Bible Reading: John 20:1-18
Dear Friends
First events in stories are usually quite important. They set the tone. They help the reader anticipate what is to come. They shape expectations. First events matter.
Each of the four gospels starts with some kind of introduction, an encounter with John the Baptist, and then some form of a calling of the first disciples. And
then each marks the move to Jesus’ ministry by describing a particular event.
In Mark, the first thing Jesus does is cast out an unclean spirit, announcing his
intention to stand against all that would keep the children of God from abundant life. In Matthew, the first major event of Jesus’ public ministry is his sermon
on the mount, where he teaches the crowds from the mountain and comes across as one like Moses who brought down from the mountain. In Luke, Jesus first preaches, announcing his intention to heal and feed and release the captives and bring good news to the poor
First things matter
In John 2:1-11, which is this week’s Gospel reading the first thing Jesus does is go to a wedding. How different from the other three. No healing, no preaching, no
teaching. Just a wedding. More than that, Jesus doesn’t only attend the wedding, but he saves the day, turning water into wine when the wine had run out. Why?
Perhaps the key is a line from John’s Prologue, the profound and poetic introduction to his telling of Jesus’ story. There John writes, “From his fullness, we have all
received grace upon grace” (1:16). Not just grace, mind you, but grace upon grace. An abundance of grace in other words. And that’s the case here, as well.
To run out of wine at a first century wedding would not have been just embarrassing, but disastrous. Wine was associated with blessing, joy, goodness, and more. To run
out of wine would have felt like a curse, like you’d run out of blessing. And Jesus doesn’t just offer enough wine to cover the balance, but turns six huge washing basins of
water into wine, providing more wine and blessing than they could have possibly consumed. More than that, and as the steward acknowledges, it’s the best wine they’ve
had. Jesus, that is, creates abundance. Wine upon wine, blessing upon blessing, joy upon joy, and grace upon grace.
That is the tone of the opening of this narrative, and we should take note because, after all, the first event of a story matters.
Solomzi