Isaiah 62:1-5; I Cor 12:4-11; John 2:1-12
Changing of water into wine is the first miracle that Jesus performed at a wedding in Cana when they ran out of wine Jesus turned water into wine.
As with all of the miracles and parables of Jesus,
this story is rich in revelation and symbolism. Jesus used two insignificant things to perform a great miracle. The City, Cana and six stone jars.
this story is rich in revelation and symbolism. Jesus used two insignificant things to perform a great miracle. The City, Cana and six stone jars.
Jesus chose a small city that was very insignificant for the Jews, to be the venue for His first miracle. Cana was about 14 kilometres away from Nazareth. Though human settlement took place in Cana at about 2200 BC, the city was destroyed completely in 732 BC. Again the city was repopulated in the Hellenistic periods. But the Jews did not attach any importance to this city.
There were six stone jars, meant for the ablutions that are customary among the Jews; each could hold twenty or thirty gallons. Stone jars were not used to store wine. Wine was stored in wine skins. Stone jars were used for keeping water for washing their hands and for other purification purposes. But Jesus asked the servants to fill these jars.
God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important (Cor 1:2).
God’s choice is always different from that of men. A little peasant girl from France was chosen to liberate France. This teenager led the army in battle, while veteran warriors rallied behind her. She led the army to victory. That insignificant, but chosen instrument of God was Joan of Arc. God worked wonders through her, and revealed His glory.
Throughout the Bible we see that God has used the insignificant for many great things. When God delivered the Israelites from Medinites’ oppression He used an army of three hundred men to defeat a vastly larger army. David, a shepherd boy was chosen to defeat Goliath and free Israel from their attacks. Prophet Amos, a peasant from the Northern Kingdom, came with powerful predictions of misery, as they broke the moral code. God chose ordinary men as his messengers. Jesus chose His disciples from among the ordinary men. He compared the Kingdom of God to a mustard seed. So God uses the insignificant to achieve great works.
Jesus said to the servants:
“Fill in jars with water”, and they filled them to the brim.
The jars were filled to the brim and there was no space left.
Whatever God chooses must be surrendered totally and unconditionally.
Rabindranath Tagore describes the reward for total surrender in Gitanjali. The beggar went from door to door in the village path. Then he saw the golden chariot of the king in distance. His hopes rose high and he thought his evil days were at an end, and he stood waiting for alms. The chariot stopped where he stood. The king came with down from the chariot with a smile. The beggar felt that the luck of his life had come at last. Then suddenly the king held out his right hand and asked, ‘What hast thou to give me?”. The beggar was confused and then from his wallet he slowly took out the least little grain of corn and gave it to him. At day’s end he emptied the bag on the floor he found a little grain of gold among the heap. He regretted that he had not given the whole thing to the King.
Dear friends whatever is submitted to God is turned into something precious. The insignificant city, Cana, the stone jars, the insignificant people at Cana all became significant with the presence of Jesus. “The only condition is to fill them to the brim”- total and unconditional submission without any reservation.
Today’s first reading from the Book of Isaiah too conveys the same message. Isaiah speaks about the chosen city,
“You are to be a crown of splendour
In the hand of the Lord
A princely diadem in the hand of your God.”
God bestows the gift of Spirit on the chosen ones and set them above the world. St Paul wrote to the Corinthians that The Spirit works in different ways in different people, and distributes different gifts to different people just as he chooses.
The only response demanded of us is an unconditional acceptance of the responsibilities entrusted to us. Then our lives will be transformed into little grains of gold.
"In accepting what God wills for us do we find our peace?" Dante
"Look! The power of God and the life of his Son are manifested in your weakness.
Look! The life of Jesus is flowing through you into the lives of other people. - John Piper
Satish