided some wine to save the bridegroom from embarrassment, he has provided the best of wine in abundance.
We live in an age in which scarcity is the predominant given. In economics we take it for granted that demand will always be greater than supply. We all struggle with multiple and competing demands on our time because there are only 24 hours in the day. But Jesus’ miracle calls us to shift our perspective from one of scarcity to one of plenitude. Through faith in God and Jesus, we come to trust in the one whose desire for the whole creation is to “be fruitful and increase in number” and to “fill the earth.” Jesus’ miracle, then, is about life. It shows us that Jesus came that we might have life and have it abundantly (John 10:10).
Prayer: You, O Eternal Trinity, are a deep sea into which, the more I enter, the more I find, and the more I find, the more I seek. O abyss, O eternal Godhead, O Sea profound, what more could you give me than yourself.
- Catherine of SienaQuote: “The webbing together of God, humans and all creation in justice, fulfillment, and delight is what the Hebrew prophets call shalom. … [It] means universal flourishing, wholeness, and delight …” Cornelius Plantinga, Jr., Not the Way It’s Supposed to Be: A Breviary of Sin, (Grand Rapids: Eerdman’s, 1995) 10.
18.5 Cause to Rejoice
“* Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites … said to them all, “This day is sacred to the Lord your God. Do not mourn or weep.” For all the people had been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law. * Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” Nehemiah 8:10
After not hearing the Torah (the first five books of the Bible) for many years, the people of Jerusalem are convicted of all the ways they have been disobeying God. And so they grieve. But their leaders insist that the Torah is a word of grace and an occasion for rejoicing. It tells the story of how God’s answer to human sin is to create a nation which would exemplify God’s character of compassion and justice and be a blessing to all the nations of the world.
In the story of the wedding at Cana, John invites us take a drink of the choice wine that is faith in God and Jesus and thus “taste” the complexity and character of our Creator and Redeemer. In the remaining days of this week we will explore three ways we can explore the character of God and so deepen our faith.
The first way is simple and obvious: we come to know of God’s character and deepen our faith by reading scripture. The scriptures reveal to us not the abstract god of theological textbooks, defined by words like “omnipotent” and “omniscient,” but the God who is enmeshed in the story of the Church, Israel and humanity, and so also the God who is enmeshed in my story and yours. The more we read, however, the more we realize that God is not enmeshed in our story, but we in his.
Prayer: Lord, as I read the Psalms, let me hear you singing. As I read your words, let me hear you speaking. As I reflect on each page, let me see your image. And as I seek to put your precepts into practice, let my heart be filled with joy.
- Saint Gregory of NazianzusQuote: “Christianity is not primarily a set of beliefs, but a transformed pattern and perception of being in the world.” Samuel Wells, Improvisation: The Drama of Christian Ethics, (Grand Rapids: Brazos Press, 2004) 198.
18.6 God With Us
“[Jesus] is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and are going astray, since he himself is subject to weakness.” Hebrews 5:2
It is easy to recognize adults who relate well with children. Most adults speak down to children: literally because they are so much taller than them, and metaphorically as they talk with a high-pitched, excited voice and use a “child’s vocabulary” – “Wasn’t that super-de-duper?!” One who truly knows children, however, bends down on her knee so that the child can look straight into her eyes, and she uses a normal vocabulary, assuming his intelligence. She meets the child on his level, and doesn’t patronize.
The two climatic scenes in the Old Testament, I believe, are Exodus 40:34 and Ezekiel 10:18. In the first Israel has just completed building the tabernacle and the cloud of God’s glory fills it. After kicking humanity out of his presence in the garden of Eden, God once again dwells with humanity through the nation of Israel. In the second, Ezekiel sees a vision of the glory of God departing the temple in Jerusalem. Once again Israel is banished from the presence of God.
The Biblical story is all about God dwelling with humanity. In his gospel, John tells us that “the word became flesh and made his dwelling with us” (John 1:14). And in his revelation he sees a vision of the New Jerusalem coming down from heaven onto earth and hears a voice saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them” (Revelation 21:3).
The climax of the whole biblical story is that God bent down on his knee, was made human in Jesus, became subject to the same weaknesses and temptations we are, and so is able to instill in us the trust a child gives to an adult who meets her at her level. If the first way we come to know God is through his word, the second way is through Jesus, the word made flesh.
Prayer: As the mother understands the wordless child, the wise teacher hears the stammering boy, the sage hears the awe-silenced pilgrim, hear us, our Father, as we hold up to thee our longing and our need. In Christ’s name. Amen.
- Edward TaylorQuote: “Since [God] condescends in such a gracious manner to our weakness, surely there is nothing to prevent us from coming to him with the greatest freedom.” John Calvin, Commentary on the Book of the Psalms, Vol. 4, Psalm 91:4.
18.7 God in Us
“Jesus said, ‘Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.’ And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”” John 20:21-22
When I was about four, my older brother, Dan, and our friend, Phil, built a go-cart. They were about finished, but they lacked one thing, a pair of wheels. They covetously eyed my training wheels. As they took them off my bike, they gave me a pep-talk. “You’re a big kid now,” they said, “Training wheels are for babies.” With that, they set me on my bike and pushed me down the hill in front of our house.
I made it past three houses to the corner of our street, but ended in a heap on the curb. As I brushed myself off, Phil commented, “You did great! You just need to peddle faster!”
John tells us that after Jesus’ crucifixion and Mary Magdalene’s incredible story that she had seen Jesus, the disciples locked themselves in a room “for fear of the Jews.” At this point the disciples don’t appear to be prime candidates for an important mission. But Jesus appears before them, gives them his peace, and sends them on a mission to go into the world and be the presence of God, just as Jesus was sent, and he breathes the Holy Spirit onto them.
Phil thought I just needed to dig deep inside me and try harder. Jesus, however, knows the disciple’s weakness – after all, he had become human himself – and so he assures them they need not rely on some inner source of strength, courage or ability, but that they can rely upon the Holy Spirit.
If we come to know God first through his word, and second through Jesus, the third way we come to know God is through doing, through following Jesus. Although we may not feel up to the task, although we may be sinful, doubtful and afraid at times, Jesus gives us the gift of God within us, the Holy Spirit.
Prayer: Father, I am seeking. I am hesitant and uncertain, but will you, O God, watch over every step of mine and guide me?
- Augustine.
Quote: [The spiritual life] is a magnificent choreography of the Holy Spirit in
the human spirit, moving us toward communion with both Creator and creation.- Marjorie J. Thompson, /Soul Feast: An Invitation to the Christian
Spiritual Life/ (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1995), pg. 6.