01/19/2025
John 2:1-11
On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, ‘They have no wine.’ And Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come.’ His mother said to the servants, ‘Do whatever he tells you.’ Now standing there were six stone water-jars for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons.Jesus said to them, ‘Fill the jars with water.’ And they filled them up to the brim. He said to them, ‘Now draw some out, and take it to the chief steward.’ So they took it. When the steward tasted the water that had become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward called the bridegroom and said to him, ‘Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until now.’ Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.
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Over the past several years, I have been drawn more and more to the Season of Epiphany. And while technically, this is not a liturgical season – at least not in the sense of Advent or Lent. However, in a deeper way, I have come to appreciate that these few weeks between the end of the Christmas Season and the beginning of Lent have much to teach and to reveal.
Bookended with the visitors from the East and the Transfiguration, the season reveals much about who Jesus is, and by way of extension, who we are (and who we are called to be) as those who follow in the path of the Teacher.
This morning’s gospel text is no exception. In this familiar tale, we hear that Jesus and his band of students have been invited to a wedding feast. Only shortly after they arrive, the wine runs out and Mary approaches Jesus. He hesitates, but then turns a vast amount of water into the most choice wine. And this is declared to be the first of the signs in John’s Gospel, which is otherwise known as the “Book of Signs.”
Even in this briefest of recapitulation of the gospel narrative, there is a lot to tease apart and to get deeper into: what water might signify, the alchemy involved in it becoming wine, the abundance of choice wine, even the urging of Mary – who was herself deeply steeped in the Temple traditions.
And all of these are worthy of reflection. Though I believe that there is something else lurking beneath the surface of this text in Jesus’ claim that, “my hour has not yet come.” In that moment, perhaps he was not yet fully aware, but something was being called forth from him. The reason for his very existence was being called forth. We could go so far as to say that the Cosmos – all of creation – was summoning him in this moment through the voice of the Blessed Mother – to be a servant for the greater good. Briefly put, this was his moment.
I can’t help but place this reading in the context of where we are today – in this moment of history – as the new administration takes power in Washington tomorrow – as there are disruptions in governments and cultures all around the world. (And by far, not incidentally, as we are also on the eve of the celebration of the life and witness of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. tomorrow.)
Friends… this is our moment.
And in all honesty, the clarion call of this moment goes far beyond one political party versus another – red vs blue, liberal vs conservative. These are labels that could obfuscate what is really in front of us – a deep invitation to transformation, a transformation that must be rooted in our own inner work.
It seems often forgotten that our brother, Dr. King was not only a social activist. He was also a committed contemplative. I will dare to say that – just like Jesus, the lasting impact of his work in the world would not have been the same were it not for a rich life of inner work and practice.
And so, the call rings out for us.
If our species is to survive – if we are to give birth to something new, there must be a shift of consciousness on a global, nay… a cosmic level. Anything less is not sufficient for this moment. We must wake up and embrace that the only reason for our existence is to serve to whole, for at the end of the day, we are intricately bound to each other. The fate of one is the fate of all.
This is our moment.
Friends, abundance awaits. The choicest wine – that is, the essence of divinity wants to flow into us and through us. May our yes! in this moment be the first sign in the new book of signs that we write together.
John 2:1-11On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, ‘They have no wine.’ And Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, what concern is that...
