1 Corinthians 12:1-11; John 2:1-11
Time will tell and all will be revealed.
Time will tell if the deal between Israel and Hamas will leading to lasting peace in Gaza and across the Middle East.
Time will tell what sort of second term President Donald Trump will have following his inauguration in Washington DC tomorrow.
Time will tell if the economic plan of the Chancellor Rachel Reeves will work.
Time will tell if the Church of England nationally is able to make the decisions necessary to improve scrutiny and oversight of safeguarding.
Time will tell and all will be revealed.
In other words, as the weeks and months move on, we will know more about the situations just named and so much more. And as we know more, we will be in a position to make judgements about things which at the moment are uncertain. We will be able to decide: was this a critical moment, or a missed opportunity? Was this person someone who lived up to expectations? Or did they overpromise and underdeliver?
Time will tell and all will be revealed.
As we move to the Christian calendar, a calendar where time is not linear but cyclical, inviting us to see time itself as centred on the person and work of Jesus Christ, we find ourselves at a similar moment of revelation. Epiphany is a season where we recall and celebrate time telling and Christ being revealed for who he is.
At the visit of the magi he is revealed to the Gentiles as Lord of all the world.
At his baptism he is revealed to onlookers as the Son of the Father.
At a wedding in Cana he is revealed to his disciples as the one who brings transformation and life.
But even the last story, which we heard again just now, is but the first step in an unveiling of who Jesus is. John narrates this as but the first sign which Jesus did, but the reader can assume there are more to come.
For while John’s gospel has opened with a prologue which included the profound claim ‘and we have seen his glory’ it leaves some important questions hanging: how has his glory been seen? Can it be seen today? And what judgement might we make in response?
The story of the transformation of water into wine is the first part of the answer. John says that through it Jesus revealed his glory. But it was a surprising place to start.
It was certainly a surprising location. Miles away from Jerusalem and the Temple where God’s glory had been known to dwell, the scene is a wedding in a small village in the middle of Galilee – not quite the back of beyond, but heading that way. If you had to pick a place for the big reveal you wouldn’t pick Cana.
It was a surprising means as well. For actually it all takes place behind the scenes. Mary tries to put Jesus centre stage, but he resists and has a quiet word with the servants. They do his bidding but the master of ceremonies and bridegroom are none the wiser. So the miracle is done, but there is no big reveal.
And it was a surprising outcome as well. Water turned into wine, enabling well-lubricated guests to have more of the good stuff. Welcome to be sure but not exactly epoch-changing in its scope. Hardly the stuff to set the Romans quaking in their boots. Domestic impact, yes. Messianic political hit, not really.
And yet it gave rise to a response. Jesus’ disciples, we are told, believed in him. How they found out is anyone’s guess. I wonder if the servants had a quiet word. Unlikely witnesses, they had seen it all. And the disciples believed. Not believed believed, as in everything all sorted, nothing else to see. But I think they began to see that Jesus’ glory was going to be seen in a surprising place, through surprising means and in a surprising outcome. This was about transformation and life deeper than they had thought possible. And so the journey of faith began.
Time would tell and all would be revealed.
For this was but the first sign. John’s gospel would include more signs until the hour of which Jesus spoke to his mother in Cana did at last come and the glory of Jesus was revealed in all its fullness.
It was glory revealed in a surprising location. Yes in Jerusalem, but not in the splendour of the Temple but on a hill, outside the city wall, a place where people passed by.
It was glory revealed through surprising means. A judicial execution. A perfected form of Roman humiliation. Hands nailed to a piece of wood. Lungs straining to take a breath. Glory revealed here? Surely not.
And it was glory revealed in a surprising outcome. The death of the one announced as the only-begotten Son of the Father, dying not to overthrow Roman power but to defeat once for all the power of sin and death, enabling each person to be adopted as a child of God.
And just like in Cana in Galilee, it was glory revealed that led to a response. It needed unlikely witnesses again, this time women who stayed at the cross and then found the empty tomb. They told the disciples who with Thomas would see the marks in the hands and feet and say to Jesus ‘my Lord and my God.’
Time had told and all had been revealed.
The writer David Ford describes John’s gospel as an invitation to read ourselves into the presence of Jesus Christ. It is an Epiphany gospel, a gospel of revelation, as the glory of Jesus is revealed until it is seen in its fullness on the cross.
Let me give us all a thought to ponder as I close. There will be much that demands our attention as this year unfolds. I mentioned some events earlier, but you will others in your vision I am sure. It is right we keep abreast of developments both near and far - and pray and act accordingly.
But can I also invite us to see more of the glory of God reflected in Jesus Christ? To coin a phrase, Epiphany is not just for Christmas. The wedding in Cana wasn’t a one-off event. It was an invitation to the disciples to see more of the glory of Jesus as time went on. John’s gospel, the scriptures as a whole, daily prayer, regular partaking at Holy Communion, are all invitations to see more of the glory of Jesus. Whether you are taking your first steps of faith or have been walking with the Lord for many years, there is always more to see and more to know of the glory of Jesus Christ – his love, his compassion, his life and his peace. And that will mean that as we see and know Christ we see everything else – including American presidents - in the right perspective.
Time will tell and all will be revealed. We have seen his glory, John wrote. Indeed we have. May we see his glory afresh this year, and when time comes to an end and all is revealed, may his glory be visible to all and may we be among those who say, ‘my Lord and my God.’ Amen.