“Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine;  and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse;  but thou hast kept the good wine until now.”

The position of this statement at the end of the story implies a special significance.  Not only is the quality of the wine significant, the timing is also pertinent.  A person accustomed to catering might think it odd to save the good wine for the end of the celebration.  It would seem a waste to throw good wine at the numbed palates of those who had been drinking for some time.  On the other hand, it would be ostentatious to serve the best wine throughout the celebration.  From the culinary standpoint, this makes little sense.  As symbolism, it makes a great deal of sense.  This wine is the first of Jesus’ miracles.  It symbolizes the beginning of his ministry – the beginning of something better than deserved or expected.  And it came at just the right time.

Dom Gregory Dix remarked in his book, “Jew and Greek,” that Christ came at the most appropriate time in all history.  The people of the world had been touched by the most enlightened culture ever known.  They had experienced the most just government.  They had grown up with the truest religion in the history of mankind.  I am referring to the art and learning of the Greeks, the government of the Romans, and the religion of the Jews.  The world had observed excellence in these prominent areas of their lives only to see all three deteriorate under their own weight.

Greece’s Golden Age ended as her democracy perished under foreign tyrants.  Her religion, which was really philosophy, had become narcissistic.  The great learning was not, in and of itself, adequate to guide man’s existence.

Rome had been based on honesty and courage and sturdy ethics, but had suffered from success.  Its people were exposed to many customs, religions and conflicting sets of values.  Its own honesty, courage, and ethics were diluted as it absorbed other cultures and became all-inclusive.  Similar to what is happening in our world today, individualism came to an end when they could no longer define the essence of their culture.

The Jews had the only God-given religion known to man.  But it too had seen better days.  The Prophetic Movement of Israel had long since come to an end.  The Jews had lost their sense of being a nation.  They were beset with apocalyptic and messianic movements.  They had become formal and complex.  They no longer provided a good example for the cultures and governments of the world.

There are two predominant points leading to Dom Gregory Dix’s conclusion.  First, the world of the Mediterranean was very open and the people were quite mobile.  Using the channels of trade and commerce, the opportunities for evangelism were boundless.

The second was the failure of the enlightened culture, the just government and the true religion.  It was obvious that knowledge alone was not the answer to man’s quest.  Man could not save himself.  He could not even rule himself.  And religion in the hands of men became rigid and ineffective.  The individual’s self-esteem and motivation were on the wane.

The Greeks and Romans each constructed an impressive set of ethics and manufactured faiths that supported them.  The most admirable was that of the Stoics, which flourished among the ruling classes.  It gave its devotees a high sense of responsibility.  It promoted the patience and optimism and self-sacrifice every culture needs.  It provided the self-esteem and motivation required by the individual.  But it was not a religion and it could not save mankind.  It could not provide a reason for existing.

As the Empire’s weakness grew, the need for genuine religion became apparent.  We are seeing the same trend today.  As we absorb many cultures, the conflicts and confusion dilute ethics until all religious guidelines have been removed.  Like Rome, our leaders are being selected by mercenary considerations.  Half-truths designed to preserve image is becoming the rule of commerce and our government.

Much as we today feel a sense of frustration, people in Christ’s time felt they were no longer what they had once been.  As the old religions based on ethics disappeared, the vacuum was created by man’s need.  People needed to focus their attention on something outside themselves.  They desired forgiveness and reconciliation.  They lost the promise of fulfillment for all.

This was the world that Christianity entered.  It was still a mystery and did not provide all the answers on the surface.   But it did offer forgiveness and salvation and life eternal.  More importantly, it is also rooted in, and is the fulfillment of God’s earlier revelations.  Christianity provided a reason to exist.  It came with an example of the perfect life and proof of God’s perfect love.

The timing was perfect as well.  Paul’s travels would not have been possible 500 hundred years earlier.  Christianity brought a truth that is good to the end of time.  Like the good wine, it came at a time when it would be appreciated as someting special.  It came after people learned that knowledge and art is not enough.  It came after people learned that government alone cannot save them.  It came to fulfill the prophecies of a faith that had been frozen by formality and complexity.  It came when people were ready for religion to make higher demands.  And it came offering the highest promise.

Our world today, has many parallels with the time in which Christ came into the world.  Our knowledge is growing so fast individuals cannot even keep up with the advances in their own specialty.  In some cases, knowledge is once again treated as a goal in itself instead of as a step toward understanding the meaning of life.

Our government is gradually removing standards and ethics in its efforts to be inclusive.  Today, a person with integrity is likely to be described as intolerant and bigoted.  The goal of our society is to make everything equally desirable and available to all.  Competition has become the only rule of success.  You are either number one or nonexistent.  History has proven that governments cannot replace religion.  Governments cannot provide a reason to exist.  Governments are not capable of realigning this world with the order of its creator.  They have no desire to do so.  It is not their job.  That is our job and we cannot depend on the government to make it happen.  We must hold our faith, ethics and standards above and in spite of the government.  We must show them where they must lead us.  Christianity brought mankind through an Age of Darkness to a Renaissance more than once in our history.  It is time to do so again.

Symbolically, God retained the good wine until mankind had experienced enough of the world to appreciate its fullness.  The miracle of the good wine is that it does not fade with the passage of time.  It is as strong and full and rich today as it was 2000 years ago.  It has repeatedly brought mankind back to the Will and Order God created.  The good wine is the Word of God, Jesus Christ, the Light of the world.  It is His grace, fellowship and love.  It is everything that He has willed - and more than we can desire.

Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:  but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.                                   (St. Matthew, vi. 19,20)