[Propertalk] 2 Epiphany - Jan. 17, 2010 - Sermon quotes - Part 7

[Joe Parrish]

"Marriage is something which happens in and to the whole church," the contemporary Orthodox theologian Vigen Guroian writes, "for it is an institution with a purpose that transcends the personal goals or purposes of those who enter into it."

http://www.baylor.edu/christianethics/MarriageStudyGuide3.pdf

Robert B. Kruschwitz
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In John, these sort of actions - changing water into wine, for example - are not "miracles" - they are SIGNS. John does NOT want us to look at them; he wants us to look at what they point to. 

http://www.holytextures.com/2009/12/john-2-1-11-year-c-epiphany-2-january-14-january-20-sermon.html

David Ewart, 2010
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...too much ritual and purity can poop the party we are intended to be celebrating. 
The key to Jesus' brilliance in this first miracle, is that he doesn't conjure up fresh flagons of wine, he uses the existing and perhaps abandoned ritual vessels for a new and radical purpose.

http://thelisteninghermit.wordpress.com/2010/01/11/101/

Peter Woods, 2010
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 The God that Jesus revealed is a God of lavish liberality, generosity and extravagance. He calls us from emptiness to excess, from the least to the best. Celebrating God's extravagant excess is a prominent theme in the Scriptures.

 In Deuteronomy 14:22-26 the Hebrews are commanded to tithe of their agricultural produce by eating it in the presence of the Lord at a precise time and place. But what if someone was too far away for this to be practical, and still wanted to remain faithful to the command? "Then you shall exchange your produce for money, and bind the money in your hand, and spend the money for whatever your heart desires; and there you shall eat in the presence of the Lord your God and rejoice, you and your household" (Deuteronomy 14:24-26). In other words, to fulfill God's command to tithe, throw a party.

http://journeywithjesus.net/Essays/20100111JJ.shtml

Dan Clendenin, 2010
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John 2:1-11 is the first of Jesus' signs in the first eleven chapters of the gospel of John. The signs are similar to the miracles of the first three gospels but the signs play a distinctive role. First, they reveal (confirm) that Jesus is indeed sent by God. Second, they reveal the character of the heavenly world. The signs demonstrate what the heavenly world is like. Third, the signs reveal that it is possible for people whose biological existence takes place in the world to experience the sphere of heaven now.
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I think (contrary to some scholars) that the wine in the text recollects that the First Testament occasionally uses the symbolism of vineyards for Israel and wine for God's providential abundance (e.g. Is 5:1-7; 25:6; 27:2-6; Jer 31:12; Am 9.13; Hos 2.22; Joel 2.24). The fact that the wine ran out, then, is a theological comment on the emptiness of the Jewish leaders at the time of the fourth gospel. This viewpoint is reinforced by the facts that water is an unremarkable drink associated with the world, and that John's note that the jars were for the Jewish rites of purification. Furthermore, immediately following this event, Jesus cleanses the temple, thus showing the inadequacy of the current practice of Jewish religious leaders (Jn 2:12-23).

http://www.goodpreacher.com/shareit/readreviews.php?cat=28

Ronald J. Allen
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This is also obviously a miracle of transformation and new possibilities. In Cana, Jesus made it possible for the wine of celebration to continue flowing. This reminds us of a central symbol of our faith: Jesus providing for us the wine of a whole new creation that continues to sustain us. Recounting the story of Jesus changing water into wine was John's way of showing that he had come to do nothing less than transform the common into the holy. 

http://www.dfms.org/sermons_that_work_118184_ENG_HTM.htm

Ken Kesselus
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