Time Fulfilled

1 Corinthians 7:29-31;  Mark 1:14-20

Paul writes some provocative statements to the Corinthians.  He is not advocating immoral behavior, he is emphasizing that this world has changed with the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.  Time has been fulfilled, as Jesus states in this passage by Mark, and emphasized by the immediacy of the first disciples to follow Jesus.  Time has changed.

Originally time was determined by the sun.  This is clearly stated in Genesis with the creation of the first day.  The Jewish people of Jesus’ day, and today, determine the day based on the end of the day.  That is when the sun goes down the day ends, thus the next day does start, hence Sabbath starts at sundown on Friday.  For the original followers of The Way (Jesus) who were Jewish, they would go to the Temple, or a synagogue, or perhaps down by the river in a Gentile city, to worship the one true God, listening to the Torah and the prophets.  They would keep the Sabbath as well if they were able, but on Sunday morning they would be truly back to work (it would had been their Monday). These first Jewish followers of Jesus, would get up early on Sunday, before work and without an alarm clock, to celebrate the resurrection with communion, hymns, baptisms, and worship.  They would do this as the sun rose.  It was like an extra day to their week, empowering them for their work and their lives.  There was an idea that the perfect creation will finally go to the eighth day with the resurrection at the end of all time.  However, the early Christians were understanding that time had changed and the fulfilling morning of worship and sharing His meal was the eighth day. 

I love sunrises, and having been a baker and pastry chef I have seen many.  My favorite still was when I was a teen.  I knew there was a snow storm coming the next Sunday morning.  With 3-4 inches already on the ground it would be wonderful to get up early to watch the sun rise with the snow falling.  So up early I got, and trekked up to the top of a cliff at the edge of the woods.  I took a thermos of hot cocoa and was buddled up.  I found a log to took in behind to protect me from the wind and settled in.  Then it occurred to me I would really not see the sun through the snow.  It was still the most amazing sunrise, so quiet, both the woods and the town below, save the wind.  A few times I could make out a perfect white ball through the clouds. It felt like hours I was there, and it was a while since I remember dusting an inch of snow of myself when I departed.  I treasure that sunrise that I never saw.

Everyday the sun rises, even if we do not see it.  And it is equally true that everyday God’s Son Rises, even if we do not see it.  When Jesus tells us time has been fulfilled he wants us to act as if we are starting the eighth day.  Paul makes it quite clear that the new age started and our actions should match that of the kingdom of God. 

However, we do not live in a kingdom, nor is their one person or power that really has the power on us anymore.  Today we live where our cultures have power over us.  Cultures we choose, and cultures that sneak into our subconscious.  The culture of America, the culture of TV, the consumer culture, the culture of Rock music, the culture of drugs, the culture of politics, the culture of one’s family etc.  Some are very powerful.  Some more powerful than we want to admit.  So I believe time has been fulfilled by the culture of God being near.  We need to live as if we live in the culture of God, and not simply wait to live in heaven, for time has been fulfilled. 

God’s Time

John 2:1-11

When Mary finds out there is no more wine at this wedding, she turned to her son, who replied that it was not their concern and his “hour” time had not come.  His mother then says to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”  She is not claiming to know it is His time, but she is confident in His authority and desire to help.  Sure enough Jesus does decide to help, and according to John this whole miracle was about revealing His Glory.  It is Jesus’ hour, and that is a major point of this paricope.  Time is essential to this first miracle, this is highlighted by the introduction as specifically three days, Jesus’ mention of His “hour,” and most of all John’s commentary that this miracle was the first and thus the disciples believed, because His glory was revealed.

Today we are obsessed with time.  We are obsessed with the instant.  We need things instantly, coffee, tea, whatever you need.  Our calendars are generally now electronic and to the minute.  Our clocks (at least on the computer) update themselves.  Athletes compete to the hundredths of a second and instant replay has become common for many.   There are a lot of positive things to this obsession with time and the instant and there are negatives, as well, this scripture though speaks to time then and now.

Thinking about the instant, I can not help but to think of photography.  Today most pictures are taken with digital cameras or what we call phones.  Not only is the image of an “instant” of reality, we can share it instantly.  How many times have you had your picture taken and the photographer turns the camera around to show you the captured image?  I remember in Jamaica on a mission trip, the children who did not have cameras (let alone digital) would run to see the picture I took, which made a second take difficult.  This is very different from how I did photography in high school and college.  Not very long ago, but in a very different format, I was capturing “instants” with my camera.  This would involve taking a picture with my camera, that itself meant focusing, setting the aperture and speed as per the lighting and film.  Finishing the film with other photographs, rewinding the film and then in a bag that did not allow any light in, I would spool the film on a reel, then develop the film, dry it overnight.  Then cut and put in the enlarger to expose a piece of photographic paper.  I would also use dodging and burning to correct areas of the photo, develop the image as long as I thought, then stop it and fix it in those respective solutions.  Dry the paper over night and then mat the image.  Eventually I would share the image by either an art show or informally.  This generally took weeks before I would share the “instant” I had captured on film, and today, I may take a picture, upload it to the web and have someone across the world make a comment on it within a minute.  It is amazing what has changed in twenty years, and yet the truth is the aesthetic of a good photograph really has not changed.

The miracle of the water becoming wine is written by John with a lot of detail, the conversations between Jesus and His mother and the chief steward and the servants, the specifics of the stone purification jugs, but when the water becomes wine is not specified.  Usually when the Gospel writers speak of Jesus healing someone, they mention when, generally “immediately.”  We even know the woman that touched His cloak was cured instantly, and that is how Jesus knew to ask who touched Him.  This is why I notice that John does not say exactly when the water became wine.  Was it when the water poured into the jugs?  Was it when they were filled?  Was it as they sat there a minute?  When the sample was taken or as it was taken to the chief steward?  Or was it when it touched his lips?  We will never know, we simply know that the miracle happened. 

Before I tackle when the miracle happens, I must explain why the miracle of wine.  This miracle is about Jesus revealing His glory and thus the start of the new era.  The wine is a symbol of a new era coming as per both Amos and Joel. 

The time is surely coming, says the Lord,
   when the one who ploughs shall overtake the one who reaps,
   and the treader of grapes the one who sows the seed;
the mountains shall drip sweet wine,
   and all the hills shall flow with it.  (Amos 9:13)

 

On that day
the mountains shall drip sweet wine,
   the hills shall flow with milk,
and all the stream beds of Judah
   shall flow with water;
a fountain shall come forth from the house of the Lord
   and water the Wadi Shittim.  (Joel 3:18)

You will notice that Amos says the “time is surely coming”  and Joel says “On that day,” and the major sign is dripping sweet wine.  This is to be the sign of the age to come, that Jesus ushers in.  And surely six containers of at least 20 gallons would be plenty of wine for a wedding in Cana.  We know there was wine already at the wedding, why didn’t Jesus just ask the servants to fill the empty containers?  Doubling the wine would have surely been sufficient.   However, this miracle was to demonstrate the beginning of a new era, and it is defined by the old forms of Judaism being filled with new content; not replacing Judaism, rather Jesus fulfills The Torah (the Law).  This new era has begun and we know it as well, as the Holy Spirit fills us at our baptism; our old form is filled with the new content of the One Spirit of Love.

When I was a photographer, it would take me a lot of time before I had what I would term a photograph.  I shared the process above, and emphasize that it was only when I “framed” the photo would it be a photograph.  Many instants were left as film, or on paper in my folder. Today it may be quicker, but I have digital images I delete, and some that I have saved but I have not shared on facebook, on my phone, or in print, and those are not photographs.  It is only the images I upload or even simply turn the camera around to share with someone that truly become pictures (not necessarily good).  It is the act of sharing that defines when the captured instant becomes a visual art, a photo.

It does not matter when the water becomes wine.  It became wine and if it just sat there it was not a miracle.  When the wine was shared, that is the miracle, when it is known it is Jesus who reveled His Glory and that was shared.  We are each filled with the Holy Spirit and we are thus charged to share this with others.  We go creating miracles by sharing Jesus’ new era for humanity and every individual.