Perspective: Loosen Up

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Loosen Up

There is nothing better for mortals than to eat and drink, and find enjoyment in their toil.  This also, I saw, is from the hand of God; for apart from him who can eat or who can have enjoyment?

Ecclesiastes 2:24-25 (NRSV)

Dance, then, wherever you may be

I am the Lord of the Dance, said He

And I'll lead you all, wherever you may be

And I'll lead you all in the Dance, said He

From "Lord of the Dance" by Sydney Carter

In the Gospel of John, we read that Jesus once attended a wedding celebration with His disciples.  At one point, His mother Mary, who was apparently one of the wedding planners,¹ came to Him and told Him that they were about to run out of wine.  Jesus agreed to help,² and Mary instructed the servants to do whatever He told them to do.  There were six large stone jars at the venue, and Jesus told the servants to fill each of the jars to the brim with water.  Once the jars were filled, He told them to draw some water from one of the jars and to take it to the chief wedding planner.  By the time the wedding planner tasted the water, it had transformed into wine.³

I suggested previously that there are no throwaway details in the Gospel story.  This is especially true of the Gospel of John, in which most, if not all, details are symbolic.  In this particular story, both the number of stone jars and the number of days that have elapsed since the event recorded previously are significant.  Also significant is the fact this story is the first of only two in John's Gospel in which Jesus' mother makes an appearance.

That said, I want to take a step backward and make a couple of general observations about Jesus' miracle.

First, the miracle is extravagant.  John notes that each of the six stone jars Jesus used to transform water into wine held up to thirty gallons.  Considering that a standard wine bottle holds seven hundred fifty milliliters, Jesus produced as much as nine hundred bottles of wine!⁴  Furthermore, we read that when the chief wedding planner tasted the wine, he was surprised to find that it was the better than any of the other wine that had been served at the wedding.  Typically the best wine was served first, and the cheap, inferior wine was served after the guests had already had a few drinks and had started care less about the taste.

Second, the miracle is subversive.  John points out that the stone jars were used for cleansing rituals.  People used such water jars to wash their feet before entering a house and to wash their hands before eating.  According to the religious scholars of the day, if one did not wash one's hands before each course of a meal, then one's hands were ritually unclean.⁵  The matter of ritual hand washing was a point of contention between Jesus and His critics.  In other Gospel accounts we read that, on one occasion, some of the religious leaders felt it necessary to ask Jesus why His disciples didn't wash their hands before they ate.  He responded to them rather harshly, saying that their priorities were out of order and that their hearts were far from God.⁶

In summary, Jesus repurposed some jars that were intended for ritual hand washing, which was very important to some people, to produce an abundance of vintage wine.  Perhaps one lesson we can glean from this story is that sometimes we need to loosen up - to stop taking everything so seriously and simply enjoy the abundant goodness of life.

One day, Jesus was asked why His disciples did not fast when others fasted.  Jesus replied, "You cannot make wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them, can you?  The days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days."⁷  In other words, it is inappropriate to fast during a wedding celebration, to which Jesus compared His disciples' lives at the moment.  There are somber occasions in life when things like fasting are appropriate, but, for the most part, life is meant to be celebrated.

In Ecclesiastes, a king tells of his search for meaning in life.  He pursued wisdom, accumulated wealth, and made a name for himself, and he looked back on all he had accomplished and found that it was all utterly meaningless.⁸  He concluded that "there is nothing better for mortals than to eat and drink, and find enjoyment in their toil."  Perhaps it is better to pursue joy than to pursue meaning.  When meaning in life seems elusive, we can still enjoy the simple pleasures of life like food and drink, and we can choose to take pleasure in the work one has to do.

Sometimes we need to be reminded, amid the busyness and frustrations of our lives, that life is meant to be enjoyed.  I encourage you, the reader, to take some time in the coming days to slow down and enjoy the extravagant goodness of life.


Notes:

1. William Barclay.  The New Daily Study Bible: The Gospel of John, Volume One.  2001, Saint Andrew Press.  p. 112
2. According to the New Revised Standard Version, Jesus says, "Woman, what concern is that to you and to me?"  In most other English translations, Jesus says something similar.  Scholar William Barclay suggests that what Jesus said was an idiom that would be better translated as follows: "Lady, let me handle this in my own way." (Barclay, pp. 111, 114-115)
3. John 2:1-10
4. 6 jars x 30 gallons/jar x 3.785 liters/gallon x 1 bottle/.75 liters = 908.4 bottles
5. Barclay, pp. 115-116
6. Mark 7:1-13; Matthew 15:1-9
7. Luke 5:33-35 (NRSV)
8. Ecclesiastes 1:12-2:11

Miracle in Cana was painted by Vladimir Makovsky in 1887.