| Today’s Scriptures: Lectionary selections from the Revised Common Lectionary Year C Isaiah 62:1-5 1 Corinthians 12:1-11 John 2:1-11 |
| Today’s Reflection: I am a universal thinker. I tend to start with the big picture and then drill down to the details. Very often when we consider God, we think of him in charge of broad spectrum activities. He did create the universe. Today we get the picture of a God who is concerned about our daily lives. He is in the details.
In John we are given a picture of Jesus at the start of his ministry with his mother and disciples present. We see Jesus, just beginning his ministry, getting pressure from his mother to perform a miracle. As an obedient child (we are our parents’ child no matter how old), he helped the wedding host by turning water into wine. As much as the passage reveals a modest man doing just as he is told, it raises some questions. What miracles had he done through his childhood that Mary would come to him for this one? What was life really like around Joseph’s shop with the child/adolescent Jesus? And red or white?
I have always been fascinated by Mary’s request of Jesus. The wine is not the only food miracle Jesus performs, but it is one that does not serve an immediate need. It fulfills a social norm. The lesson I take away from this passage expands my understanding of Jesus: he cared for all parts of people’s lives, not just their immediate needs. Providing the wine for the wedding allowed the celebration to continue unabated with joy for all the people. Jesus wanted tradition/culture preserved.
The wedding at Cana of Galilee reveals a compassionate Jesus who is concerned about the daily needs of the people. The wedding celebrations could have continued without the wine, but it did not support the tradition of a seven day celebration with feasting and drinking. Jesus did what he could do to support tradition and maintain the reputation of his friends. In addition to his mother he respected the tradition of the community.
Like many of the miracles Jesus worked in the lives of individuals, very few people knew about it. It was specific to the people for whom it was performed. Miracles are personal. The first disciples were also in attendance and this was the first miracle they witnessed which strengthened their belief in him.
When we consider God (the entire trinity) we often think about the global/universal/creation – big picture nature of God. The Gospel today reminds us that God is intensely personal and considers our daily activities. He desires good things for our lives – even when in the scope of divinity, those good things seem trivial. If all things matter to God, then perhaps they should matter to us. |
| Revised Common Lectionary Daily Readings, copyright © 2005 Consultation on Common Texts. www.commontexts.org |
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