Water into wine.

The biblical story of Jesus turning water into wine at a wedding is one that is well known. It goes something like this. Weddings are the responsibility of the bride’s family to provide for and as it is a Jewish wedding there is a duty of hospitality on the family. Now this is not just a basic hospitality. [I have on occasions been present at modern day traveller funerals where there is an equal obligation that extends to the minimum (or so I was told) of providing a cup of tea and a sandwich (jam in this case) for everyone. I think that the wake had more than this and possibly the after funeral do, but for those travelling to the funeral this was the minimum.] In Jesus time blessing was equated with generosity and for the host to run out of wine would have been a terrible social shame. Mary informs Jesus that this is about to happen, clearly expecting him to do something about it. He says, “Oh come on Mom it’s not the right time to be doing flashy things.” But she says to the stewards do what he tells you. They bring some water from jars that are holding 180 gallons of water to be used for the women’s rite of purification and take it to the host. He takes a sip and it’s not water but is fine wine, not just fine though everybody agrees it is the best wine.

There is the miracle itself, something about hospitality and something about parodical abundance. Perhaps there is, as a friend of mine said a long time ago, that there is an irresponsibility, 180 gallons is a lot of wine. As a matter of interest when I was in Canaan the purported place of this wedding, we went to the wine shop ‘Canaan Wines’ our guide laughingly said they were still selling the leftovers to tourists. 

My reason for writing about this is that someone this week joked about water into wine (I don’t remember why) but it set me thinking.

The water in the jars in the story are to be used for one of the lowliest purposes, yet they are the very thing that Jesus takes to perform this action with.

Water in the Jewish/Christian/Muslim traditions all have significant references. You may know the Flood, Noah’s ark, the crossing of the red sea, water from a rock in the desert and as the river of life in the heavenly paradise being but a few. Water is used as the source of life, for cleansing and blessing. Water was offered to guests to wash their feet because after a day’s travel they would be dirty and possibly sore. This was done even if only in a ritualistic way as at the Passover Jesus holds with the disciples.

We may imagine that water was something like the sanitised liquid that come out of our taps today, but this would not have been the case, water perhaps in a running river or stream might have been cleaner than in a town or city well. It is why the water is often mixed with wine, diluting the alcohol but offering some sanitising of the water.

There is this sense of the taking of the ordinary water (or bread or people) that Jesus is making a statement about not just abundance, hospitality or the prodigal nature of blessing but is showing what is happening to our very selves.

Here are we ordinary people are becoming extraordinary.

Now I don’t really care how one sees that spiritually, The Universe. Nirvana, Buddha nature, genetic progression, or God, but it seems that here is a story that can speak to us about the transmutation of the ordinary into the wonderful fullness of the true self. 

Water into wine, not just any wine but the finest wine.