{"id":8766,"date":"2000-10-07T19:50:10","date_gmt":"2000-10-07T17:50:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theologie.whp.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/?p=8766"},"modified":"2025-04-10T13:52:34","modified_gmt":"2025-04-10T11:52:34","slug":"john-21-12-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/john-21-12-3\/","title":{"rendered":"John 2:1-12"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sermon Series on Mary |\u00a018th Sunday after Trinity | October 22, 2000 | John 2:1-12 | Udo Schnelle |<\/span><\/h3>\n

Translation into English by Theodore N. Thomas<\/p>\n

1: On the third day there was a marriage at
\nCana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there; 2: Jesus also was invited
\nto the marriage, with his disciples. 3: When the wine failed, the mother of
\nJesus said to him, „They have no wine.“ 4: And Jesus said to her, „O woman,
\nwhat have you to do with me? My hour has not yet come.“ 5: His mother said to
\nthe servants, „Do whatever he tells you.“ 6: Now six stone jars were standing
\nthere, for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty
\ngallons. 7: Jesus said to them, „Fill the jars with water.“ And they filled
\nthem up to the brim. 8: He said to them, „Now draw some out, and take it to the
\nsteward of the feast.“ So they took it. 9: When the steward of the feast tasted
\nthe water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the
\nservants who had drawn the water knew), the steward of the feast called the
\nbridegroom 10: and said to him, „Every man serves the good wine first; and when
\nmen have drunk freely, then the poor wine; but you have kept the good wine
\nuntil now.“ 11: This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and
\nmanifested his glory; and his disciples believed in him. 12: After this he went
\ndown to Capernaum, with his mother and his brothers and his disciples; and
\nthere they stayed for a few days. <\/span><\/p>\n

Brother and Sisters! <\/span><\/p>\n

Jesus‘ first public appearance was not at the
\nSea of Galilee, nor in a synagogue, nor in the temple, but at a wedding feast.
\nWhat an audacious beginning! A wedding was, in the days of antiquity, a raucous
\nevent that could last several days. Numerous texts report of extravagant
\nwedding banquets with extraordinary dancing, countless gifts, and seemingly
\nendless speeches. Jesus makes his first public appearance with neither a
\njudgmental sermon nor a proclamation of the Kingdom of God. Instead, he appears
\nin the midst of a joyous moment of Life. <\/span><\/p>\n

Mary, Jesus and the disciples are right there
\nin the middle of everything. They have all been invited to what was perhaps a
\nfamily wedding, or at least a wedding involving Jesus‘ closest neighbors or
\nfriends. As is the custom today, no expense was spared. This was a luxurious
\nwedding with a steward in the kitchen and waiters at the tables. <\/span><\/p>\n

Then suddenly something happens to make any
\nhost uneasy. They uan out of wine! Wine! That beverage which, in the ancient
\nworld, people regarded as a gift of the gods and a symbol of happiness and good
\nluck. One simply has to have wine at a celebration like this! Jesus learns that
\nsomething is not right, Someone is upset back in the kitchen, and the waiters
\nwhisper the word to Mary, „There’s no more wine.“ Now one might expect that
\nMary herself would come up with a suggestion for getting some more wine
\nquickly. But Mary remains in the background. She neither pushes nor demands.
\nInstead, she simply remarks to Jesus, „They have no more wine.“ <\/span><\/p>\n

What does that have to do with Jesus? He came
\nto the wedding to celebrate, not to help out with the work. Consequently he
\nresponds to his mother, „O woman, what have you to do with me? My hour is not
\nyet come.“ This is not socially gracious language. He is still the son who
\nignores his mother. <\/span><\/p>\n

Mary is not discouraged. She says to the
\nservants, „Do whatever he tells you.“ Mary is calm and quiet. She is neither
\ninfected with the discomfort of the wedding guests nor intimidated by the terse
\nanswer of her son. She expects something from Jesus, because she knows who he
\nis and what he will do. This dignity distinguishes Mary. She knows of Jesus‘
\ntrue origin from God. She is convinced that Jesus will turn the Lack into a
\nLuxury. <\/span><\/p>\n

Where Jesus is, there is Life. The entire
\nGospel of John testifies that Jesus gives Life. The woman at the well receives
\nfrom Jesus living water that quenches her thirst for Life. Life conquers death
\nat the awakening of Lazarus. To the man born blind Jesus gives new insights on
\nLiving, and the lame man of Bethesda learns to walk, and returns to Life.
\nUnlike the other wedding guests, the waiters, and the disciples, Mary knows
\nthis. <\/span><\/p>\n

She trusts Jesus and expects great things from
\nhim. So she stands as a prime example of faith. Faith is, after all, trusting
\nin the power of Jesus to give true Life and to compensate for what people lack.
\nMary, is secure in this knowledge, confident merely by being in his presence.
\nMary is important for the faithful not because of an allegedly extraordinary
\nbirth, nor was it necessary for Pope Pius XII in 1950 to make a dogma of her
\nputative physical ascension to heaven. To the contrary! Precisely there where
\nthe dogma lies shattered is where we see the mystery of Mary. It is this: she
\nstands at Jesus‘ side. That is where her dignity lies. There she is tied to the
\nfaithful of all the ages. She is our sister in faith. Just as Mary watched and
\nwaited for Jesus, expecting help from him, so our faith in all ages has its
\nspecific perspective: Faith looks to Jesus as the source of Life, and hopes for
\nHelp. <\/span><\/p>\n

In just such a way, Jesus extends a beneficial
\nhand during the wedding feast at Cana. Even though he really does not want to,
\nhe performs a miracle. The scene is not particularly spectacular. Mary has
\nsaid, „Do whatever he tells you.“ At Jesus‘ command the waiters haul in water
\nand fill six vessels intended for ritual washings, probably standing in an
\nanteroom. Such vessels have been found recently in Palestine, large jars
\nholding about a hundred liters. Now comes the miraculous: Jesus says, „Draw
\nsome out.“ In the Gospel of John the word of Jesus has wondrous power. To the
\nlame man who had lain thirty-eight years at the pool of Bethesda Jesus says,
\n„Rise, take up you bed, and walk!“ (John 5:8). To the dead Lazarus lying in his
\ngrave he calls, „Lazarus, come forth!“ (John 11:43) Here echoes Jesus‘ wondrous
\nword, „Draw!“ Drawing water is a sensual process: one takes from the source,
\nexpecting satiation and pleasure. Suddenly out of common water six hundred
\nliters of quality wine have materialized, wine worthy of the praise of the
\nexperienced steward.! The Lack has become a Luxury! <\/span><\/p>\n

Where the joy of Living is endangered, Jesus
\nextends a hand. He fills empty vessels. Empty. That is a fitting picture for
\nthe crisis of many people in our time. For such people there is, so to speak,
\n„no more wine.“ They have lost the lust for Life, they feel empty and depleted,
\nthey cannot keep up with the constantly changing, incessantly accelerating
\nchallenges. Empty and depleted are also the unemployed, the poor, or the aged
\nwho can no longer participate in our carnival culture. And even those who
\napparently fill themselves with work, money, sports and alcohol are in fact
\noften empty. Chasing after life, they run after many things, and still never
\narrive at a goal. The desire for Life is great. Who can fulfill it? <\/span><\/p>\n

Jesus calls to us, „Draw!“ Ladle from the well!
\nThere is plenty there! Jesus quenches the thirst for Life; he brings Life,
\nbecause He is the Life. With Mary, we Christians are convinced that Jesus gives
\nLife. That is, with Jesus, there is a God who gives Life and he has shown us
\nthrough Jesus how Life can be a success, in fellowship with God and in love for
\npeople. We are allowed both to receive and to distribute. Receiving comes
\nfirst, followed by deeds. <\/span><\/p>\n

And naturally, Life is to be lived with all its
\nhighs and lows, lights and shadows, weddings and feasts. Mary understood that
\nJesus dispenses Life, even in his death. At that wedding feast in Cana Jesus
\nsaid secretly to her, „My hour is not yet come.“ For that very reason Mary
\nappears a second time in the Gospel of John, this time at the foot of the
\ncross. Jesus‘ hour had come and Mary experiences that with Jesus, even in
\ndeath, Life has its victory. <\/span><\/p>\n

Amen.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Prof. Dr. Udo Schnelle
\nE-Mail:
\nProfschnelle@aol.com<\/a>
\nTranslation into English by Prof. Dr. Theodore N.
\nThomas
\nMilligan College, Milligan College, Tennessee, USA
\ne-mail:
\ntnthomas@milligan.edu<\/a><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Sermon Series on Mary |\u00a018th Sunday after Trinity | October 22, 2000 | John 2:1-12 | Udo Schnelle | Translation into English by Theodore N. Thomas 1: On the third day there was a marriage at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there; 2: Jesus also was invited to the marriage, with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8543,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39,727,157,853,108,110,658,349,907,3,109,126,1616],"tags":[],"beitragende":[],"predigtform":[],"predigtreihe":[],"bibelstelle":[],"class_list":["post-8766","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-johannes","category-archiv","category-beitragende","category-bibel","category-current","category-engl","category-kapitel-02-chapter-02-johannes","category-kasus","category-pr-maria","category-nt","category-predigten","category-predigtreihen","category-udo-schnelle"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8766","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8766"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8766\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22608,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8766\/revisions\/22608"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8543"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8766"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8766"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8766"},{"taxonomy":"beitragende","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/beitragende?post=8766"},{"taxonomy":"predigtform","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/predigtform?post=8766"},{"taxonomy":"predigtreihe","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/predigtreihe?post=8766"},{"taxonomy":"bibelstelle","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bibelstelle?post=8766"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}