PostScript: Grace abounding
Christ’s first miracle in John’s Gospel (2.1-11) points us towards God’s outpouring of grace in Jesus.
Introduction
The eleven verses comprising the wedding at Cana have yielded more commentary over the years than one might imagine. This includes historical and cultural commentary, theological motifs, symbolism and more. It is quite literally meaning-full.
Context
In an all-too-cynical and violent world, grace – free gifts of love – can seem in short supply. But there are antidotes:
Reflection
The narrative of the wedding at Cana always brings to mind the following joke.
There are a group of Catholic and Jewish mothers in a laundrette in the Bronx. The Catholic mothers are bragging about the various preferments of their clergy men folk. The first one says, ‘To be sure, my son was ordained priest last week.’ The other Catholic mothers voice their approval, but one of the Jewish mothers simply shrugs and ‘humphs’. A few minutes go by and another Catholic mother says, ‘My third son was made monsignor last week.’ The Catholic mums all congratulate her, but again the Jewish mum simply shrugs and ‘humphs’. Finally the eldest Catholic mum says, ‘My firstborn son has been told that he will become a cardinal next month.’ The other Catholic mums cannot contain their enthusiasm, but once more the Jewish mum simply humphs and shrugs. Irate, one of the Catholic mums approaches the Jewish lady and says, ‘A priest, a monsignor and a cardinal are not good enough!? What do you want – that they should be Jesus Christ?!’ The Jewish mum simply smiles and says, ‘One of our boys made it.’
So, in this week’s story, is Mary the quintessential Jewish mother bragging about her son the Wunderkind? ‘Watch what my Jesus can do!’ Scholars are divided as to whether Mary is trying to force Jesus’ hand into performing a miracle. As this is Jesus’ first miracle in John’s Gospel, we have no reason to think that he has performed one previously; thus, perhaps, leading Mary to encourage him to ‘show off’. As we cannot discern the tone of Jesus response to his mother – which at some level is a rebuke – we are left with tantalising questions.
Nevertheless, Jesus’ turning water into wine is, at heart, a ‘gratuitous’ miracle – for several reasons. First, Jesus tells his mother that his ‘hour has not yet come.’ A lot of ink has been spilt over the meaning of ‘hour’, but suffice it to say that Jesus did not feel the time right to reveal his ‘glory’. Second, the miracle is gratuitous in the sense that no one’s health or salvation was at stake. Third, it is gratuitous in that Jesus didn’t merely change one jar of water to wine – he went for the full six, thus providing the wedding feast with somewhere between 120 and 180 gallons of wine! That’s a lot of wine at any feast! And it was all superb!
This overabundance of wine is also a signal of God’s abundant grace in Jesus which comes for all people – especially as wine later becomes the symbol of Christ’s blood, shed for the forgiveness of our sins. God didn’t have to work such grace through Christ – the very essence of a ‘gratuitous’ act.
If there is one clear beneficiary of the miracle, then it is the unnamed family in whose home the wedding feast took place. They were saved from humiliation from having the wine run short. It is also significant that this miracle took place in a home, the place where the Passover meal is held, and in which wine plays an important role. And, finally, it is worth remembering that the word ‘gratuitous’ comes from the Latin root gratia from which we derive the word ‘grace’. This miracle is nothing if not a lavish display of God’s grace in his son, Jesus.
Prayer
A litany of thanksgiving for God’s Grace.
Give thanks to the Lord, for God’s goodness is everlasting;
and God’s love endures forever.
Come, let us praise God joyfully;
let us come to God with hearts full of thanksgiving.
For the goodness of God’s creation,
for plants and creatures small and great,
beautiful and awesome;
for splendours seen and unseen;
thank you, God.
For human life;
for the abilities of mind,
for thought and memory,
for speech and laughter,
for common hopes and hardships shared throughout our lives;
thank you, God.
For families and friends;
for living, working and eating together,
for life shared;
thank you, God.
For children;
for their energy and enthusiasm;
for their brave play and their startling frankness;
for their insights and sympathies;
thank you, God.
For young people;
for their high hopes;
their search for freedom and challenging worn-out values;
thank you, God.
For growing up and growing old;
for wisdom deepened by experience;
for rest in leisure and retirement;
for time made precious by its passing;
thank you, God.
For the Good News
brought to us through your Son, Jesus,
which we receive through word and sacrament;
for our life together in our common Lord;
we praise you, God.
For your Holy Spirit,
who guides us and brings us gifts of faith and love;
who prays in us and prompts our grateful worship;
we praise you, God.
Above all, for the your grace
given to the world in your Son, Jesus Christ,
who lived, died and lives again for our salvation;
we thank and praise you, God,
for all your goodness to us.
Amen.
Questions
- The abundance of God’s gifts is all around us: life, our individual personalities, this wonderful world, food, families, friends, schools, jobs, leisure activities and more – but how often do we actually acknowledge these as the gifts they are?
- Have a look at the litany above; how often do we take these various things for granted – or worse, how often do we see them as our birthright?
- How might our lives look if we simply spontaneously generated from mud-puddles – with no loving Creator – and then had to eke out a living alone?
Action
In the ‘Context’ section above, there are numerous suggestions that can be found on the web sites: Random Acts of Kindness and Pay it Forward. Most of the suggestions are easily achievable – from giving a hug to donating a book to your local school library. Why not have everyone in a church group commit to at least one random act of kindness over the coming days, and then to share with each other the results? How did it make you feel? What were the responses of the recipients? Are you inclined to continue?
Young people
As with the groups in the above section, have a look at the Random Acts of Kindness and Pay it Forward web sites – they are full of simple, realistic suggestions. Are there things you could easily do? Are there things you would be afraid of doing? If so, why? But try at least one of the suggestions and ask yourselves the questions listed under ‘Action’ above.
Jack Lawson is the Mission Enabler for the East Anglia District of the Methodist Church, a lecturer in Hebrew Bible and free-lance author.
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