Third Sunday of Epiphany
“Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.”
Summary
I love a short reading but Genesis 14:17-20 is a little too short. In it Abram gives one tenth of what he has to the priest, Melchizedek, seemingly in return for having been granted victory in battle. Out of context it seems a little transactional, especially when set against Jesus’ extravagant gift of gallons of wine at the wedding of Cana in John 2:1-11. The wider story tells of Abram refusing a huge gift from the king of Sodom, whose people Abram has released from capture. Abram does not want to be in the king’s debt. He went to war, not for gain, but to set people free. In the gospel no one, except the servants, knows where the miraculous gift of wine came from. The wedding guests would typically provide gifts of wine in advance which would place the host in their debt. Jesus does not want the wedding host in his debt, he wants to set him free. God’s blessings are not transactional: we don’t earn them and we are not expected to repay them. The miracle of the water transformed in wine at Cana reveals the abundance of God’s generosity but it also reveals its purpose: it is to set us free. How can we, who receive such an abundance of God’s gifts, use them to set others free?
FIRST READING
Genesis 14:17-20
After his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley). And King Melchizedek of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was priest of God Most High. He blessed him and said,
‘Blessed be Abram by God Most High,
maker of heaven and earth;
and blessed be God Most High,
who has delivered your enemies into your hand!’
And Abram gave him one-tenth of everything.
GOSPEL
John 2.1-11
On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, ‘They have no wine.’ And Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come.’ His mother said to the servants, ‘Do whatever he tells you.’ Now standing there were six stone water-jars for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to them, ‘Fill the jars with water.’ And they filled them up to the brim. He said to them, ‘Now draw some out, and take it to the chief steward.’ So they took it. When the steward tasted the water that had become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward called the bridegroom and said to him, ‘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.’ Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.
