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New Wine – William Barclay’s Commentary on Matthew 9:16-17

“No-one, said Jesus, tries to put new wine into old wine-skins.  To put this into modern terms: our minds must be elastic enough to receive and contain new ideas.  The history of progress is the history of overcoming the prejudices of the shut mind. Every new idea has had to fight for its existence against the instinctive opposition of the human mind.  The motor car, the railway train, the aeroplane were in the beginning regarded with suspicion.  Simpson had to fight to introduce chloroform, and Lister had to struggle to introduce antiseptics into the work of the doctor and surgeon. Copernicus was compelled to retract his statement that the earth went round the sun, and not the sun round the earth.  Even Jonas Hanway who brought the umbrella to this country had to suffer a barrage of missiles and insults when he first walked down the street with an umbrella.

“Within the church this resentment of the new is chronic, and the attempt to pour new things into old moulds is almost universal.  We attempt to pour the activities of a modern congregation into an ancient church building that was never meant for them.  We attempt to pour the truth of new discoveries into creeds which are based on Greek metaphysics.  We attempt to pour modern instruction into outworn language which cannot express it.  It may be that we would do well to remember that when any living thing stops growing, it starts dying.  It may be that we need to pray that God would deliver us from the shut mind and give us the open mind. 

“Viscount Samuel was born in 1870 and he begins his autobiography with a description of the London of his childhood.  ‘We had no cars or buses or tube trains; there were no bicycles – except the high penny-farthings; there were no electric light or telephones; no cinemas or broadcasts.’  We are living in a changing and an expanding and a growing world.  These verses are Jesus’ warning that the church dare not be the only institution which still lives in the past.”

Footnote
William Barclay wrote this commentary in 1956, over 50 years ago.  Just think how much society, our awareness of the world around us, our use of technology and our knowledge of the vastness and complexity of the universe have all changed in the five decades since then - and how little the church has changed.  In the early days of the car, a law was passed in 1865 that a man had to walk 55 metres in front of a car with a red flag and the speed restriction in towns was 2 mph.  What’s the equivalent of the Red Flag Act within the church?  Philip Sudworth

Thanks for this thread.Rather than go into a rambling reply, I include a blog article I wrote recently about my response to the same story in John. I think what you say makes a lot of sense. Actually today I don’t think the Church in the UK as a whole has a problem with new scientific revelations but it does find it hard to let go of its own monopoly on truth.

Wedding Secrets

I have recently started reading the Gospel of John. It is somewhat different to the other three gospels. For a start, John’s theology is very notable and he seems to concentrate, in my view, somewhat more on individual relationships between Jesus and various characters in the book.

It is fascinating that John begins Jesus ministry at a wedding in Cana in Galilee. Here Jesus turns water into wine. This ofcourse is a miracle but I’m beginning to learn that there are always more important things to be found underneath the miracle itself.

I must point out here that there is some doubt as to whether the Gospel of John is a literal Gospel. i.e. whether these miracle stories actually took place. Infact there are some who doubt that many of the miracles took place in the other Gospels. We have no real way of confirming either way. The amazing thing to me though is that it is irrelevant whether things like this occurred literally or whether John was writing miracles into the story to highlight the good news and as a counter story to the worship of Caesar or other gods. If we strip down the miracles to metaphor which is what some theoligians think we should do, we still have a Jesus that said and did amazing things, that are revolutionary, that go against the grain of human nature and yet give us a taste of what we are otherwise meant to have become. The story of the wedding is a perfect example.

The story begins with Jesus, His mother and disciples attending a wedding. The wine runs out and Mary turns to her son and informs him as such. Such is her faith that she turns in her motherly role to almost mag her son to do something about it.
“Dear woman, why do you involve me? My time has not yet come.” Jesus replies.
Mary pays no attention and turns to the servants at the wedding and says:
“Do whatever He tells you.”

The opening scene is almost comical. Hardly the scene we would conjur up if we were making up a Gospel and introduceing God incarnates’ ministry on this earth. There are no earth quakes, no flashes of light, no parting of the red sea. Just Jesus being cajoled into sorting out the lack of organisation of the host so that everyone can carry on having a good time.

Next we see that there were six stone water jars each capable of holding 20-30 gallons of water. These were used for ceremonial washing. Jesus instructs the servants to fill them up with water and then to draw some water out and take it to the master of the banquet. It is at this point that we have two scenes running side by side.

The master speaks to the bridge groom and commends him on leaving the best wine till last. Perhaps a testimony of the bridgegrooms generosity and by so stating making a sign of God’s generosity. Here we see the result. Water has been turned into the finiest wine by the tens of gallons in pots that are used in Jewish ritual. Is this an image, an underlying message of what Jesus was about. That Jesus was turning things around. That He was bringing the Kingdom of Heaven to us as opposed us trying to make our way to the Kingdom of Heaven through effort, through ritual cleansing. I believe that each one of the miracle stories is a testimony or vision of the Kingdom of Heaven on earthj and this is no exception. Christ is bringing the bridegroom and the bride together and he is celebrating.

The miracle doesn’t stop here however, because those who are enjoying the party are not aware of what is going on. Even the bridgegroom doesn’t twig what is happening here. Not even the master of the banquet. Almost everyone is enjoying the fruits of what Jesus has done without really know what has happened? Dare I suggest that this is an indicator, a hidden message that we all are tasting the Kingdom of Heaven even if we do not know it. Everyone is invited and is partaking in the party but without really knowing what lies beneath. But there are some who do know what is happening. The disciples are sat observing. John says that this was Jesus first miracle of his ministry. Jesus did this to reveal His glory and as a result the disicples put their faith in Him. But they are not the only ones to whom His glory is reveal. Here, for me, is the real back bone of the story in many ways. The ones who really see everything, those who are actually part of the miracle process are the servants. The people who are not privvy to enjoying the banquet, those who are placed to serve. They are the ones who see Jesus glory in full because they have helped Him perform the miracle. Jesus has made them part of the solution, the Kingdom of Heaven whilst others reap the fruits without knowledge. It is a beautfiul image and perhaps it is John reminding us of Jesus teachings in other Gospels: “Blessed are the poor!” “Blessed are the meek” the ones who will inherit the earth, “always seek the lowest position at the dinnner table,” that we must be like children. The poor, the meek, the lowest, the oppressed, those who do not seek to save their lives, those who do not seek to be part of the wedding banquet but to serve at it. All whose hearts have such characteristics as this will be the ones to see the true Glory.

Let’s look again at the wedding story.  It begins - “on the third day.” What does “on the third day”, bring into the minds of a group of Christians?  - Yes, the resurrection.  So in this story about the start of Jesus’ ministry, we immediately come to a reference that would make people think about the end of Jesus’ ministry.  At the end of this story we find: “He thus revealed his glory.”  “Glory” seems more appropriate to the resurrected Jesus rather than the one just starting out on his ministry, who’s only performed one miracle and that very quietly. 

This story is immediately followed in the 2nd half of chapter 2 by John’s account of the cleansing of the temple, an incident which the other three gospels place at the beginning of Holy Week.  Here Jesus talks about the temple being destroyed and raised again in three days and John points out that Jesus was really talking about his resurrection. (The temple in Jerusalem had been destroyed by the time John was writing.)  It seems that John has brought this incident forward so that his whole gospel is read in the light of how temple sacrifices have been replaced by new life in Jesus.
These clues suggest that we should also read the whole gospel in the light of the first half of the chapter, our story of the wedding in Cana.  It is placed so early in the gospel, because it isn’t just about one miracle; rather it gives us an overview of what the whole gospel is about.  This story isn’t primarily about changing water into wine; it’s more about transforming people.  It’s not just describing a one-off event in the distant past; it’s about how people’s lives can still be changed today. 

For the Jews the vine was a symbol for life.  That’s the meaning behind “I am the true vine.” Wine symbolizes the spiritual essence of life.  {Wine is the blood of the grape – in a culture where blood symbolizes life and meaning.}  The lack of wine then represents a break in people’s relationship with God.  Jesus sets about doing something about the situation.  The water he is dealing with, as I explained earlier, is impure and unfit for drinking.  This represents the vast tide of humanity, with all our failings and imperfections.

Jesus changes the water into not just a respectable wine but an impressive one.  This is telling us that contact with Jesus can transform someone’s life completely, and give it a remarkable richness, regardless of what they have been before.  The new life is lived at a deeper and more intense level.  Zacchaeus had got himself a comfortable life and more than enough money by cheating people but he was unhappy because his life was empty of the things that really matter.  Jesus gives him a new sense of priorities and a purpose for living.

The copious amount of water that is changed shows that there is no limit to the number of people who can benefit from this change.  In the feeding of the 5,000 there were 12 baskets left after everyone was fed.  God’s love and grace is more than enough for everyone.  It is not restricted to a small group of special people who believe certain things – though some people try to make it that.  In the kingdom of God everyone is special; everyone counts and everyone has a role to play.  We have just sung that grace is as “wide as infinity”.  It’s given freely.  It’s abundant and overflowing; it is far beyond any measures or limits that we can set.  It is far beyond our understanding; but we know from experience that it can reach and transform all kinds of people, even those we thought beyond change – and even us.

The whole scene is set at a wedding feast.  One of John’s favourite images in his gospel is to compare our relationship with God to the relationship within a marriage of love, commitment and mutual self-giving.  That is the underlying message of this story.  Faith is a way of living in relationship with God and with others and of being at peace with oneself.  Above all, it is a way of loving.

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