Jesus and six jars of water turned into wine
2nd Sunday of Ordinary time, 20th Jan 2013
English Homily – Father Andreas Kurniawan, OP
I believe that all of us have seen magic show in TV before. It’s not too difficult to do, but you need to practice it, because it’s a trick, magic trick. However, in today’s Gospel, what Jesus did was not magic trick, He did His miracle, the first miracle. It’s not healing miracle, or the miracle of the resurrection of dead people, but it’s a miracle for family, for people getting married. Why is Jesus’ first miracle was for family and for married couple? Because family is the foundation of the Church.
And how can we see the miracle? First, let’s look at the process of the miracle: It was the SERVANTS who witnessed the miracle first. It is stated: the servants knew how and where the wine came. Because they OBEYED Mary who told them TO DO WHATEVER JESUS told them to do. So they put water into the old jar. And the water is not even purified water. It symbolizes all of us here: all of us come to Jesus bringing our water which is ourselves. Some of us bring clean, drinkable water; some of us bring dirty, unpurified water because of our many sins which are not yet purified. Yet if we want Jesus to work the miracle of transformation of our water into wine, we MUST bring our water whatever condition it may be, dirty or clean, we bring ourselves to Jesus and let Him do the miracle of transformation… Also let us look at the old jars. The old jars symbolize our position/ role in our families, work, ministry in the church, etc. We come to Jesus whoever we are, clean or dirty, and we let Him transform us into wine so we can bring joy in our role/position, wherever we are.
The second step to see the miracle is to look for AN ANGEL, like Mary, who brings us closer to God. A few days ago, a friend of mine came and told me that last Christmas, he received a miracle, the transformation of his life from tasteless, even bitter, water into sweet wine. And it came from his elder son who came back for holiday after working abroad. They went to Christmas Mass together, and asked about the financial condition of the family. He felt that his son cared for him, he felt loved. “Sekarang hidupku berwarna, romo, tidak seperti dulu, hidup rasanya pahit sekali.”
The third step to see the miracle: look at the number of the jars. They were 6 jars. 6 is not perfect, the perfect number is 7: 7 sacraments, forgive others 70 times 7, etc. The Bible mentions many 7s. But in the wedding of Cana, it was only 6. Where is the other one? It is Jesus Himself which adds up to the number and made it 7. ONLY JESUS CHRIST, not other magicians! There are so many magicians today in our times, dukun, paranormal, etc. Some people when they are sick, they do not go to Jesus for the miracle of healing but they go to dukun who does not miracle but magic trick. It seems that he succeeds in healing you, but there’s always something else that follows: after you are healed, you must continue to do this and that; you must visit the dukun regularly, etc. They are not free of charge. Only our God gives real miracles totally free of charge! So 6 jars + Jesus = miracle.
When I was ordained as a deacon, I was amazed because I could perform miracles: the sacrament of baptism and marriage. Although a deacon cannot do the sacrament of pengakuan dosa dan sakramen Ekaristi, but he is allowed to baptize and give sacrament of marriage! Jadi deacon = perform miracles! Because sacraments are miracles. They show us the living God in our lives.
Wine symbolizes joy, happiness. No wine means no joy, no taste. If you want the water of your lives to be transformed into wine, remember the 3 steps: (1) be a servant who obey what Jesus tells you to do; (2) look for an angel like Mary; (3) invite Jesus Christ ONLY and let Him perform the miracle as He wish. We are not perfect. All of us are sinners who want to be saints. To see the miracle of transformation of a sinner into a saint, that is, continuous miracles again and again in our lives, we MUST do the 3 steps.
If you have many problems in your families, jangan stress, jangan bingung, serahkan hidupmu pada Tuhan and He will perform the miracles of transformation in your families and lives.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. Amen.
