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 his disciples. 3: When the wine failed, the mother of
Jesus said to him, „They have no wine.“ 4: And Jesus said to her, „O woman,
what have you to do with me? My hour has not yet come.“ 5: His mother said to
the servants, „Do whatever he tells you.“ 6: Now six stone jars were standing
there, for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty
gallons. 7: Jesus said to them, „Fill the jars with water.“ And they filled
them up to the brim. 8: He said to them, „Now draw some out, and take it to the
steward of the feast.“ So they took it. 9: When the steward of the feast tasted
the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the
servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward of the feast called the
bridegroom 10: and said to him, „Every man serves the good wine first; and when
men have drunk freely, then the poor wine; but you have kept the good wine
until now.“ 11: This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and
manifested his glory; and his disciples believed in him. 12: After this he went
down to Capernaum, with his mother and his brothers and his disciples; and
there they stayed for a few days.
Brother and Sisters!
Jesus‘ first public appearance was not at the
Sea of Galilee, nor in a synagogue, nor in the temple, but at a wedding feast.
What an audacious beginning! A wedding was, in the days of antiquity, a raucous
event that could last several days. Numerous texts report of extravagant
wedding banquets with extraordinary dancing, countless gifts, and seemingly
endless speeches. Jesus makes his first public appearance with neither a
judgmental sermon nor a proclamation of the Kingdom of God. Instead, he appears
in the midst of a joyous moment of Life.
Mary, Jesus and the disciples are right there
in the middle of everything. They have all been invited to what was perhaps a
family wedding, or at least a wedding involving Jesus‘ closest neighbors or
friends. As is the custom today, no expense was spared. This was a luxurious
wedding with a steward in the kitchen and waiters at the tables.
Then suddenly something happens to make any
host uneasy. They uan out of wine! Wine! That beverage which, in the ancient
world, people regarded as a gift of the gods and a symbol of happiness and good
luck. One simply has to have wine at a celebration like this! Jesus learns that
something is not right, Someone is upset back in the kitchen, and the waiters
whisper the word to Mary, „There’s no more wine.“ Now one might expect that
Mary herself would come up with a suggestion for getting some more wine
quickly. But Mary remains in the background. She neither pushes nor demands.
Instead, she simply remarks to Jesus, „They have no more wine.“
What does that have to do with Jesus? He came
to the wedding to celebrate, not to help out with the work. Consequently he
responds to his mother, „O woman, what have you to do with me? My hour is not
yet come.“ This is not socially gracious language. He is still the son who
ignores his mother.
Mary is not discouraged. She says to the
servants, „Do whatever he tells you.“ Mary is calm and quiet. She is neither
infected with the discomfort of the wedding guests nor intimidated by the terse
answer of her son. She expects something from Jesus, because she knows who he
is and what he will do. This dignity distinguishes Mary. She knows of Jesus‘
true origin from God. She is convinced that Jesus will turn the Lack into a
Luxury.
Where Jesus is, there is Life. The entire
Gospel of John testifies that Jesus gives Life. The woman at the well receives
from Jesus living water that quenches her thirst for Life. Life conquers death
at the awakening of Lazarus. To the man born blind Jesus gives new insights on
Living, and the lame man of Bethesda learns to walk, and returns to Life.
Unlike the other wedding guests, the waiters, and the disciples, Mary knows
this.
She trusts Jesus and expects great things from
him. So she stands as a prime example of faith. Faith is, after all, trusting
in the power of Jesus to give true Life and to compensate for what people lack.
Mary, is secure in this knowledge, confident merely by being in his presence.
Mary is important for the faithful not because of an allegedly extraordinary
birth, nor was it necessary for Pope Pius XII in 1950 to make a dogma of her
putative physical ascension to heaven. To the contrary! Precisely there where
the dogma lies shattered is where we see the mystery of Mary. It is this: she
stands at Jesus‘ side. That is where her dignity lies. There she is tied to the
faithful of all the ages. She is our sister in faith. Just as Mary watched and
waited for Jesus, expecting help from him, so our faith in all ages has its
specific perspective: Faith looks to Jesus as the source of Life, and hopes for
Help.
In just such a way, Jesus extends a beneficial
hand during the wedding feast at Cana. Even though he really does not want to,
he performs a miracle. The scene is not particularly spectacular. Mary has
said, „Do whatever he tells you.“ At Jesus‘ command the waiters haul in water
and fill six vessels intended for ritual washings, probably standing in an
anteroom. Such vessels have been found recently in Palestine, large jars
holding about a hundred liters. Now comes the miraculous: Jesus says, „Draw
some out.“ In the Gospel of John the word of Jesus has wondrous power. To the
lame man who had lain thirty-eight years at the pool of Bethesda Jesus says,
„Rise, take up you bed, and walk!“ (John 5:8). To the dead Lazarus lying in his
grave he calls, „Lazarus, come forth!“ (John 11:43) Here echoes Jesus‘ wondrous
word, „Draw!“ Drawing water is a sensual process: one takes from the source,
expecting satiation and pleasure. Suddenly out of common water six hundred
liters of quality wine have materialized, wine worthy of the praise of the
experienced steward.! The Lack has become a Luxury!
Where the joy of Living is endangered, Jesus
extends a hand. He fills empty vessels. Empty. That is a fitting picture for
the crisis of many people in our time. For such people there is, so to speak,
„no more wine.“ They have lost the lust for Life, they feel empty and depleted,
they cannot keep up with the constantly changing, incessantly accelerating
challenges. Empty and depleted are also the unemployed, the poor, or the aged
who can no longer participate in our carnival culture. And even those who
apparently fill themselves with work, money, sports and alcohol are in fact
often empty. Chasing after life, they run after many things, and still never
arrive at a goal. The desire for Life is great. Who can fulfill it?
Jesus calls to us, „Draw!“ Ladle from the well!
There is plenty there! Jesus quenches the thirst for Life; he brings Life,
because He is the Life. With Mary, we Christians are convinced that Jesus gives
Life. That is, with Jesus, there is a God who gives Life and he has shown us
through Jesus how Life can be a success, in fellowship with God and in love for
people. We are allowed both to receive and to distribute. Receiving comes
first, followed by deeds.
And naturally, Life is to be lived with all its
highs and lows, lights and shadows, weddings and feasts. Mary understood that
Jesus dispenses Life, even in his death. At that wedding feast in Cana Jesus
said secretly to her, „My hour is not yet come.“ For that very reason Mary
appears a second time in the Gospel of John, this time at the foot of the
cross. Jesus‘ hour had come and Mary experiences that with Jesus, even in
death, Life has its victory.
Amen.
Prof. Dr. Udo Schnelle
E-Mail:
Profschnelle@aol.com
Translation into English by Prof. Dr. Theodore N.
Thomas
Milligan College, Milligan College, Tennessee, USA
e-mail:
tnthomas@milligan.edu |
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