the great thanksgiving--the most exquisite wine
“On the third day a wedding took place at Cana…when the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, ‘They have no more wine.’ ‘Woman, why do you involve me?’ Jesus replied. ‘My hour has not yet come’… Jesus said to the servants, ‘Fill the jars with water…Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.’ … The master of the banquet tasted the water than had been turned into wine…and said, ‘Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.’” from John 2:1-11
Practically speaking, a host who wants to impress, serves his guests the best wine first, when the palate of those imbibing is most discerning, when they will appreciate the bouquet…that hint of oak, that slight flavor of citrus. By the time they’ve had a few glasses, the guests are a bit tipsy. Food’s been served, so there are other flavors mingling on their tongues, and the buzz that they are feeling encourages them to drink more, no matter what the wine tastes like.
At his mother’s request, Jesus rescued a wedding host who had run out of wine. Jesus had never done a public miracle before this event, and he cautioned her that to do so now would change nothing for her, but it would change everything for him. There would be no going back to anonymity once his power was unveiled. And yet, this late in the party, he could have done a miracle with less panache. He could have turned the water into “house wine”. He didn’t have to turn it into Dom Perignon!
What does it mean that he made a most exquisite wine? What difference does it make to us?
Jesus himself would one day BE our wine. Within three years of this moment, he would offer his shed blood to cover our sinful tendencies, our willful and unintentional offenses… not only the harm we do, but our neglect of the needs of others…the good that we might have brought into the world but haven’t. And even before covering us with that atoning sacrifice, at the last supper he explained that he would offer it to us to drink--to drink that blood offering, that most exquisite wine in the Eucharist each Sunday. To savor HIM on our tongues, to relish HIS sweet bouquet.
Is that how we approach God? Do we come to savor him? Do we relish his beauty? Or do we go through the motions of the Eucharist, the Great Thanksgiving, thinking any slapdash job will do? It might be enough. But have we lost the enjoyment that might be ours if we let the exquisite wine of Jesus linger on our tongues?
“Jesus sat amidst all the joy of the wedding feast, sipping the coming sorrow so that today you and I who believe in him can sit among all the world’s sorrow, sipping the coming joy.” Edmund P. Clowney
That is quite a reason to be thankful this Thanksgiving.
Love, Liz
Photo of my father and uncle pouring wine at our wedding in 1974.
