OUT OF THE ORDINARY
As I was meditating on Jesus’ miracle of turning water into wine, a phrase popped into my head – “joie de vivre”. I knew of it mostly from theology texts and usually guessed at its meaning and pronunciation. But this phrase kept nagging me, so I decided to look it up on the internet and find out if I was saying it right and if I really knew what it meant.
I Googled the phrase “joie de vivre” on my computer and chose an American dictionary site. There it was, just as I had thought. The site even had a sound bite so you could hear someone say the phrase correctly. So I clicked on it and was struck by the flatness and plainness of the speaker’s voice. He very boringly recited “joie de vivre”. I clicked it over and over thinking I must be hearing him wrong but he kept saying “joie de vivre”, “joie de vivre”, “joie de vivre” so flatly. “It’s not ‘zwa da vivra’,” I thought, “It’s ‘joie de vivre’ (in a French accent).” How can anyone say “joy of life” in so dull a manner? Then I remembered it was an American dictionary – Americans don’t know French.
In the same way that “joie de vivre” needs to be said with passion and zest, Christians should proclaim “I’m a Christian.” What we hear instead is “I’m a Christian”; “Jesus has done so much for me”; “Oh how I love Jesus” (all in an Eor voice). Where is the passion? Where is the zest? Where is the overwhelming joy, the “joie de vivre” of knowing Jesus?
It is a mistake to slide into the belief that the Christian life is boring, or that it is so encumbered with rules that life is sucked out of living. That is not the life that Jesus came to bring. That is not the Jesus who is described in the gospel of John. Jesus was a preacher, (some of you may think preachers a tad boring), but what he did spoke volumes. What he did gave meaning to what he said.
As we look at the event where Jesus turned water into wine, I hope you will see something out of the ordinary – a miracle that pours freshness into your life.
1. How do we understand Jesus’ miracle?
Miracles can be easily misunderstood. The awe of the feat can blind us to the meaning of the event itself. Or our understanding of Jesus or miracles can skew its intended purpose.
a) A mother’s expectation – Take Mary for example. It is thought that the bridal couple at this wedding in Cana were relatives of Mary and Jesus. Jesus and his 5 new disciples had just shown up and the wine was soon gone. Mary, being a relative, had a great concern in this matter, for it was a huge disaster if food and wine run out at a wedding. In fact, a guest could actually sue the groom for running out of wine. Since weddings lasted a week in those days, you had to have a lot of wine around. This couple, so it happened, ran out of wine.
Mary comes to Jesus and plainly says, “They have no more wine.” What is Jesus supposed to do? What was Mary expecting? John tells us that this was Jesus’ first miracle, so there was no precedent whereby Mary could say “You’ve done it before.” He hadn’t done it before. Miracle or not, Mary expected her special son to do something to fix the problem.
Perhaps Mary, treasuring in her heart all that had happened when Jesus was born, knowing he was the Messiah, and perceiving that his ministry had begun, thought that this was the time to come out and reveal himself. Here he would begin his reign and start a revolution. Jesus replies to this: “My time has not yet come,” meaning that what he does here will not convince the nation that he is the Messiah.
b) A good joke – Some have suggested that this miracle was not literal but that when the wine ran out, Jesus commanded that water be used. The MC, with a wink and a nudge, made a joke about this being the best wine of all. Those not in on the joke took it seriously and thus through tradition a miracle was born.
This is an odd assumption for two reasons. One is John recorded that the water became wine. He didn’t include this story as a humorous anecdote or to show Jesus’ lighter side. And two, this miracle had such a profound effect on the 5 new disciples that it would be impossible to sustain their new faith in him based on a joke.
c) A good trick – Others have trivialized the Cana event as a pointless miracle. It was done to appease his mother, or it was simply a misuse of power.
Rowan Atkinson illustrated this in a mock sermon he preached. Rewording scripture he said: And when the steward of the feast did taste from the water of the pots, it had become wine. And they knew not whence it had come. But the servants did know, so they applauded loudly in the kitchen. And they said unto the Lord: "How in the world did you do that?" And inquired of him: "Do you do children’s parties?" And the Lord said: "No." But the servants did press him, saying; "Go on, give us another one!" And so he brought forth a carrot, and said: "Behold this, for it is a carrot." And all about him knew that it was so. For it was orange, with a green top. And he did place a large red cloth over the carrot, and then removed it, and lo, he held in his hand a white rabbit. And all were amazed, and said: "This guy is really good! He should turn professional."
We can read it wrongly; we can explain it away; or we can trivialize this miracle. We can even get so used to the story we just gloss over it. To be honest, I never knew how to take Jesus’ turning water into wine – it seemed unnecessary. How do you understand this miracle? Why did John include this miracle out of the several dozen that the other writers recorded? The answer to this is found in another question…
2. What did Jesus come here to do?
CHANGE
The biblical or theological word for change is “transform”, but essentially “change” is says it all. Jesus came to change. We see this in the imagery of the jars and the wine. a) The Jars: Something old, something new – John was a sneaky fellow – one must always look for hidden meanings in his writings. Someone said that the gospel of John is shallow enough for a child to wade in and deep enough for an elephant to drown. We can take the miracle as is and be blessed; or we can take a look at the symbols and be blessed more.
“Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.” There was about 150 gallons of water in those jars at the start of the wedding. Now they were empty. Jewish custom was crazy about being ceremonially clean. Every guest had to wash their hands and feet as they arrived – not because they were dirty so much as for ritual purity. Their understanding of the OT law taught them that to be pure in heart one must wash and wash and wash again. They washed the cups; they washed the plates; they washed themselves. Jews were obsessive compulsive in a religious sense. And the fact was, they were never…clean…enough.
To Jesus, these jars represented the burdensome legalism of Judaism, or what we would call “religion”. In these jars, Jesus saw an opportunity to demonstrate the change that could take place in our hearts. He had them filled up with inorganic, non-living, commonplace water…dull, lifeless water. Without magic words or laying on of hands, he said “…take it to the master of the banquet.” In that moment the water simply became wine. What Jesus came to do was to take the water of legalism that leaves our consciences guilty and change it to the wine of grace. Water could only cleanse the outside; wine cleansed from within.
At this wedding, something old, something new was a good fit. Jesus took this opportunity to show us what new would look like.
b) The Wine: A toast to the couple – But why wine? Our evangelical mindset has a negative view of alcohol so we may balk at the idea that Jesus made wine. Think rather of how the people saw it back then.
Kenneth Gangel put it this way: “Just as this wedding ran out of wine, humankind ran out of fellowship with God in the Garden of Eden. When sin entered the world, the celebration ceased – but Jesus came to restore our reason to celebrate. Wine is even used sometimes in scripture as a picture of joy: ‘Wine that gladdens the heart of man, oil to make his face shine, and bread that sustains his heart’ (Psalm 104:15).”
David made a similar comparison: “You have filled my heart with greater joy than when their grain and new wine abound” (Ps. 4:7).
Wine is the symbol of joy and gladness. It’s so appropriate then that Jesus would supply wine at a wedding. Gangel estimated that given the size of the jars, Jesus saved the wedding by providing 2400 servings of a half-pint to a glass.
Wine that gladdens the heart of man. Think of it. Some people have one glass of wine and get the giggles. Others find it warming the body. My doctor told me to drink a glass a day to lower my blood pressure – though my fear was that it would be habit-forming, so I didn’t take his advice.
Take this then in the spiritual sense: it is intoxicating, wine is, and it works from within. It is controlling and overwhelming. One loses one’s inhibitions and yes, is filled with a freer joy. It is controlling and it is also liberating.
Now consider these thoughts: when Jesus held a cup of wine at the Last Supper and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.” I am not speaking of alcohol; I am talking about the grace of Jesus. Did the disciples remember the wedding in Cana where old covenant water became new covenant wine?
Jesus began his ministry at a wedding and produced wine representing the change of life from drab to exhilarating. At the culmination of all things, when this world comes to an end, we will be part of a wedding where the wine of grace flows freely. “Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!” (Rev. 19:9).
3. What does Jesus want us to do?
CONSUME AS TO BE CONSUMED.
What I mean is, drink this wine of grace and be overwhelmed with Jesus. Be filled with the joy of your salvation.
a) The purpose of the sign – Why does John call this miracle a sign? He wrote: “This is the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed in Cana of Galilee…” In John’s gospel signs are acted parables. Signs are miracles with a meaning. In some cases, like when the woman reached out and touched Jesus’ cloak, miracles were incidental. Signs are purposeful, telling us something we would not otherwise have known. It tells us something about Jesus, who he is and what he means to us.
We can fill jars with water; only Jesus can turn it to wine. We do ordinary, common tasks, normal activities, but then God touches it and gives it a deeper meaning. Jesus gives flavor and vitality and zest to the ho-hum of life; he gives joy and gladness and contentment. Those living on water on alone go chasing after new thrills and must seek higher and higher risks to enjoy life. Once they reach a certain level of excitement they grow bored and need a new challenge or life becomes stale. With Jesus, simple things become out of this world amazing, if we stop and consider his hand in it.
This is what John’s signs show us…
b) What this sign reveals – “He thus revealed his glory…” In Cana Jesus showed us his true self. John wrote that Jesus came full of grace and truth. That is what his glory is: grace and truth. We have seen his truth in the jars and the wine. His grace came in the abundance he provided to the wedding couple. What was this couple to him? Some say his little sister was the bride. Some say they were cousins. Who were they that they were deserving of such a miracle and such a gift? It doesn’t matter really. Consider not who received but who was giving. Jesus’ grace is abundant; there is more than enough to cover what we lack.
There is a truth here as well. Jesus is the Lord of nature; he is Lord of all. C. S. Lewis in his book Miracles said: “Each miracle writes for us in small letters something that God has already written, or will write, in letters almost too large to be noticed, across the whole canvas of nature.” What Jesus did in changing water into wine was a natural process, only sped up. Lewis also said, “If we open such books as Grimm’s Fairy Tales, or the Italian Epics, we find ourselves in a world of miracles so diverse that they can hardly be classified. Beasts turn into men and men into beasts, or trees. Trees talk, ships become goddesses, and a magic ring can cause tables of food to appear in solitary places…If such things really happen, they would, I suppose, show that nature was being invaded. But they would show she was being invaded by an alien power. The fitness of the Christian miracles, and their difference from those mythological miracles, lies in the fact that they show invasion by a power which is not alien. They are what might be expected to happen when she is invaded not simply by a god, but by the God of nature; by a power which is outside her jurisdiction; not as a foreigner but as a Sovereign. They proclaim that he who has come is not merely a king, but the King, and the King of nature, her King and ours.”
c) The joy of believing – “…and the disciples put their faith in him.” This sign, Bruce Milne says, is a special action by Jesus which reveals his glory to those who believe and which confronts others with the need to decide about Jesus. Signs confront us, along with the whole gospel, and challenge us to ask, “Who is this Jesus?”
And Jesus replies, “…I have come that (you) may have life, and have it to the full.”
When you are sitting in your rec room, watching TV, a program that you’ve seen before but continue to watch because there’s nothing else on…or you look at your rituals, get up, shower, eat, go to work, come home, eat supper, go to bed…and you ask yourself, “Is this all there is?” The answer is “no” Out of the ordinary Jesus makes all things new. Jesus can make your life new, even for believers who have grown weary of the walk. Jesus is our joie de vivre.
What do I want you to do? Nothing. Absorb this truth. Drink deeply of the wine that is Jesus and become intoxicated with this amazing man.
AMEN
