Epiphany 2 St Peter’s 26 January 2003
Revd
Mark Bonney
As I was preparing for this
sermon I stumbled across the following splendid phrase which well sums up the
sentiments I want to express about all the readings we’ve heard this morning.
The phrase was this “this passage will prove frustrating for those who wish to
have a clear historical account, of the kind that can be backed up by reliable
supporting evidence. By contrast it will be a delight for those who treasure
literary allusions and traditions and are not greatly concerned about historical
details.”
I’m fascinated by the
way we use language – we rarely use the simply or straightforwardly –
context, tone of voice, all make a huge difference to the meaning – and when
it comes to the scriptures this is equally true; language of metaphor and
simile, parable, story are all used – and let’s face it, when we come to
talk about God language has got to be severely limited because by definition God
will be greater than anything we can in the end express – so if you happen to
think that the scriptures we’ve heard this morning are straightforward history
you’d better shut your ears because I want to delight for a moment in literary
allusions and traditions.
That very peculiar passage
from Genesis we heard first of all is considered by many as a rather peculiar
intrusion into chapter 14. Nothing is known of Melchizedek in historical terms
– here is presented as King of Salem and priest of God Most High. Salem is a
shortened form of Jerusalem – it may be used to link Abraham with that city.
Melchizedek became an important symbolic figure in later traditions – he’s
mentioned in Psalm 110 as the typical High Priest, he’s also mentioned in the
Dead Sea Scrolls. And the theme of Melchizedek as the true priest is taken
further in the letter to the Hebrews where Jesus is credited with priestly
status “According to the order of Melchizedek” (Heb 6.20) –and the writer
of that letter develops the links between Melchizedek and Jesus in a highly
imaginative way in ch 7. In Christian liturgical tradition these verses have
been important because the ‘bread and wine’ of v18 have been seen as
pre-figuring the eucharistic elements – I expect the lectionary compilers
chose this passage to link in with eucharistic hints within the gospel passage.
The passage from
Revelation of course is chosen because of its picture of the marriage of the
Lamb. And some of its allusions will appear as I concentrate on our gospel
passage.
The wedding feast at Cana
is fascinating at a multitude of levels. Unlike any other miracle story it meets
no real urgent need – it’s a ‘luxury miracle’ – teetotallers probably
feel very uncomfortable with it –why should Jesus produce gallons of wine when
the guests have already drunk well?! Of course, honour was involved – it would
have been a matter of shame to run out – the volumes of wine show God’s
great generosity - but there’s much more to it than that as the last verse of
our Gospel reading reveals when it says “Jesus did this the first of his
signs.. and revealed his glory.” A sign points – and this points to many
things
Older writers have
suggested that the contrast between the premier cru of Jesus’ wine and the vin
de table previously served expresses
a contrast between Christianity and Judaism – it has to be said that John’s
gospel has some decidedly anti-Jewish elements within it – but to press this
line today is not very helpful in current climates nor does it help our
understanding of the text.
Without the OT this ‘sign’
loses much of its potency. Weddings, feasts and wine play an important symbolic
role in Jewish thought. Just as a marriage unites two families so marriage is
used in the Bible as a symbol of God’s relationship with his people. Feasts
with food and drink in plenty symbolise God’s generous gift of salvation. In
rabbinic writing the banquet is frequently a metaphor for the enjoyment of life
with God in the world to come. Sometimes people experienced a foretaste of this
enjoyment on earth – in Exodus Moses, Aaron and Elders go up Mount Sinai
and see the God of Israel “Under his feet there was something
like a pavement of sapphire stone, like the very heaven for clearness…. They
beheld God, and they ate and drank.”(Ex 24:10) At Cana, in the context of a
wedding banquet the disciples glimpse the glory of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
As for wine
- psalm 104 speaks of it as gladdening the human heart. Abundance of wine
is one of the messianic age when God will restore the fortunes of Israel –
Isaiah says in ch 25 “On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all
peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines” – and the prophet
Amos in ch 9 foresees a time when “the mountains shall drip sweet wine, and
all the hills shall flow with it.” In the miracle at Cana John is telling his
readers that this messianic age has come.
The bread and wine of
Melchizedek, the marriage of the Lamb and the wine at Cana all prompt and allude
– they have a myriad of possibilities some of which we glimpse within this
eucharist. God can touch the wine of our humanity and turn it into the wine of
his divinity.
You may notice that at the
offertory a little water is added to the wine – this isn’t to avoid
intoxication – rather is a link with one of the levels of meaning in the
gospel. When I add the water I always say a silent prayer “by the mystery of
this water and wine may we share in the divinity of Christ who humbled himself
to share in our humanity.”
Here we are fed with the
generosity of God – in a mysterious way that is beyond words to explain, in
this sacrament we are joined to the death and resurrection Christ which for St
John is what ‘glory’ is all about. The
wine of Cana is a sign of glory – a sign of the last days, a sign of who Jesus
is, a sign of God incarnate in generous and abundant love.
And the signs today? One of the
things we’re called to be are signs of God’s working today – St Teresa of
Avila put it very succinctly when she said that now Jesus has no hands but our
hands, no feet but our feet. By God’s grace it’s our being the people of God
in this place that I hope and pray are the signs of glory today pointing others
to the worship and praise of the one and only living God, Father, Son and Holy
Spirit. Amen.