The Unauthorized Homily

By Bill Dunn

A commentary on the Scripture readings from the Sunday Lectionary

(Scripture readings for Sunday, January 17th: Isaiah 62:1-5; 1 Corinthians 12:4-11; John 2:1-11)

MOM’S REQUEST SAVES THE PARTY

This week’s gospel reading is the wedding feast at Cana, where Jesus performed His first miracle, changing water into wine.

This episode is found only in John’s gospel. There are many other events which appear only in John’s gospel but not in the other three (for example, the “Word became flesh” prologue, meeting Nicodemus at night, the Samaritan woman at the well, the man born blind, the woman caught in adultery, and raising Lazarus from the dead, to name a few).

Many people wonder why John’s gospel is so different in style and content compared to the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. It sometimes seems as if John was writing about a completely different person.

There are a couple of important reasons why John’s gospel is so different. First, it was written approximately 30 years after the other three. By the time John wrote, detailed accounts of Jesus’ life were already in circulation. There was no reason to repeat certain well-known events, especially Jesus’ Galilean ministry.

Secondly, to understand John’s gospel, we must keep in mind his primary objective, the reason he bothered writing at all. John spells it out toward the end: “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. But these are written that you might come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that thru this belief you may have life in his name” (John 20:30-31).

John wrote so people would believe in Jesus, and as a result, receive eternal life. It is a goal which is short and sweet and to the point, and unquestionably the most important consideration in the whole history of the universe. (What, you think there are other things MORE important that eternal life? Really? Name one other thing in your life today that still will be critically important 10,000 years from now—or 10,000 billion years from now. It can’t be done.)

To achieve his goal of bringing people to faith in Jesus and the resultant eternal life, John emphasized what he called “signs,” or miracles, performed by Jesus. Only someone with the supernatural power of God is capable of giving eternal life. John wanted his readers to know without a doubt that Jesus has that kind of power.

The wedding feast at Cana started innocently enough. Jesus, His mother Mary, and some of His disciples were guests at the wedding. Everyone was having a good time. But then, while the wedding was still in progress (and these parties often lasted a full week!), they ran out of wine. How embarrassing for the host, or the bride’s father, or the caterer, or whoever was responsible for providing the food and drink.

Jesus’ mother—probably uncertain about His exact mission, but quite certain about the miraculous nature of His conception and birth—said to her son, “They have no wine.”

Jesus replied, “My hour has not yet come.”

Now, it’s important to understand that John uses the words “hour” and “time” repeatedly in his gospel (7:30, 8:20, 12:23, 13:1, and 17:1). Each time the reference is to the culmination of Jesus’ mission: the cross at Calvary.

Jesus said to His mother, in essence, that there is a specific timetable for His mission, and now is not the time to begin doing miracles.

Mary did not badger and plead with her son—but nor did she back down. Although it doesn’t say specifically in Scripture, I’ve got a hunch at this point she smiled sweetly, raised her eyebrows, and looked Jesus straight in the eyes with that special mothers-only look, the one that silently communicates the message, “You don’t want to disappoint your momma, now do you?”

Demonstrating complete trust in her son, Mary then said to the servers, “Do whatever he tells you.”

Well, as we all know, Jesus miraculously transformed upwards of 150 gallons of water into the best wine anyone had ever tasted. The party was saved, and no one was embarrassed.

John concludes this episode by explaining, “Jesus did this as the beginning of his signs…and so revealed his glory, and his disciples began to believe in him.”

Again, John’s purpose is clear: to demonstrate Jesus’ divinity by describing the miracles He performed so people will put their faith in Him.

There’s one other aspect of this event which I find fascinating. It seems pretty clear that Jesus did not intend to do a miracle at the wedding feast. Doing His first “sign” was not on that day’s divine to-do list. But when Mary made the request, Jesus changed His plans.

The lesson here is that our sincere requests (our prayers) can cause God to alter His plans and timing. This is a startling idea, until we remember that Jesus gave us many instructions about prayer: “If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer” (Matthew 21:22); “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you” (Luke 11:9); “And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father” (John 14:13).

Many people think every event is history is already pre-ordained, carved in stone and unalterable. But if that were so, why bother praying? Since Jesus would never command us to do something useless, our prayers must be powerful. They can change the course of history. They can even change the plans of God. Wow, that’s a pretty remarkable concept.

So, this week’s gospel is much more than a simple little story of embarrassment averted. It teaches us the identity of Jesus, the mission of Jesus, and the power of prayer.

©2010