Water into Wine - Reflection at Open Table #lgbtqia+ #comeasyouare
On January 16th at our Open Table Service, the Revd Richard Skinner shared this powerful monologue retelling the story of Jesus turning the water into wine as sign that he rejects no-one and that it is to outsiders he reveals his great works.
Shalom. It’s really pleasant sitting here in this sunlit courtyard, nursing a cup of wine. You may ask why I’m here? Well it was a bit of a surprise really, I mean I’d only met the fellow a few days before and yet here I am a guest with him at a wedding. The group of us walked the four and a half miles from Nazareth to Cana with Yeshua and his mother Myriam, so I guessed this is a family wedding, not just a invite from a neighbour.
I was right, it’s a family do, because when we got here everyone came out to meet Yeshua and Myriam. Apparently there has’t been a family get together for some time, so there was a lot to catch up on. While they were talking, the servants saw to our needs, offered us food and wine and showed us where we could get our heads down when we needed.
Well, we’ve been partying for a few days now and I must say I’ve had a great time. We all have by the looks of things. Even Yeshua, who struck me, when I first met him, as the quiet, thoughtful type, has shown us he can dance, sing, eat and drink with the best of us. Talking about drink, one of the servants has just filled my cup up with a really excellent wine, much better than what we’ve been drinking before. I asked him where they’d had it hidden. “Not hidden sir,” he answered. “Freshly created.” I thought he was having me on. But he wasn’t, what he told me was almost unbelievable.
Then I remembered seeing, not too long before, Myriam pushing through the crowd of dancers followed by a group of servants, she grabbed hold of Yeshua’s sleeve and spoke to him. I didn’t hear what she said but he replied in that particular exasperated tone, known to all mothers, “Mother, leave me alone I’m not ready yet.” She walked away, but with a gentle smile on her face, leaving the servants standing by Yeshua, looking a bit lost. After all like every mother she knew her son very wels. He obviously told them to do something, because they suddenly rushed off and disappeared, while he went back to his dancing.
Apparently, according to the servant, they filled six purification jars with water, then took a cup full of this water to the chief steward. “And what do you think sir?” the servant asked me. “I don’t know.” I answered. “It had become wine.” he replied. “This wine.” and he filled my cup up to the brim.
Did I believe him? I wasn’t sure and yet here was the evidence right here in my hand.
What had Yeshua done? How had he done it? Why had he done it?
The wine was running out yes, think of the humiliation for the young bride and groom, in a tight knit community like this, they might never live it down and bring disgrace on the family, so I’m sure Myriam asked Yeshua to help with the best intentions. But according to the servant it wasn’t just enough wine to get them through the festivities it was enough to provide wine for another two weddings at least. I recognise there was a need but to meet that need in this abundance!
Just a minute though, not everyone here at the wedding knows what happened, only the servants. The nobodies, the ones who go mostly unseen by the rest of us, the ones who probably won’t even get to taste the wine.
So why do this wonder here in the back of the beyond, in a small Galilean town, with brigands, thieves and rebels hiding in the surrounding hills, why not in Tiberias, where there are more people? Could it be that in Tiberias most people are too concerned with their own lives, they are so wrapped up with themselves, they wouldn’t be able to see what was happening before their very eyes.
Some might call it a miracle, but I think it was more than that. I see this as a sign. Pointing perhaps, as Isaiah said to when God will come to earth, prepare on a mountain a rich feast with mature wines, wipe away tears and bring salvation to his people.
Or is it a sign of what can happen when you get involved with Yeshua bar Yosef. A sign of the transformation he can accomplish. A sign that he rejects no-one, it is to outsiders he reveals his great works. I ask you if Yeshua can do that to water, to satisfy a simple need, what else can he do?
Oh, who am I? I’m Yohhanan.
Shalom.