The second mind-blowing episode of the sixth season of the Retelling the Bible Podcast is posted today (January 26, 2022). It retells the story of the wedding feast in Cana of Galilee from the point of view of the servants.
You can listen to the story right now and subscribe to the podcast by following one of these links or by searching for the podcast on your favourite platform:
Show Notes about the Story
The story of the wedding feast is told in the Gospel of John 2:1-11. Any direct biblical quotations in the episode are taken from the New Revised Standard Version.
The Wedding in Cana
The story of the wedding in Cana is a very important story in the Gospel of John. It is the first in a series of seven signs performed by Jesus, part of a key narrative structure of the whole gospel. The author uses it to introduce some of the key themes of his Gospel like signs, his sense of Jesus’ mission and of Jesus’ identity.
This episode is not overly concerned with those theological emphases. It is rather inspired by the author’s comment about how the servants knew more about what Jesus was doing than anybody else present. This comment is often presented in parentheses in modern translations. This is a choice made by translators, not something marked in the original Greek text, so I don’t think that we should treat it as parenthetical. It suggested to me that, perhaps, the gospel writer did have an interest in their point of view on the story.
Of course, there is no way to objectively confirm the historicity of the events, much less the miraculous elements, of this story that is only found in the Gospel of John.
Cana was a real place, a small town a few hours walk from Nazareth, so it is certainly plausible that Jesus’ mother and Jesus himself could have been invited to an event there. The unexplained presence of Jesus’ disciples, whom we are told come from places much further away, is a little harder to understand.
The Great Resignation
I have written this episode in the midst of what seems like unemployment crisis in North America — at a time when many employers, especially those who are dependent on low wage workers, are struggling to fill out their workforces.
Looking at the story of the wedding in Cana from the point of view of the workers gave me an opportunity to think about what the Bible has to say about such employment issues.
Capitalist Assumptions
In some Christian circles, the assumption is often made that the Bible backs an unbridled capitalistic approach to economic issues. One text that is sometimes cited to support this is 2 Thessalonians 3:10:
For even when we were with you, we gave you this command: Anyone unwilling to work should not eat.
But we should be cautious about building an understanding based on one verse — especially when we know very little about the context that Paul was addressing in that particular church. It would be foolish to take an general rule from such a specific situation.
A Concern for the Labourers.
Again and again, as you go through the Bible, you see a very real concern for the welfare and care of the people who actually do the work that keeps the economy and the society going. There is a particular Biblical concern that they be paid fair wages. The prophet Malachi, for example, says this about God’s concern:
5 Then I will draw near to you for judgment; I will be swift to bear witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired workers in their wages, the widow and the orphan, against those who thrust aside the alien, and do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts.
Malachi 3:5
Criticizing the Wealthy
At the same time, some might ask, what about the needs of the job creators and those whose investments also make society and the economy go. It is true that these people also have a role. I do not think that the Bible misses the value that such people bring to society. And yet, at the same time, when these people become so enamored with their wealth that they forget the needs of others, the Bible certainly doesn’t hesitate to criticize them.
I often think of a passage from the Letter of James these days. I honestly feel that if I were to post these words and direct them at people like Elon Musk or Jeff Bezos on Twitter, I would find myself the target of their abuse and might even end up being banned from Twitter altogether.
But this is what is what James writes:
Come now, you rich people, weep and wail for the miseries that are coming to you. Your riches have rotted, and your clothes are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have rusted, and their rust will be evidence against you, and it will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure for the last days. Listen! The wages of the labourers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived on the earth in luxury and in pleasure; you have fattened your hearts on a day of slaughter.
James 5:1-6
Music in this Episode
AhDah Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Disco Lounge by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3651-disco-lounge
License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license
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