The Wedding at Cana of Galilee

The Gospel reading in the New Revised Common Lectionary (NRCL) is John 2:1-11.  In some of our Bibles there are little section titles that describe what is in the following pericope.  Many Bibles label this tale The Wedding at Cana.  But, at least as many choose the heading The Water into Wine.  That’s fine.  There is nothing inappropriate there.  And it is the nature of the sign (John’s preferred designation over miracle).  So, I don’t quibble, I merely find it an interesting observation.

I always double-clutch when I read this narrative, or when I see it referenced.  The reason is that I have been in _way_ too many discussions about this story in which folks try to dispute the nature of the product Jesus produced.  Put simply, they deny that Jesus turned water into real wine.

It is a matter of their teetotalling leanings and a denial that Jesus could, in all righteousness, miraculously produce a beverage that contained alcohol.  In this conviction, they perform all manner of linguistic and logical gymnastics in order to “prove” that Jesus transformed the water into something like fruit juice.  Part of their argument has to do with the quality of the beverage that Jesus offered.  The steward says to the groom, "Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until now. – John 2:10 NRSV  Their contention is that anything containing alcohol must really be undesirable in its taste, so that Jesus, in transforming the water into something else, must have given the wedding guests clear, sparkling, unadulterated juice that obviously (in their estimation) would have had a far more pleasing taste.  Their rationale goes on and on.  In the face of every bit of historical and linguistic indication they steadfastly hold to the position that Jesus would not have given the people at Cana wine.

I do from time to time encounter folks who establish their opinion and then not only cherry-pick from scripture in order to back up their position, but they will warp or misrepresent the Bible in a hardline attempt to support their stand. 

“What does the Bible say?” is my first line of inquiry in approaching life issues.  “What do I think the Bible says?” is much more shaky ground.  And when people seem to twist the witness of scripture in order to confirm a bias, they do a real violence to their argument and to any further appeal to scriptural authority they might employ.

I understand abstinence and teetotalling, I really do.  But wine is wine.  And Jesus did a really good job.