The Miracle of Joy

Rebecca Sheridan
Sunday, January 19, 2025
John 2:1-11

    My children were gifted a few puzzles for Christmas, and on these cold windy days we have enjoyed working on a puzzle by our fireplace.  I challenge our kids to not look at the picture on the box but to complete the puzzle without looking.  It is very satisfying to put the pieces together when you finally see the whole picture.  As we continue through this season of Epiphany, we are hearing story after story about who God reveals Jesus to be to us and to the world. Our gospel readings are like puzzle pieces God is putting together to give us a fuller picture of who Jesus is:  the wise men bring Jesus gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh telling us that this baby in Bethlehem is a divine king whose death will redeem humanity.  John the Baptist baptizes Jesus and a voice from heaven proclaims Jesus to be God’s beloved Son.  Today, Jesus performs his first miracle in the gospel of John, changing water into wine at a wedding.
    But what does turning a bunch of water into wine tell us about who Jesus is?  This piece of the puzzle may in fact be more puzzling at first.  Jesus himself asks Mary, “what concern is that to you and to me?”  that the wedding party has run out of wine.  When we think of the suffering in the world and the healing that Jesus is able to bring, the need for forgiveness and the restoration of the world from how it is to how it should be, wouldn’t there be a better, more powerful miracle that Jesus could perform? Making sure that the guests have more wine to drink at a wedding in a place called Cana that probably none of us could find on a map seems trivial.  This is Jesus’ first sign that he is able to have power over nature, like God?  What can this miracle tell us about who Jesus is that will add to the big picture puzzle God is helping us put together?
    Perhaps we can start with the hope-filled realization that Jesus’ first miracle to begin his earthly ministry is a miracle that brings joy.  Jesus keeps the party going, helping this newly married couple celebrate with good wine, a lot of wine – we estimate those water jars to hold about 175 gallons of wine!  God’s lavish, abundant love for us, poured out for us in Jesus Christ, does not make sense.  It’s excessive.  So isn’t this God’s main point – in Jesus, we experience more of God’s love and grace than we ever need, enough to sustain our joy even when the journey becomes more difficult.  In fact, when we think about how extravagant and abundant and never-ending God’s love for us is, despite ourselves, it gives us deep, deep joy.  Jesus tells his mother that his hour has not yet come, referring to his death; before his journey to the cross, he is strengthened for this journey at a party with his friends, so that we might even receive his death with joy, knowing that Christ dies for us and for our salvation.
    We add another piece to the puzzle of understanding who Jesus is for us in this miracle of water into wine when we turn to our first reading from Isaiah today.  Isaiah and other prophets of the Old Testament commonly depict a wedding banquet with plenteous wine being served to describe the Messiah’s arrival or the heavenly feast that has no end.  Isaiah promises the Lord will change the name and circumstances of his people from Desolate and Forsaken to My Delight and Married.  So the gospel of John is telling us that Jesus is the promised Messiah who has arrived to invite us to his heavenly banquet. If Jesus the Christ, the Messiah, can take ordinary water and turn it into extraordinarily good, abundant wine, then Jesus can also as Isaiah foretells turn people who feel forsaken and desolate into God’s delight, restoring our relationship with God as many of us experience in a healthy, mutually respectful and loving marriage relationship.  When have you felt forsaken, abandoned, or desolate?  How has your faith in Christ turned you from these feelings to having a sense of peace and joy?  As the days already get warmer and longer in this new year and we look forward to spring, how do we experience the joy that Jesus gives us?  How has Jesus transformed our feelings of loneliness or despair into a discovery of belonging or unconditional love?
    I have preached before about how the U.S. Surgeon General declared loneliness to be a public health crisis a few years ago.  As he steps down from office, he recently issued some practical advice once again to combat loneliness and live more joyfully. He cited the statistic that 40% of American adults say they wish they had deeper, more meaningful friendships.  You know what his advice was?  Find a church community or other civic organization that helps you serve and connect to others!  The prescription for despair and loneliness is the body of Christ, the faith community.
 Jesus certainly understands in his first miracle at a wedding that the healing of a community includes gathering people to celebrate and delight in one another – suddenly, this miracle of water into wine is not as trivial as it first appears. Jesus moves from his baptism and the assurance of forgiveness and salvation through the waters of Baptism to Holy Communion, where abundant bread and wine is shared with all in this healing, joy-filled community we call the church.  Jesus changes even our very selves from plain water into joy-filled, festive people who are ready to serve our community and share the abundant love of God, like a good wine!
Finally, there is a small detail at the beginning of John 2 which points to our greatest joy in Jesus, helping put together the whole picture of who Jesus is for us.  Look again at how our gospel for today begins.  John tells us this miracle happens on the third day.  The point is not that the wedding couple is strangely celebrating their marriage on a Tuesday. “The third day” for Christians is another way of talking about Easter Sunday morning – Christ’s resurrection – the day of great joy for all people!  Crucified and laid in a tomb on Friday, on the third day, Christ arose from the grave.  He conquered death and secured our salvation.  On the third day, John is telling us, Jesus came and provided a foretaste of the heavenly feast to come at a wedding banquet where God calls each person by name and transforms us from Forsaken to people who are God’s Delight.  So from this apparently insignificant miracle, we learn that Jesus is our resurrected Savior who will bring us along with him to the heavenly feast that has no end, saving us by his body and blood, giving us true, everlasting joy.  Thanks be to God!  Amen.