GOSPEL READING:
John 2:1-121 On the third day there was a marriage at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there; 2 Jesus also was invited to the marriage, with his disciples. 3 When the wine failed, the mother of Jesus said to him, "They have no wine." 4 And Jesus said to her, "O woman, what have you to do with me? My hour has not yet come." 5 His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you." 6 Now six stone jars were standing there, for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. 7 Jesus said to them, "Fill the jars with water." And they filled them up to the brim. 8 He said to them, "Now draw some out, and take it to the steward of the feast." So they took it. 9 When the steward of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward of the feast called the bridegroom 10 and said to him, "Every man serves the good wine first; and when men have drunk freely, then the poor wine; but you have kept the good wine until now." 11 This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory; and his disciples believed in him. 12 After this he went down to Capernaum, with his mother and his brothers and his disciples; and there they stayed for a few days.
Meditation: Do you recognize the glory and presence of the
Lord Jesus in your life? God often reveals his glory to us in the
unlikeliest of places - in a cold stable at Bethlehem, at a
village wedding party in Cana, on a bloody cross at Golgatha, or
on the road to Emmaus. In today's Gospel reading we see the first
public sign and miracle which Jesus performed. The Lord Jesus
brought great blessing and joy to a newly wed couple and their
wedding party. First by his presence, and second by saving them
from embarrassment when the wine ran out. Changing water into wine
was a remarkable act of kindness; but giving the best to last was
unnecessary and unheard of. In the Old Testament wine is seen as
both a gift and blessing of God (Deuteronomy 7:13; Proverbs 3:10,
Psalm 105:). That Jesus would miraculously produce 120 gallons of
the best wine (many times more than needed) shows the
superabundance of the blessings which he came to offer.
This miracle signifies the "new rich wine" of the Gospel and it
points to the "wine of the new covenant" and the "bread of life"
which Jesus provides for his disciples in the Lord's Supper or
Eucharist. It also points to the Messianic banquet which Jesus
will provide at the end of the age when he comes again in his
glory. The miracles of Jesus demonstrate the power of God's love
and mercy for his people. God's kindness knows no limits. And the
ultimate expression of his love is revealed in the person of his
Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. He became flesh for our sake, and he
died for our redemption, and he rose that we, too, might be raised
up and glorified with him. Do you thirst for God and for the
abundant life and blessings he offers to you?
Heavenly Father, you have revealed your glory in our Lord Jesus Christ. Fill me with your Holy Spirit that I may bring you glory in all that I do and say.
Psalm 96:1-3,7-10
1 O sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth!
2 Sing to the LORD, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day.
3 Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples!
7 Ascribe to the LORD, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength!
8 Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; bring an offering, and come into his courts!
9 Worship the LORD in holy array; tremble before him, all the earth!
10 Say among the nations, "The LORD reigns! Yes, the world is established, it shall never be moved; he will judge the peoples with equity."
Daily Quote from the Early Church Fathers: The touch of the Lord, by Ephrem the Syrian (306-373 AD)
"Why did our Lord change nature at the beginning of his signs, if
it was not to show that the divinity that changed nature in the
interior of the jars was the same that changed nature in the womb
of the virgin? And at the conclusion of the signs, he opened the
tomb to show that the insatiable nature of death would not keep
hold of him; he confirmed and ratified these two uncertainties of
his birth and of his death. As to their nature, these waters were
turned into the [fruit of] the vine; their stone vessels were not
changed within their own nature. They were a symbol of his body,
which was wonderfully conceived in a woman, and in a marvelous way
by [the intervention of] no man within the virgin. He thus made
wine out of water to teach about the manner of his conception and
birth. He called upon the six jars as witness to the one virgin
who gave birth to him; for the jars conceived in a unique way that
was not customary for them, and they brought forth wine, and then
they did not continue to produce [it]. Thus did the virgin
conceive and give birth to Immanuel, and then she ceased and did
not continue [to give birth]. The offspring of the jars was from
smallness to grandeur, and from vileness to excellence, for from
water came good wine. In this case [the birth from the virgin],
however, it was from grandeur to weakness and from glory to
contempt. Yet in the case of these jars, they were for the
purification of the Jews, and our Lord poured his instruction into
them, to teach that he came in the way [found in] the Law and the
Prophets, and he transformed everything by his teaching, just as
wine [was made] from water." (excerpt fromCommentary
on Tatian's DIATESSARON 5.6-7)
