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Turning Water into Wine: Hope, Justice, and Transformation

Turning Water into Wine: Hope, Justice, and Transformation

Last updated on: January 17, 2025 at 10:54 am by Herb Montgomery

Turning Water into Wine: Hope, Justice, and Transformation 2025-01-17T10:54:08-04:00 Herb Montgomery

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a way out of no way

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Part 2 of Water, Wine and Human Beings Fully Alive

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(Read this series from its beginning here.)

Taking the Johannine community’s version of the Jesus story as a whole, it is preoccupied with contrasting our concrete reality with an alternative spirit realm. We can interpret it as presenting the spirit as superior to our bodies. Consider Jesus’ words to Nicodemus in John:

“Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” (John 3:5-7)

A Way Out of No Way

In keeping with Jesus’ theme in that passage, this week’s story could also affirm the hope of one day escaping our concrete reality for a far better place rather than establishing justice here. This story could contrast what is now with what is to come. This would be like the best-is-yet-to-come or saving-the-best-for-last mantras like Paul’s comment in his letter to the Romans that what is happening now can’t even be compared to what is to come.

“I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” (Romans 8:18)

Regardless of what the Johannine community originally meant with the story of the wedding wine, this story affirms the supremacy of their version of Jesus and the Jesus story. It teaches that the wine they were serving was better than anything that had been served up to that point. Can we redeem from this story for our justice work today?

I like the image of turning water into wine. It reminds me of the saying in the womanist tradition of making a way out of no way. The story asks us to focus on the present, to do all we can in the moments we have before us. Who knows: our efforts could produce something far greater than anything before, and not because what preceded us was inferior but because we are building on the efforts of those have gone before us.

The phrase that I keep returning to in our reading this week is “You have saved the best till now.” What had transpired in the story was a crisis: running out of wine at a wedding feast. And what ended up happening was better: wine being drank better than any that had been drunk previously. We are about to face crises of our own this coming year, crises of injustice rooted in marginalization and bigotry bearing the fruit of violence and oppression. In the midst of crisis, we too can be about turning water into wine. We won’t know exactly how till we are in the moment, but each moment will provide opportunities for us to make choices and build on them. The wine may be about to run out, and all we may have at our disposal is water. But don’t give up. Look for the water pots. We’ll pursue this more specifically in Part 3.

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Politics and Religion

About Herb Montgomery

Herb Montgomery, director of Renewed Heart Ministries, is an author and adult religious re-educator helping Christians explore the intersection of their faith with love, compassion, action, and societal justice. You can read more about the author here.

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January 14, 2025

Water Into Wine: Interpreting Jesus’ First Miracle in John

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January 17, 2025 Fully Alive: Justice, Faith, Love and the Glory of God

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