The Gospel of John, like the book of Genesis, begins with the words "In the beginning…". The first act of creation in the book of Genesis was God hovering over the chaos. God then creates light and darkness. In the account of creation, the unformed deep or chaotic waters are changed by the word of God. God separates the water from the vault of heaven. God creates order in the formless and empty darkness.
There are many parallels between the book of Genesis and John's Gospel – a number can be found in the text we are reflecting on this week. God creates in six days. At the wedding in Cana, there were six stone water jars. Just as God creates light and dark in Genesis, in John's Gospel, Jesus is the light that has come into the world. In John's Gospel, good things happen in light and bad things in the dark. Creation, Genesis tells us, is
brought about by the word of God. God speaks over the formless and empty void, and creation unfolds. In John's Gospel, water is changed into wine by the Word of God, Jesus himself. This day in Cana, Jesus' first miracle, is the first day of the new creation. Jesus is himself, the 'new wine'. The 'wedding feast' began with the universe's original creation, and now the best wine, Jesus himself, has been served.
We are invited to be co-creators with God. We co-create when we choose, daily, to live the values of the Kingdom of God and, in so doing, align our lives, families and communities with those values. There are many formless voids or empty water jars in our society – poverty, gender-based violence, racism, xenophobia – and we are invited to transform these. Doing this brings about a more just society and world. We realise the 'new wine'. Jesus,
the new wine, invites us to become like him, new wine for our world.
How well do you know Jesus, the 'new wine'? Do you strive to develop a personal relationship with him each day?
In what ways do you co-create with God – ways that you live the values of the Kingdom of God concretely in your day to day life?
