is the wine running out?

There's Wine at the Wedding but it's running out There's Water at the Door but what does that help? There's a Mother telling her son what to do - that's no real big surprise - but she Means Well There are Slaves who Do what they're told And there's One Person who loves to Change Things Beware! he's Dangerously Free!

John's gospel gives us a wonderful poetic vision of the life and minstry of Jesus. The wedding at Cana is a symbolic analogy which helps us to understand teh significance of Jesus teaching and his purpose. Each part of the story has some significance:

The wedding represents what "weddings" usually represent in Jesus' parables - the place of belonging and accpetance within the love of God. When Jesus came to Jerusalem, the way the Temple worked made it clear that some were welcome (invited guests to the wedding) and some never expected to get invited (slaves). There is wine at the wedding - the religion of Israel at that time had some value - but it was limited. Mary, mother of Jesus represents all the people in Jesus' life who would try to tell him how to do his job. One example - Peter telling Jesus that he would never die! Jesus replies, "get behind me Satan". In the story Jesus tells the slaves (the outsiders) to fill the jars used for religious purposes of purification with water. Then the "water" is tasted by the "chief steward" (head religious person). He doesn't know where the wine has come from.

One of the interesting ironies of this analogy is that the people who "should know" where the wine comes from (the wine represents that love and grace of God) have no clue. But in Jesus' special way, the outsiders - the slaves - the unworthy ones are the privileged ones to have witnessed the miracle. They know where the wine comes from - not from within the wedding party - but straight from the "Source".

This parable teaches us about the limited value of religion and the powerful freedom of Jesus to take ordinary things and ordinary people and turn them into extraordinarily useful and beautiful things. Ultimately I think that in this analogy WE are the wine. The reason that the wine is unlimited when Jesus arrives is that in Jesus' world, wine doesn't come from a priest or a minister. Every person is a source of wine. Every person can be taken, like the water, transformed and given as a gift for the enjoyment and benefit of others. We are the wine, we are the gift, and the wine is plentiful and good, when all of God's people are taking their place and sharing their lives...