If you read the first two chapters of John\u2019s gospel carefully, you will notice the repetition of a certain phrase: \u201con the next day…\u201d. If you add all these days up, you\u2019ll notice something special. On the first day, John the Baptist talked to the Jews. On the second day, John the Baptist saw Jesus approaching him. On the third day, two of John the Baptist\u2019s disciples began to follow Jesus. On the fourth day, Jesus called Philip and Nathanael. Finally, on the seventh day, Jesus attended the wedding at Cana.<\/p>\n
The seventh day, in Jewish culture, had a very particular meaning. In Genesis, God rested on the seventh day. Jewish law prescribed that the seventh day – the sabbath – be kept holy. What then is John telling us by having Jesus show up at a wedding on the seventh day? In running through seven days, John is replaying the days of creation. The seventh day is the day of rest. It is the day of joy; the day of completion; the day of wine – unless, of course, the wine runs out. And that is exactly what happened in Cana. The wine ran out.<\/p>\n
Of course, the wine always runs out. It is right up there with death and taxes – inevitable and unavoidable. In biblical texts, wine is often associated with joy. In Ecclesiastes, Solomon tells us to \u201cdrink your wine with a merry heart\u201d (9:7). Elsewhere, the prophet Zechariah states \u201ctheir hearts shall be glad as with wine\u201d (10:7). Conversely, the absence of wine results in a lack of joy: \u201cthere is an outcry in the streets for lack of wine; all joy has grown dark; the gladness of the earth is banished\u201d (Isaiah 24:11). When the wine runs out, our hearts sink and happiness is shown to be a fraud. What chance of happiness do we have without wine?<\/p>\n
Our personal experience shows us that the natural order of things will always leave us wanting. We need wine, but we always run out. We yearn for that seventh day – the day of rest that will enliven us for eternity. But our earthly eternities, be they long or short, always end; and our happiness wanes even as it waxes. We lose hope. We might even despair against God. But Christ \u201chas saved the good wine till now\u201d.<\/p>\n
The miracle at Cana points to a promise: Jesus Christ will bring about a seventh day. And on that seventh day, wine will pour forth in abundance. The six stone jars of Cana, which were once filled to the birm, will be drowned in eternity. God himself has promised. The wedding at Cana \u201cwas the first of Jesus\u2019 signs\u201d, and all signs point to a destination. Mary, Mother of God, pray for us, that we might come to the wedding feast of the Lamb.<\/p>\n
Ian Mahood<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 St. Joseph Seminary, Edmonton, Alberta<\/p>\n Fot.\u00a0the-hk.photo.company\/Unsplash.com<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Second\u00a0Sunday in Ordinary Time<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":1957,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,17,18],"tags":[139,155,157,156,42],"class_list":["post-1956","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-strona-glowna-najnowsze","category-strona-glowna-slider","tag-ian_mahood","tag-jesus-christ","tag-ordinary-time","tag-second-sunday","tag-seminaries"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n