Time to Party - John 2:1-12
“What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.” (John 2:11)
In the culture of Jesus’ times a big wedding celebration without any wine was seriously embarrassing. They’d messed it up, invited too many guests and spent too little money. Jesus was there with his mother. “Just do whatever he tells you,” was Mary’s advice to the hosts. In response, Jesus used up all the religious cleansing water to create over 500 bottles of the very finest Chateaux de Cana. The theological significance of all this was profound: the wedding celebration was a foretaste of heaven – Jesus was ending the religion aimed at outer purity and inaugurating a new kingdom of lavish, abundant, inner purity and joy, a kingdom established by the ‘new wine’ of his blood. But that’s not all. Theological bombs to one side, we shouldn’t miss the very clear message that Jesus LOVEs to party, and to party BIG.
This is how Jesus began his ministry here on earth and it points to the joy and celebration that we’re going to enjoy in heaven. Heaven is the most amazing party beyond our wildest imagination, to which we’re all able to attend as children of the household! This gives us the energy of hope to persevere through any trial or difficulty that we’re facing here on earth. “And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.” (Romans 5:5 New Living Translation).
The theological richness of this story is of course marred by our human sinfulness, in particular, the drunkenness alcoholism that is so rife today. These issues are particularly significant in Bournemouth although there was plenty of it in Jesus’ day too. Celebrating and partying involving even quite large amounts of alcohol (as we see in this story) is not necessarily a sin. But it can become so if we turn away from LOVE’s ways as we party. The Bible urges us to be wise when it comes to alcohol: exercising restraint if we’re prone to over-indulging, and exercising grace if we’re prone to self-righteousness.
As a church we must love one another and encourage the strong and free to seek the safety and deliverance of the weak. Wine need not be something that divides the church. Indeed, at Communion (or the Lord’s Supper), our central way of remembering Jesus’ death for us, it is a powerful symbol of Jesus’ blood that unites us. Fortunately, the power of the symbol of wine does not depend on how much alcohol is present (any more than the mount of gluten in the bread)! That’s why we always offer a choice at Communion of alcoholic and non-alcoholic wine (as well as gluten-free bread)!
As we pray today, let’s celebrate! Raise a glass and toast the name of Jesus! Three cheers for the marriage of Jesus as the groom and the Church as his bride! As we celebrate, we can give great thanks for those of us who are recovering addicts. Recovering alcoholics and addicts have a key role in the body of Christ by providing a sign for all believers that there is freedom from all forms of slavery in the name of Jesus. Let’s continue to pray that this aspect of our community will thrive and that thousands of addicts will find freedom in the name of Jesus here in Bournemouth through this ministry. That’s the future we can all pray and work for and invest in to.
“…you [the bridegroom, signifying Jesus] have saved the best till now!” (John 2:10)
