THE SPIRITUAL DIRECTOR

By the Rev Dr Liz Hoare

It is no accident that Jesus’ first miracle, or sign, took place at a wedding. Having chosen his first five disciples, we might expect Jesus to take them away to teach them about what following him would mean. Perhaps we imagine a kind of leadership training course. Instead he takes them to a wedding.

Jewish weddings went on for days and the keynote was joyous celebration. A wedding is a celebration of love and it is this Gospel that later records Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus and the words ‘For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, so everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life,’ (3:16).

Our final destiny is to be caught up into the eternal love of God and held there forever. What better occasion to signal that the time had come for God to act. What do you imagine Jesus doing at this wedding? It seems that he was fully involved in the party, sharing in the couple’s joy and conversing with the friends and relatives who were there. When he came to the rescue of the couple and turned the water into wine, he would have been aware of the symbolic power of what he was doing.

The prophet Amos had cried: ‘The time is surely coming, says the Lord... when the mountains shall drip sweet wine, and all the hills shall overflow with it. I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel, and they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine,’ (Amos 9:13-14). Jesus turned to the metaphor in his teaching using the wedding feast as the basis of one of his parables (Mt 22:2).

The early Church held on to the image of the heavenly banquet, the marriage supper of the Lamb. It is a sumptuous image of the climax of history when love will be celebrated by Christ and his bride, (Rev 19:7). Wine will surely flow in abundance on this occasion too. Joy and celebration are characteristics of the people of God because this is our final destiny. How does this affect our daily walk with God?

We may look forward with anticipation in such a way that it colours all that we do and are. We are people who have been invited and are longing for the day to come. All that is wonderful here and now will pale into insignificance on the day of this feast. All that is a struggle, or that is painful, or that is dull and grey will fade in an instant and joy will replace all sorrow.

The early Christians were full of anticipation. Some of the last words of the Bible reiterate the invitation: ‘The Spirit and the Bride say ‘come’! Come, Lord Jesus!’ (Rev 22:17). At the heart of this longing is the response to God’s love that reaches out to us in the present as well as the future, transforming our lives as we are being prepared for the eternal banquet of the kingdom. The Rev Dr Liz Hoare (nee Culling) is tutor in prayer, spirituality and mission at

Wycliffe Hall