作者Revd Sally Hitchiner 聖馬田堂副主任牧師 你有沒有曾幾何時自己的儲備已所剩無幾?如果你有這樣的感覺,那麼今天福音書所講的正適合你的需要。耶穌時代的人,生活非常艱苦。要真正了解這個故事,我們需要明白當時的人所面對的……即是:父權制和貧窮。 讓我們一起走進他們的世界。 女人是負累。妻子是另一張要吃飯的嘴,她無法像男人一樣去賺取工資。在一個壽命不長、影響力僅限於你所屬村莊的世界裡,唯一有意義的希望就是你的子孫會記得你。婚姻是生活中少數的安慰,但真正的重點是,孩子是其中一個有望實現有意義事情的少數途徑。 因此,婚禮是喜慶事。家庭之間會提出配婚的建議,並同意價錢。新郎會前往新娘的村莊,與她和她的家人見面,如果他們喜歡對方,就會訂婚。然後新郎會回到自己的村莊準備建造家園。他的家人將開始為婚禮儲錢。他們會聘請一位管筵席的人 —— 一位受人尊敬的社區族長,他將確保婚禮按應有的方式進行——體面而愉快。當一切準備好後,年輕的新郎就會回來接新娘。新郎會帶新娘回到他所準備好的住處。他們會舉行一些儀式,然後他們會為兩個村莊舉行為期七天的盛宴——有食物、舞蹈……還有美酒。 這場婚禮出了問題:酒用完了。這是一件大事。那裡沒有超市,不可以多買幾瓶酒。但更重要的是,在以榮譽為本的文化中,在七日盛宴的第三天喝完酒,對新郎的未來極為不利。你怎可能會和一個連自己婚禮所需的酒都準備不到的男人有來往呢?在發生這樣的事件之後,他們的整個大家庭可能會被嫌棄,如果他們被嫌棄的話,這真是恥辱。跟著,他們會挨餓。 這聽起來像是整個國家的經驗。他們本應舉辦一場盛宴,讓世界看到上帝的良善,但他們因持續的壓迫而疲憊不堪,只得再次卑微求全,且事事批評。他們的酒已經用完了。在約翰福音中,馬利亞通常是代表猶太人,她在這裡以沒有丈夫的女人身分說話,「他們沒有酒了」。她這句話沒有褒意,全是事實。馬利亞得到了同樣直率的回應。 「婦人,這個和你我有什麼相干?」 耶穌不是稱她為「母親」,而是稱她為「婦人」。我們沒聽錯吧?耶穌剛剛對母親發脾氣了嗎?難道她插手了一件本該由管筵席的人處理的事嗎?希臘文原文說:「婦人,我和這個有什麼相干?」甚至「婦人,我和你有什麼相干?」 這是一個女人和一個男人的事情,就像創世之初一樣,兩個人本應該盡情慶祝,但現在,因為一件事,即短缺的果子和隨之而來的恥辱,他們之間出現了巨大的鴻溝。這是關於人類整體與自身以及上帝的競爭和衝突。「婦人,我和你有什麼相干?」耶穌對他自己問題的回答解明了這一點。 「我的時候還沒到。」 在約翰福音的其他地方,每當耶穌談到他自己的時候,他指的是他自己的死亡。這是唯一真正重要的缺乏。有一杯酒要喝,不是溫暖心靈的酒,而是恥辱和痛苦的酒。耶穌會和你一起喝完全杯,直到最後一滴。 耶穌與人類有什麼相干?事實上,在他去世的那一刻,他與我們深深相連。神的聖子拒絕放開我們的手,即使這意味著他以人的身分與我們一起死在這裡。事實上,相干、相連正是這個意思。 當耶穌喝盡苦杯,上帝喜樂的巨大水庫——酒——就開始自由地湧流。 這裡有六個石缸,用於儀式化潔淨。在當時的文化中,當你聽到數字「6」時,感覺有點像我們聽到數字「99」——這是用數字方式表示「即將到來」或「尚未到來」的意思。那麼這最後一個器皿在哪裡呢? 事實上,耶穌就是最後一個器皿。他盛載的不是酒,而是血,並且他的血毫無保留地傾倒。在那一刻,這器皿就像創造的最後一天一樣,讓其餘六個器皿變得有意義。當耶穌觸碰道德儀式的水時,他的血把水分子洗成酒。水終於找到自己的意義,不是作為水來去除污垢和恥辱,而是作為酒來慶祝和帶來愉悅。 當耶穌供應酒時,他顯示自己是真正管筵席的人、真正的新郎。這場婚禮管筵席的人失敗了,新郎沒有做新郎該做的事。但沒關係。 另一位新郎來了。他是真正的供應者,他供應的酒,比任何人以前品嚐過的更好。這裡有一位丈夫,與他們相干、相連。即使人類遠離我們的上帝,上帝也沒有放棄看顧以色列的應許。 如果你今天在信仰上遇到短缺,那就以馬利亞為榜樣。 禱告不必太複雜。即使你發現自己缺乏信心,也可以與神坦誠對話。如果你大禍臨頭,不要害怕對上帝說「沒有酒了」。 有時,坦誠對話會開展故事的另一章。 Do you ever feel like you are taking the last of your reserves?
If you feel you do, then today’s Gospel is for you. For people in Jesus’ day, life was very hard; to really get into this story we need to see it through the expectations of the day… patriarchy and poverty. Let’s immerse ourselves in their world. Women were expensive. A wife was another mouth to feed, one who couldn’t earn wages like a man could. What made it worth it, was that in a world where lifespans were not long, and influence was limited to your immediate village, the only hope of significance was that your children’s children would remember you. Marriage was one of life’s few comforts but the real focus was that the children were one of the few ways to hope to achieve something meaningful. And so, a wedding was met with joy. The families would suggest a match and agree the price. The groom would travel to the bride’s village, meet her and her family and if they liked each other, they would become betrothed. He would then return to his village to prepare, to build a home. And his family would start saving for the wedding. They would hire a master of the feast – a respected patriarch of the community who would ensure that everything was as it should be – respectable and enjoyable. When it was all ready, the young groom would return to collect his bride. He would take her back to the house he had prepared for them to live together. There were some rituals, then they would have a feast for both their villages going on for 7 days - food and dancing… and wine. The problem with this wedding was that the wine ran out. This was a big deal. There were no supermarkets to pick up a few more bottles. But more than this, in an honour-based culture, to have run out of wine on the third day of a seven-day feast was disastrous for the future of the groom. Why would you go into business with a man who couldn’t even get enough wine for his own wedding? Such was the shame following an event like this that their entire extended family could be shunned and if they were shunned. They would starve. This sounds like the experience of the entire nation. They were supposed to be hosting a party for the world to see the goodness of God but they had been so worn down by the constant oppression they had shrunk back into meagre survival and judgementalism. THEIR wine had run out. Mary often represents the Jewish people in John’s gospel and she speaks here as a woman without a husband, “They have no more wine” Nothing positive here. Just the flat facts. Mary got an equally blunt response. “Woman, what does this have in common with you and I?” Jesus doesn’t call her “Mother” but “Woman”. Did we hear that right? Did Jesus just snap at his mother? Was she interfering in a matter that should have been dealt with by the master of the feast? The actual Greek says “Woman, what do I have in common with this?” or even “Woman, what do I have in common with you?” This is a woman and a man like at the beginning of time, two human beings who should have been celebrating in abundance but who now, because of the one thing, the fruit that was scarce and the following shame, find a great chasm between them. This is about the whole of humanity in competition with, at odds with itself and with God. “Woman, what do I have in common with you?” It is Jesus’ answer to his own question that makes sense of this. “My hour has not yet come.” Everywhere else in John’s gospel where Jesus talks about his hour, he is referring to his death. This only scarcity that really matters. There is a cup to be drank, not of wine to warm the soul, but of shame and suffering. Jesus will join you drinking it all, every last drop. What does Jesus have in common with humanity? It turns out that, at the hour of his death, he has everything in common with us. God the Son refuses to let go of our hand even if it means he dies here with us as a human being. It turns out being in common is EXACTLY what this is about. But once Jesus has drained the cup of suffering, the great, vast reservoir of God’s joy, the wine, is now freely flowing. There were six stone water jars used for ritualised cleansing. In that culture, when you hear the number six, it felt a bit like when we hear the number 99 – it is a numerical way of saying “almost there” or “not yet come”. So where is this final vessel? Well, it turns out, Jesus is the final vessel. He carries not wine but blood and when that blood is poured out without measure. In that hour, this vessel, like the final day in creation, makes sense of the other six. As Jesus touches the waters of ritualised morality, his blood washes their molecules into wine. They finally find their significance, not as water to get rid of dirt and shame but as wine to celebrate and delight. And as Jesus provides wine he is revealing himself as the true Master of the Feast, the true bridegroom. The Master of the feast of this wedding had failed, the bridegroom has not done what bridegrooms were supposed to do. But it’s ok. Another bridegroom is here. He is the true provider, with better wine than anyone has ever tasted before. There is a husband, here, in common with them. God has not given up the promise to look after Israel, even when humanity is far from our God. If you are scraping the barrel in your faith today, then find yourself in Mary’s example. Prayer doesn’t have to be complicated. Even if you find yourself empty of faith, have an honest conversation with God. If you are facing utter disaster, don’t be afraid to say to God “there is no more wine.” Sometimes an honest conversation is what begins another part of the story.
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