Celebration

Mary's Diary is an imaginary view of the Gospel and early Acts - it's aim is to get underneath the familiar words and stories. Here's a sample - click here for the full Diary.


Extract 49
I love weddings! Maybe it's because I never had a proper one, maybe this time I'm so excited because Jesus will be there. Joanna, one of our cousins from Cana has a daughter getting married and we've all been invited. Jesus has to attend as head of our household – not that I care why, I haven't seen him since that dreadful day at the Synagogue, it will be nice to relax and celebrate again. Of course he won't be there alone. He seems to have gathered a strange group of friends, from what I hear, they're not the sort of group you'd choose to have at a party. Tax Collectors are bad news at any time, not exactly guaranteed to bring joy to a party! But I'm most worried about the Zealots in the group. They're basically terrorists hiding behind a political party. They scare me – I just hope there won't be any trouble.

Extract 50
There was trouble, but not the sort I had feared. On the third day of the party, they ran out of wine. Maybe Jesus' friends drank more than planned, maybe there were just more people because of the 12 of them. Whatever, the wine ran out. Joanna was desperate, the shame was too much for her. I knew what it was like not to be offered hospitality, I knew what it was like to have your dreams of a proper wedding shattered by shame. I couldn't stand it. I went to Jesus and explained the problem. He wrestled with it – he said 'it's not my time' – he thought I'd understand that, it's what we had told him when he was 12. But if it's time to leave home, if it's time to begin ministry, it's time to start replacing shame with honour. My eyes pleaded. Still he hesitated. 'What's this to do with me' he tried. I wanted to scream 'everything', it's got everything to do with you. Do you know how I longed for a proper wedding instead of a quick prayer? Do you know how much I long for your wedding, knowing there won't be one? Do you know what it feels like to have your friends and family ashamed of you? I can't bear any more – do something! My voice remained silent, but my eyes blazed. Tears began to fill Jesus eyes, he put his hand on my shoulder and nodded. I turned and told the servants to do whatever he said.

Extract 51
I don't know what I expected him to do. I'm not even sure what he did. The next I heard the chief steward was shouting for everyone's attention. Poor Joanna, she must have thought he had discovered there was no more wine – she had seen a servant taking him a cup of water. He banged the cup on the table and said 'At ordinary parties, they serve the best wine at the beginning then when everyone's too drunk to notice they serve up what might as well be water.' I thought Joanna was going to faint and my own heart sank. But before I could go to help, he carried on 'but in this great house, your hospitality knows no bounds – you've saved the best wine till last'. There was clapping and cheering - and a great deal more drinking! I looked at Joanna, happier and taller than I'd ever seen her before, I saw her daughter with her new husband laughing and dancing. And then I saw Jesus. He'd been watching me the whole time. He had that mischievous twinkle in his eye and a gentle smile on his face. He walked across the room and as he passed by he whispered

'New wine. New wineskins. A surprising celebration on the third day. You're right, it has everything to do with me'

Behind the Diary John 2: 1-12 Luke we know from what he writes sets out to record 'an orderly account'. John, writing many years later has a different purpose. His ordering of events is to do with importance not sequence. He describes John the Baptist as 'the greatest of the prophets' meaning the last in line, the ultimate old covenant prophet. Now, in a similar vein he tells this wonderful story describing it as 'the first of the signs'. Not in sequence necessarily, but in importance. My guess is that we wouldn't naturally view it in this way. It isn't as profound as the blind receiving sight nor as dramatic as the feeding of the five thousand.Yet John is right. This miracle embodies the heart of the gospel, the heart of what God has come to accomplish and sets the context for everything else. We are designed for welcome into the heart of a loving triune God. Hospitality is at the heart of love, and love is at the heart of who God is. Yet we have made the world inhospitable and we have become inhospitable - as dramatically witnessed at Jesus own birth. We were designed for celebration and enjoyment, yet sin has diminished this to occasional pleasure in the midst of a life often characterised by struggle. In that context, Jesus comes to Cana and to a wedding. Marriage is the ultimate picture of the relationship God longs for us to enjoy with Him. Above all else it should be a joy filled occasion representing the highest hospitality - a man and woman inviting the other into the very heart of their lives. A hospitality echoed by the friends and family invited to witness and celebrate this great occasion. Yet as with our lives, shame threatens to invade and despoil. In place of abundant hospitality, the wine runs out. Who can redeem this situation? Who can restore the possibility of true hospitality, who can open for us a door into the heart of God, who can turn shame into celebration? Jesus! On the third day, the wine, the representation of life and joy, begins to flow again. 'This, the first of the signs, Jesus did in Cana'.