Sometimes you can’t keep some people quiet. A friend just became a grandmother for the first time. We didn’t even get a chance to ask her how things were going with her pregnant daughter. As soon as she joined a group of us at our restaurant table she announced in a voice louder than her usual, “I am a grandmother!” Folks at tables around us smiled, a few clapped and others called out, “Congratulations grandma!” My friend was not only delighted, but relieved, since her daughter’s pregnancy had been difficult. Those months of waiting must have seemed like an eternity to everyone.
There is a similar exuberant announcement in our Isaiah reading today. It also takes place after a long period of waiting. The first part of Isaiah (chapters 1-39) was addressed to the people in exile. Now we are in a later part of the book called Trito-Isaiah (chapters 40-55) when the people of Judah are about to return home to Jerusalem. The prophet sounds like a rejoicing family member, only the joy isn’t about the birth of a child, but the rebirth of a once-devastated people.
The nation was once called “Forsaken” and “Desolate.” But now the people are going to be reborn and they will be given new names, “My Delight” and “Espoused.” The prophet reminds me of my friend, the new grandmother, because he can’t keep the news to himself, “for Jerusalem’s sake I will not be quiet….” My friend’s good news announcement overflowed to those around us in the restaurant. So shall it be for Judah. Other people who knew of her former dire straits and called her “Forsaken” and “Desolate” will now hear about the things God has done for Judah and about the new relationship the people will have with their God.
The people believed they were taken into exile because they sinned by worshiping other gods. So, a return from exile would be more than just going home. It would signal they were now forgiven and reconciled with God. The new names given them would reveal a different and intimate relationship with God.
Who is the “God of the Old Testament?” Isaiah gives us a very clear picture. In the last verse he refers to “your Builder.” That sounds like God did a work a long time ago. But God didn’t just create the nation. When they sinned God took them back, not grudgingly, but with the passionate love of a spouse. “As a young man marries a virgin, your Builder shall marry you; and as a bridegroom rejoices in his bride so shall your God rejoice in you.” It’s the language of marriage isn’t it?” We can see why this reading is linked today to our gospel, the wedding feast of Cana.
There are also celebratory sounds in the background of our gospel today, after all, it’s a wedding. That’s the place and occasion where John has Jesus begin his public ministry, at a wedding. Having heard the Isaiah passage first, we come to John’s account at Cana, keeping in mind the Isaian imagery of God’s promised espousal with the people. “You shall be called, ‘My Delight,’ and your land, ‘Espoused.’”
It’s clear that John is not just telling us about Jesus’ providing an abundance of wine for a newly married couple’s wedding in Cana. This little domestic scene signals the much larger memory of Israel’s circuitous, on-again-off-again relationship with God. God is doing what Isaiah promised, taking the initiative to permanently take a people to God’s self. So a wedding is an appropriate place to announce Jesus’ public entrance into the life of Israel. The bridegroom has come to claim his bride, the “Espoused.”
Remember, that in another place Isaiah promised, “On this mountain the Lord of hosts will provide for all peoples a feast of rich food and choice wines, juicy rich food and pure, choice wines” (Isaiah 25:6). No, Cana is not merely a small town once-and-only wedding. Jesus is the host at a wedding between God with God’s people and he is the one who provides “choice wines.” (Jesus is beginning his ministry, but he is also giving us a glimpse into the end times when we will be at a banquet with our God and one another — “on this mountain.”)
John’s Gospel does not have an account of the institution of the Eucharist. But it is a very “Eucharistic gospel” with allusions to the Eucharist throughout. He concludes the Cana story by saying, “Jesus did this as the beginning of his signs….” The Eucharist we are at today is one of the signs Jesus continues to give us. Isaiah’s prophecy is fulfilled as we gather “on this mountain” and we are given “choice wine” to drink. Jesus is not only the host at this wedding/eucharistic banquet, he is our very food and drink.
We mentioned two weeks ago that the feast of the Epiphany opened up a series of manifestations of Jesus to us: there was the Epiphany feast itself; followed last week by the Baptism of Jesus and today by Jesus’ appearance at Cana. At the wedding feast John tells us Jesus “revealed his glory” to his disciples, who “began to believe in him.” It’s a nice ending to a charming story, but it’s more. We heard the story, have we also seen Jesus’ glory?
We commonly use “glory” to speak of a person’s fame, which comes as a result of spectacular acts. We also say things like, “What a glorious meal!” to complement a cook. But in the Bible, glory refers to a person’s inner quality or power that evokes respect from others. Glory is most appropriately attributed to God as we acclaimed at our Eucharist today, “Glory to God in the highest.”
The miracle at Cana reveals the inner qualities and true identity of Christ. It also helps us see the presence of God’s glory in him. John is promising us there will be more to come, more “signs” that will manifest God’s glory in Christ. We will journey through John’s Gospel with the gift of sight our baptism gives us — all the way up to the glory revealed to us by Christ on the cross. So, when John tells us at the close of the Cana account, that Jesus revealed his glory to his disciples, he is already linking us to the passion narrative, when Jesus’ “hour” comes.