Epiphany 2: John 2:1-12

Introduction:

A. W. Tozer famously said, “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” More than what we say or do, Tozer suggests that what we believe God to be like deep in our hearts foreshadows how we’ll live out the days of our life. What is God like? That’s the most important question.

1: Jesus does not so much meet a need as supply an extravagance.

Our text begins with a problem. Jesus and his disciples have been invited to a wedding in northern Israel. Now, wedding celebrations in this culture could last up to a week, and it was up to the groom’s family to serve as host. But apparently, their supply of wine had been depleted far too soon. Either they did not plan accordingly, or they couldn’t afford the appropriate amount, or maybe they just were shortchanged by the merchant. Whatever the case, the problem is clear: the wine for the party has run out, and in a culture that so highly values hospitality, to have end the party in such an inglorious manner would be a serious faux pas for the groom’s family.

So Mary, the mother of Jesus, who is close enough to the hosts to be the first aware of the problem, approaches Jesus with the issue. Which brings us to an interesting and often mischaracterized interaction between Jesus and his mother. I don’t want to spend too much time here, because it is not the point of the passage. But we do need to say a few things about this brief exchange.

First: Jesus is not being rude in addressing his mother as “Woman.” This was a common way to address people in his day - though it must be said that it was not a common way to address one’s mother. What this may indicate is the way Jesus’ relationship with his family changes as he steps more and more into the role of God’s Messiah. But he is not being rude or condescending.

Second: Jesus is not rebuking Mary. When Mary approaches Jesus with the problem with the wine, Jesus responds by reminding his mother that having to end the party early would not be the end of the world. It is not an issue that warrants the premature unveiling of his glory and power. The hour for that was later, when the stakes were much higher.

Because let’s be honest here for a moment. The general pattern of miracles in the Gospel accounts is Jesus meets a human need with divine provision. The miracles were signs meant to point people to the message that Jesus had come to proclaim - a message that said God intends to reunite creation with himself; God and Humanity will come together again. And this is what happened in the miracles of Jesus, a human need is met with heavenly power.

But even in an honor shame culture that values hospitality above almost every other virtue, a shortage of wine at a wedding is not in the same category as a life-threatening illness, or the physical helplessness experienced by the blind or lame, or being without food, or death. Those are human needs that desperately need the power of heaven that Jesus brought to earth. Sure there was a family’s reputation at stake, but in the greater scope of things, was this lack of wine really a need that the Son of Man needed to address?

And the answer is of course, no. But he did. Because even after expressing this to Mary, his mother walks away somehow knowing that Jesus was going to do something about the problem, no matter how quaint it seemed. She tells the servants to follow his instructions, “Do whatever he tells you.”