THE THIRD SUNDAY OF EPIPHANY

Here are the readings for the Third Sunday of Epiphany     22 January 2012

Genesis 14:17-20

New International Version (NIV)

 ¹⁷ After Abram returned from defeating Kedorlaomer and the kings allied with him, the king of Sodom came out to meet him in the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley).
 ¹⁸ Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, ¹⁹ and he blessed Abram, saying,
   “Blessed be Abram by God Most High,
   Creator of heaven and earth.
²⁰ And praise be to God Most High,
   who delivered your enemies into your hand.”
   Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.

Revelation 19:6-10

New International Version (NIV)

 ⁶ Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting:
   “Hallelujah!
   For our Lord God Almighty reigns.
⁷ Let us rejoice and be glad
   and give him glory!
For the wedding of the Lamb has come,
   and his bride has made herself ready.
⁸ Fine linen, bright and clean,
   was given her to wear.”
   (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of God’s holy people.)
 ⁹ Then the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!” And he added, “These are the true words of God.”
 ¹⁰ At this I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, “Don’t do that! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers and sisters who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For it is the Spirit of prophecy who bears testimony to Jesus.”

John 2:1-11

New International Version (NIV)

John 2

Jesus Changes Water Into Wine

 ¹ On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, ² and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. ³ When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.”    ⁴ “Woman,^[a] why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.”
 ⁵ His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”
 ⁶ Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.^[b]
 7 Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim.
 ⁸ Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.”
   They did so, ⁹ and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside ¹⁰ and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.”
 ¹¹ What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.



Weddings in the middle east go on for up to 7 days and its easy for refreshments to run out. Furthermore, there is not the same formal etiquette about receiving nicely printed invitations. It is very much more relaxed. And in this case, Jesus dropped in and brought 5 other unexpected guests which may well have contributed to the crisis which arose.

One of the techniques when reading the bible is to look for levels of meaning, stating with the superficial and going deeper into the symbolic. Superficially this is an embarrassing story for a number of reasons. First, Jesus spent time at a social occasion. Some Christians are not very good at socialising. Perhaps Jesus should not have been wasting precious time so soon after his baptism and the start of his ministry! But Jesus had time in his life for a social life. There is a contrast between Jesus and John the Baptist. John came fasting but Jesus came feasting. Jesus was even nicknamed the party-goer because people were always hearing of Jesus at a party. He certainly didn't spend all his time preaching. He enjoy the company of other people. That's why so often when someone came to Jesus they threw a party and invited friends and neighbours. Jesus was not a killjoy!

A second source of embarrassment was Jesus' provision of wine - 2400 glasses! We must face the fact that although John the Baptist was tee-total, Jesus was not. Of course he never got completely drunk and behaved like an animal.

A third problem superficially is the way Jesus spoke to his mother in this passage. "Woman, don't tell me what to do." Sounds very rude and disrespectful. We must understand why Mary said what she said and why Jesus replied the way he did. Jesus knew his mother well. We must presume that Joseph was dead and that she relied on Jesus. And as Jesus looked into his mother's eyes he may have seen a mother's pride speaking, "Jesus show them who you are"  I'm so proud of you".  And so Jesus replies, "I must take my orders from a heavenly Father not an earthly mother."

If we go deeper, we see something about Jesus here. First, Jesus honours marriage. It was the first public thing he did - to attend a wedding. God made sex and marriage and, yes it is true that Jesus was not married but he is going to be when his bride the Church is united to him. Second, Jesus helps people in trouble. The young couple didn't realise how soon in married life they would be in trouble and embarrassed in front of their friends. Jesus came to help them.

Kierkegaard once said something very profound. He said that Jesus performed a wonderful miracle when he turned water into wine; but the Church has performed a more wonderful miracle by turning wine into water!  The power and the "kick" of our Faith is often watered down so much that we become ineffectual.

Mark