Brief synopsis of the readings: Again from Isaiah God speaks and will not be silent “until [Zion’s] vindication shines forth like the dawn.” Nations will see this and Zion will be God’s delight. John’s Gospel describes Jesus’ first miracle (called “signs” in John). Jesus, Mary and Jesus’ disciples attended a wedding at Cana. The wine ran out prematurely; when Mary found out she told this to Jesus. But Jesus replied: “Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not come.” Mary then instructed the servants to do whatever Jesus tells them. Jesus then told the servants to fill six stone jars with water; each jar held 20 to 30 gallons. But when the headwaiter tasted it he learned it was wine. Not only wine, but an excellent wine. The headwaiter then spoke to the bridegroom and expressed surprise that this superior wine was held out toward the end of the wedding. The Gospel ends with this: “Jesus did this as the beginning of his signs at Cana in Galilee and so revealed his glory, and his disciples began to believe in him.”

I have to confess that this first reading from Isaiah has always puzzled me. Like much of this part of the prophet Isaiah this passages assures God’s people that there is light in their future and their vindication will shine forth like the dawn. But we normally use the word “vindication” as a type of revenge. “You dominated me, and now it’s reversed. I will dominate you.” And while much of the Old Testament was written against the backdrop of battles and warfare it just doesn’t translate well to our ears. We can understand this reading as “that was then, this is now” but there may be something deeper.

And while we’re on the subject does anything sound strange in the discussion between Jesus and Mary in the Gospel? Did he really tell his mother: “Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come.”? That would not have gone well for me, or pretty much anyone I know. And what does “My hour has not come” even mean?

Maybe, just maybe, there is a different way to look at both of these readings. In the last few months we’ve read a great deal from Isaiah and he writes frequently about how the darkness is over and light will flood in. Perhaps the vindication lies in the fact that the darkness will never win; it certainly doesn’t mean the darkness won’t return but that it won’t have the last word. It means that we have achieved a relationship with our previous enemies where neither is interested in domination, that we have allowed the light to shine not on us (or them) but on the peace between us.

Moving forward we can now look at the wedding feast. Weddings are wonderful events but they can also be filled with tension and anxiety. Running out of wine would have been embarrassing to the hosts. We can be forgiven for Mary “jumping the gun.” She clearly knew that Jesus had the power to fix the situation and “save the day.” And after Jesus snapped at her, she quietly told the stewards to do what Jesus told them to do.

Turning water into wine would certainly make a splash, especially between 120 to 180 gallons and it would be a fantastic way for Jesus to begin his public ministry. But it would have overshadowed the wedding; that day belonged to the bride and groom. “My hour has not yet come” may indicate that Jesus didn’t want to take the spotlight away from the couple. Of course there is irony in that we know nothing of the couple but a great deal about the miracle at their wedding.

Obviously Jesus wanted to do the right thing, and he did, but he didn’t feel the need to have the attention drawn to him. It may well have been that none of the guests knew what Jesus had done. Certainly not the headwaiter who asked the bridegroom why he saved the best wine for last. Jesus’ vindication was a joyful experience for everyone, not just him.

Jesus was secure enough in his role that he didn’t feel the need to be the center of attention and we see that in other places in his ministry (e.g. the Transfiguration where he asked his disciples not to tell anyone about it). So much of his ministry pointed toward bringing up the lowly and forgotten. His end goal, like God’s in Isaiah, points to a place where all relationships are good and nobody needs to dominate anyone else.

I’m certain that anyone reading this wants to do the right thing and would never miss an opportunity to repair a wedding catastrophe. But I also think that part of us would also want to be seen as the savior. There’s nothing wrong with enjoying the fruits of our kindness but we can take that too far. There was a quotation erroneously attributed to Andy Warhol in 1968: “In the future everyone will be world famous for 15 minutes.” Even today we talk about someone having 15 minutes of fame. We’re also surrounded by people who will do or say nearly everything to be seen as an influencer and the number of “followers” are always posted. They no doubt would have posted a video of the water changing into wine.

But let’s take a different course. Whether it’s helping someone out of an embarrassing or providing the right word of encouragement at just the time, let us allow the spotlight to shine on someone else. We may miss out on our 15 minutes of fame but we may well lay a foundation that will still matter on minute 16. Whatever else happened at wedding at Cana we can assume that servants who filled the stone water jars knew what happened, and perhaps they became disciples after witnessing Jesus’ power. But in addition to his power to turn water into wine they may have been impressed with his decision to do it quietly.

Now that’s vindication.