Weddings – and Transformation

Most of us would have attended a wedding at some stage. It may have been your own wedding, or a friend's wedding, or the wedding of a family member. In each event you would have appreciated the enormous amount of planning and preparation that a wedding takes. It is a special and a busy time, full of hopes and excitement... and then finally, the chosen and memorable day finally arrives.

On this coming Sunday (19^th of January) the Gospel reading is about a Jewish wedding. As we hear or read the Gospel text, we will note how their wedding customs differed from a typical western wedding. First of all it occurred not in a church or at the beach, but in the family home of the groom. It also didn't take an afternoon – rather it could last for seven days.

Typically, it began with the wedding supper, then at some point the family and friends would gather for wedding ceremony, and after the wedding party would normally make a long trek around the whole village so that everyone could wish the newly wed's all the best for their future together.

In John's Gospel (Ch 2:1-12) we read how Jesus and his mother Mary attended a wedding in their local village – but curiously they didn't arrived until the third day. What seems even more strange is that the wedding seems to have involved a family member, because because as soon as Mary arrives she takes charge when she hears that the wine supply had run out.

But we soon discover there are other curious twist in this story, for while most artist impressions of the wedding naturally include the Bride and Groom – in John's telling of the story, they are not mentioned at all. It's almost as if John, in composing this story, was inviting us to look for a deeper meaning because the story is so rich in metaphors and meaning.

For example, the story begins with the phrase 'On the third day'. This happens to be a common Jewish term used to mark a time for 'New Beginnings', or a time of 'Divine intervention', or the 'fulfilment of promises'. We first find this mentioned in the Hebrew book of Exodus that marked the day that God appeared to His people (Ch 19 v 11). In the Gospels we come across a similar use of the term to mark the day Jesus rose from the dead and appeared to Mary and the Disciples (Luke 24:46). The 'Third Day' was also used as a term to remind us that God's pattern is to create new life, and to continually create and affirm his covenant with us. We find all these meanings unfolding in this wedding story which is so rich with symbols familiar to the Jewish People.

For example, when Jesus' mother Mary takes charge because the wine supply had run our, her first request was to have the six empty stone water jars that were normally used for the Jewish rites of purification, to be filled be with water – no mean event as each one could hold 20-30 gallons. Yet the symbolism extends into this request as well because there are other similar references for water in the Jewish scriptures. For example in Exodus 17 we hear how the Jews in their pilgrimage from Egypt ran out of water in the desert and God instructed Moses to release water from a rock by striking it with his rod; and in the Gospels we hear how Jesus met a Samaritan woman by Jacob's well that led to a discussion not only on Jesus request for a drink but also on the living water Jesus seeks to share with anyone who comes to him:

“Whoever drinks the water I will give him will never be thirsty ever again. Rather, the water I will give him will become in him a spring of water, bubbling up to eternal life” (John 4:14).

It is this abundance of what God has to offer us that lies at the heart of these references. We find the same abundance occurring elsewhere in the Gospels – such as the feeding of the 5000; or the miraculous catch of 153 fish by the tired depressed disciple-fishermen when they follow Jesus' suggestion to place their net on the other side of the boat. These are all reminders that God's love is limitless, generous, and overflowing and knows no bounds.

We find other example of the generosity of God in Amos 9:13-l4:

“The time is surely coming, says the Lord...(when) the mountains shall drip sweet wine, and all the hills shall flow with it. I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel...they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine, and they shall make gardens and eat their fruit.”

Or in Exodus l7 where we hear how God instructed Moses to release water from a rock by striking it with his rod; and in the Gospels we have the story of Jesus meeting a woman by a well he we have these words:

“Whoever drinks the water I will give him will never be thirsty ever

again. Rather, the water I will give him will become in him a spring of

water, bubbling up to eternal life ” (John 4:14).

It is the release of God's generosity that lies at the heart of these, and many other references in the Bible that are reminders of that God's love has no boundaries, because it is limitless, generous, and overflowing – and we are reminded of it again in this story of the wedding that ran out of wine we are reminded again that God's love is limitless, and what God has to offer us will fill and overflow their (and our) lives with transforming joy.

So what better symbol could the author of John's Gospel include at the beginning of Jesus' ministry – than tell the story of Jesus attending a wedding, to remind us also, as his readers and listeners, that we too have access to the same love and generosity of the One who created us, and delights in us, as promised by the author of the book of Isaiah (62:4-5):

You shall be called 'My Delight'...
for the Lord delights in you.
For as a young man marries a young woman,
so shall your builder marry you,
and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride,
so shall your God rejoice over you.

And while sometimes we may feel we are a bit like an empty stone water jar – tired, deplete, forsaken, desolate, anxious, or fearful – God is still with us and has so much more to share with us, and invites us to come with open hands and an open heart and mind to receive and share God's gift of transforming love and life.

But wait! There is still more tucked away in this story for us to ponder. John's Gospel stresses throughout his story of Jesus, that faith is not about knowledge – because the word 'faith' is not a noun – nor is faitht about believing the right thing. Faith is a verb – it is about 'doing' something – and we can only discover and know the love and presence of God by living the truth we know. It is as we allow this generous open gift of God's presence to transform us, that we are able to turn that gift into generous action towards others.

Kia mau te rongo me te pai ki a koe i to haerenga

May you find peace and good will on your journey.

Phil