Readings and Reflections for the Second Sunday after the Epiphany
Dear Friends,
Isaiah 62 uses the language of relationship and marriage to describe the rescue of Israel from exile. The defeat and exile of the Jews was understood by their prophets to be the consequence of their infidelity to the (marriage) covenant with the Lord. But the Lord refuses to accept this, and in spite of their infidelity, the Lord delights to unite with (marries) his people once again.
John’s Gospel presents us today with the first sign of Jesus – changing water to wine at a wedding. John plainly tells us that Jesus did this to “reveal his glory… and his disciples believed in him.” The gospel story as it continues will also show that other people come to a different conclusion about Jesus, ultimately rejecting and not believing him. All of the words and deeds of Jesus require a response from us to this question: is the divine life present in and through him?
Where the divine presence and life of Jesus is welcomed by faith, divine activity follows. We hear Paul guiding the Corinthian Church so that they might better understand how the divine life is activated among them in a great variety of ways. According to Paul, the Spirit of God is activated in EVERY believer for the good of ALL.
Comment: God loves all, but love requires a response – it must be reciprocated. God can truly celebrate and rejoice with those who respond to him with a trusting and welcoming faith. God wants to reveal his glory to everyone – to you, to me! God wants not only to reveal his presence and power, but to share it with us and through us. Jesus isn’t interested in changing water into wine – he is interested in changing people into vessels of God’s gracious activity.