Epiphany 2:  Marriage at Cana

When one thinks of the thirty seven miracles of Jesus recorded in the four Gospels, those that stand out for me are no so much the various and many demonstrations of his healing powers, as the miracles that concern slightly off beat actions, those eye-catching demonstrations of his miraculous powers that always intrigued me as a child: the feeding of the 5000, the net-busting catch of fish, walking on the water, the rushing of the Gadarene Swine headlong into the sea and the miracle described in our reading from St. John's Gospel today, the turning of water into wine at the Marriage at Cana.   
One reason for regarding the New Testament as an accurate record of the strange events of two millennia ago is those small touches of verisimilitude. Details that the writers of the Gospels are most unlikely to have invented, even if they had been professional dramatists rather than fishermen.  The events at the Marriage at Cana,  described in ten short verses,  is, as St. John puts it,  the " first of his signs" . But, to be frank, it is a bit puzzling why Jesus decided to begin his Ministry with a miracle of this kind, enacted for the purely social reason of saving the bridegroom from embarrassment. 
But when we look at the detail it is clear that actually Jesus did not choose to do that. And this is the first touch of verisimilitude in the story.  It was his mother who chose.  One of the parties invited to the marriage were friends of hers, perhaps both were (we don't know).  One can reasonably guess that Jesus and his followers attended at Mary's request.  And although I won't go so far as to say that they could have been pressured into attending, Jesus may not have been too keen to be at the forefront of the festivities.  
As one commentator has put it, can you blame Jesus ?  Any bridegroom so inept as to invite a lot of people to his wedding and then fail to lay on enough wine, is not the sort of person one would wish to provide the background to one's first public appearance.   [  Well, actually it happened to Chrystal and me.  David & Harriet's wedding champagne ran out  and one of the gusts stepped in and got some more. !] 
So when the Virgin Mary says to Jesus  " They have no wine "  with the obvious inference of " Do something about it,  I know you can "  , Jesus' reply was pretty brusque  -  to the point of rudeness;    " Woman, what have you to do with me ?  Mine hour is not yet come. "  
This is, if one thinks about it, is  an extraordinary reply from a loving son to his mother.  Who has ever used the term "woman" to a lady except under the stress of great irritation   ( i.e. John Brown to an annoying,  temperamental, Queen Victoria apparently). 
Now Jesus was not subjected to that kind of provocation.  But though clearly irritated  -  perhaps nettled or ruffled are better words  -  he does exactly what his Mother asks.   Moreover Mary clearly assumes that he will do it when she tells the servants in the KJV,  " Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it " .
This is the second point of verisimilitude in the story. For Jesus having expressed a bit of pique does what Mary asks.  Having said " mine hour is not yet come" , changes his mind obviously because he loves his mother and feels a bit guilty about his refusal and probably  about upsetting Mary by his use of the word " woman" .
He not only changes his mind but does it in a big way by performing a miracle which in quantitative terms is remarkable.   On our pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 2013 I recall that  we were shown jars similar to those used at the Marriage at Cana -  and they are big.  Then, though we are not actually told this, he changes he water into wine. 
Governor of the feast, who sounds a pretty pompous, bossy, type, pronounces it excellent and has the nerve to tell the hosts that their behaviour is unusual in keeping the best wine to the last.  What would he have said, one wonders, if it had actually run out. 
The guests not only get the best vintage but get as much as they could possibly drink.  Given the six jars, experts have calculated that means about 20-30 gallons in today's measurement. Eight bottles to a gallon so the revellers got anything up to 1500 bottles of good ( i.e. strong) wine. Bear in mind that they had already drunk everything already provided ! 
Whatever the number of bottles it is obvious that the guests would have been pretty well oiled by the time Mary and Jesus left the revels. As Cana is a town overlooking the Sea of Galilee, many of them would probably have arrived by boat and one can imagine some unusual rowing on the way home,  catching crabs etc and  guests entangled in guy ropes flailing around in the night before they all got home.   ( Poetic licence ? )
The third point that indicates  the accuracy of the story is that Jesus may have intended his first miracle to have taken place in more dignified surroundings, the beneficiaries being the sick and the poor, rather than at a party where in the first century AD, as today, tipsy jokes were likely to be unseemly for godly ears.  
But, with hindsight, if Jesus was looking for an occasion to advertise the start of his mission, he could not have picked a better one.  
For it is an unfortunate fact of human nature that parties or other occasions where things go wrong are likely to be remembered  rather than receptions where things go smoothly. We have had a good illustration of that in recent days in the accounts flooding the press of  those ill-timed parties that apparently went on in 2020 at No. 20 Downing Street. 
Bungee Jump woman off the Queen Mary. 
 [ Duncan, my future brother-in-law and I celebrated our 21 st birthdays on the Hertford College barge. Careful planning etc.  White wine orange curacao and brandy cocktail]    Bull Young the barman and someone else in a smart tweed suit. 
We all like those fiascos in retrospect. 
But we also remember parties that where the atmosphere is unexpectedly jolly and the drinks plentiful.  
At Cana a threatened fiasco, publicly announced by Mary, was averted and a very good time was had by all.    
So, in my view  there could not have been a more talked about launch to Jesus'  career of wonder. I bet it was long remembered in Cana and beyond'    and that is why St. John put it in his Gospel. I believe every word of it. 
But what happened to the bride and groom?  Happy days, divorce? We don't know or, I suspect, care.  But what we do remember is the business about the wine and that memorable launch to Jesus Christ's career, dare I say it on a merry alcoholic note.  Our Lord showed that Christianity can be fun. 
[ reworked for Second Sunday of Epiphany 2022] 



 
 

     
