Who is Jesus? In the spotlight.
John 2.1-11
Who is Jesus? What is it about this young man born in Palestine two thousand years ago that is so attractive? And why should we listen to him? As we begin the second chapter of John’s gospel it is good to see Jesus again through the eyes of those who were attracted to him, those who met him and listened to him, his first disciples.
They may have followed him to the wedding, but the Jesus we meet there is not immediately recognisable as the authoritative charismatic figure to whom John the Baptist pointed. In fact, he comes across as something of a grumpy teenager – the effect that mothers often have on their adult sons! When Mary points out that the wine has run out, Jesus seems to regress, “Woman, what concern is that to you and to me?” Mother, he says, mind your own business! In the harshness of his response we may be reminded of the other times recorded when Jesus appears to reject his mother – in the Temple as a youngster, when he simply says, “Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” (Luke 2.49), and when his family try to get close to him when he is teaching and he responds, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” (Matthew 12.48) I am painfully reminded of the time we travelled to watch our teenage son playing hockey for Wales; arriving at the pitch, we saw him walking towards us with the other team members – eyes slightly cast down, concentration written on his face. His mother was perturbed when he appeared to ignore us and walked right past. He was ‘in the zone’, preparing for the game, far too preoccupied to greet his parents – as he explained to us when we gently challenged him later.
Jesus, too, was focussed; as we move into Lent in a few weeks’ time we shall be reminded of the way in which “he set his face to go to Jerusalem” (Luke 9.51) Jesus drew away from his family in order to exercise his ministry and to fulfil his destiny. His words may seem harsh, but less sharp when tempered with his reflection “My hour has not yet come.” Jesus seems tentative as he enters public ministry and one can understand his reluctance to step forward without a clear sense of his heavenly father’s direction; he’s not sure that this is the right time.
This short exchange with Mary, then, underlines Jesus’ dependence on God – his focus on the ministry God has given him and his desire to get that right. It may seem strange to pick up this slight hesitation, this guarded response, from the one whom Nathanael has just declared to be “the Son of God… the King of Israel…” but we should never let our belief in Jesus’ divinity cloud our recognition of his humanity. It is that humanity that draws me to him, as it drew his first disciples.
Mary, of course, ignores Jesus’s deflection. Is she hearing God’s voice more clearly than Jesus, or is she just stubbornly persistent? “Do whatever he tells you” she says to the servants, with every confidence that Jesus will save the day. Just as surely as John the Baptist in the previous chapter, Mary shines the spotlight on Jesus and we are left in no doubt that his ministry has begun.
“Do whatever he tells you” is, of course, great advice for all those who would be the servants and disciples of Jesus. As we shine the spotlight on him in this short series, asking the question “Who is Jesus?”, I have been extending that question to ask, “Who is Jesus for you?” At this point of the story, it is good to think about our response to Mary’s advice. If you are in church or tuned in to this at home, is that because you want to hear what Jesus is saying to you today, and are you ready to do what he tells you? Is Jesus, for you, your master and your guide? The Jesus we are meeting at the beginning of his ministry is the one who still calls us to follow. So, are we listening?
Listening to Jesus and doing what he tells you may lead to some surprises. In John’s gospel, Jesus’s first miracle is not a healing but an outpouring of generosity, the provision of 120 gallons of the finest wine. Palestinian weddings were a gathering of the clans, a crowded and bustling occasion; and, just like the feeding of the five thousand, Jesus’ provision for the party was more than enough. It was generous and it was the best. As a first sign, it was ostentatious but also strangely secretive. The steward didn’t know where the wine had come from; the guests who tasted it probably didn’t care and didn’t need to know that the host had been saved from embarrassment. Only the servants, the least and the lowest, Jesus’ own disciples, and his mother herself, knew that Jesus was responsible for this miracle.
The sign is significant for his disciples because, as John says, it “revealed his glory”. That’s not just a casual statement akin to “it knocked their socks off”; I’m sure they were pretty amazed, but the significant word here, at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, is “glory”. This is a reference to God who, in the Old Testament, said “my glory I give to no other” (Isaiah 42.8). The domestic act of providing wine for a wedding is here seen as a divine action. Only God could do this. A sign points to something – and this sign points to God, who works generously and joyfully through Jesus at a local celebration of human life and love. This gives us hope that God will work specifically and mercifully in our lives too. In Jesus, the divine draws near.
The spotlight shines on Jesus and demands a response from us. Invitations abound, as we heard last week, “Follow me”, “Come and see”, and now, “Do whatever he tells you”. The spotlight shines on Jesus but the light is divine, and we are seeing more clearly who he is and why he has come. As he will say in my favourite verse from John’s gospel, “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10b) The miracle at the wedding of Cana is a wonderful sign of that abundant life and God’s desire to bless us, as we respond to the call of Jesus, “Follow me”.