THE FUTURE IS NOW
Isaiah 62:1-5; 1 Corinthians 12:4-11; John 2:1-11
“The Future is Now” was a 1955 short film that went inside government research laboratories to showcase products that would be used in the proximate future: computerized assembly lines, nuclear- and solar-powered batteries, industrial uses for television, video telephones, gadgets for instant home movies, irradiated food, fully automated kitchens… Products used in the future?! Well, the future is now (and has been for decades already)!
That title could well apply to the readings of the day!
The first reading was written after the exiles’ return from Babylon. The hopes with which they had returned home were dashed by the massive task before them: the physical rebuilding of Jerusalem and the spiritual renewal of the people.
But Isaiah looks beyond the present to the end-time, when Israel will be “a glorious crown in the hand of the Lord.” He announces that day as a wedding with God as the bridegroom and Israel as the bride.
In the gospel, by making the turning of water into wine at Cana the first of Jesus’ signs, John announces that the future has arrived. Three indicators!
Jesus worked the sign in the context of a wedding. In the bible, weddings symbolise the era of salvation (Isaiah 54:4-8, 62:4-5; Matthew 8:11, 22:1-14; Luke 22:16-18).
Jesus gave an abundance (120 gallons!) of choice wine. The Old Testament describes the end-time as an era when there is an abundance of wine (Amos 9:13-14; Hosea 14:7; Jeremiah 31:12). Thus, the sign signifies that the era of salvation has arrived; the future is now!
Jesus changed the water meant for purification rites into wine. He transformed jugs, unwieldy symbols of the old way, into wineskins, harbingers of the new. The time for ritual cleansing has passed, the time for celebration has begun; the future is now!
But wait! If the future is now, if the era of celebration and rejoicing is here, why is there so much suffering and sadness? Why is there so much despair?
Perhaps, we do not allow the Lord to enter our lives. The Wedding of Cana portrays the outcome of the combination of human and divine activity. Human beings can fill water jars; only God turns water into wine. Human beings do the ordinary and commonplace activity; God brings it to life. God transforms whatever and whomever he touches.
We need to bring God into our lives. We need to “do whatever he tells” us. Then, for us, too, the future will be now!
No comments:
Post a Comment