The Second Sunday after Epiphany – Vicar Anderson sermon
Text: St. John 2:1-11

In Christ Jesus, who with His power turns water into wine, who speaks to you and comes directly to you in the means of grace, providing you with comfort, dear fellow redeemed:

Over the last few years, my wife and I have had our share of weddings that we have attended. Not long ago, we had our wedding to plan. As we get ready for a summer that has more wedding invites, we have found weddings much more enjoyable since we are done with the planning part. Our wedding was awesome don’t get me wrong, but the planning was stressful and it was only one day. In the text for today, a wedding is taking place, and they have run out of something important. Could you imagine the horror of a great celebration and then you ran out of wine? In the stress of the moment, we see how cooler heads prevail. There is only one person who can help out this situation. While there might be times where we think that no more could go wrong, Jesus is the one who is our help. The hour has come and Jesus performs His first miracle to reveal who He really is!

Jesus has been invited to a wedding. Just seeing this in our text, Scripture teaches that Jesus was like us. We don’t know who was getting married. We do know where it is happening, in a small town not far from Jesus’ home. His mother was there which means she may have known or was related to the couple. With His mother’s invitation, Jesus would have also been a guest. He also brought His disciples as well. Now this wedding has a serious problem, that they are running out of wine. This is not good! A wedding during this time period could take as much time as a week. This type of blunder would be very noticeable. The family would be a laughingstock and disgraced because of this. Thankfully, they have a special guest in attendance. When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.”

How could this have happened? Did the management have the wrong numbers? If this is how weddings took place, then they should have known how much wine they were going to need. Even today when you make an invite list for a wedding, you take it to the catering company and you estimate how much you will need. The servants had to have trust in a man who they did not know. Jesus’ mother tells them that they should listen to Him. She trusts that Jesus can help. The servants do not know who He is. Since this is His first public miracle, no one knows how great Jesus is. Then when Jesus says, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast,” how do you decide who is the one to do this job? Who wants to bring the master a cup of water?

The first wedding that took place also had to worry about management. Adam and Eve were given a job to manage the Garden of Eden. God gave them an instruction to not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. When Adam and Eve sinned, their sin affected everything. We see that today, weddings are not perfect, marriages are not perfect, and families are not perfect.

When Mary went to Jesus telling Him the problem, Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” This seems like such a devastating thing to hear. It seems like Jesus isn’t going to help, and so many times we take what He says here and we apply it to ourselves. We think that Jesus isn’t going to help us. We face many trials in this life. Children do not want to listen to our instructions. Children burning with anger that their parents are so strict because they won’t let us do what we want. Husbands not listening to wives to lend a helping hand, lacking leadership, and being lazy. Wives taking husbands to task and taking over his duties. It also may happen where we believe and dwell on that we are all alone in the world.

If our salvation was on us, we would run out of time. Our wedding would run out of wine. People will look and make fun of us. We can feel disgraced when we see the problems that happen in our homes. On our own we can find ourselves helpless. How can we fix the situations that we are in? How can we get more wine? Jesus’ mother knew who could help the situation. She tells the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.

Jesus’ hour has come, not because Mary said so, but because He chose this time. Jesus did not attack His mother when He responded that His time had not yet come. She had faith that He could help the situation. He did not tell her no. He told her not yet. Only God knows when the hour is. Jesus is also speaking about when His hour would come to die. His mother, not giving up, told the servants to listen to Him. Jesus brings blessings to this marriage with His miracle. He shows not just little Cana, but He shows you and me that He is the Son of God. He has the power to do all things. He turns water into wine. He fixes our situation, here on earth and forever in heaven.

The hour at hand is also that He would come into the world and die for your sins. There is joy in the world because the Son of God has come. The world sees this with his first public miracle. You see the comfort that Jesus brings to you. Your sins are forgiven. He is with you in your lowest points bringing you peace and joy. He takes your troubles, puts them on His back, and goes to the cross willingly for you. He rose from the dead, showing you that His Word is true and real. He came for your salvation. Jesus shows his mercy. He was not ignoring the problem at hand. He helped the wedding by turning the water into wine.

Our text teaches us how amazing this miracle is. “Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, ‘Fill the jars with water.’ And they filled them up to the brim.” The Jewish people had many laws and rituals. For the Jews, stone is an element that is pure. Jesus shows that He has the power to purify and that He is the great provider. This wedding now had an abundance of very good wine. At the command of Jesus, the servants take the water that was turned into wine to the master of the feast. This man can’t refute this account because He did not know that Jesus was performing a miracle. When he tastes the wine, he then exclaims how the bridegroom had saved the best wine for last. Jesus gives a wonderful gift to the wedding.

This first miracle highlights where the wedding had happened. This was not the governor’s or the emperor’s wedding. It was a couple who we don’t know their names in a little town of Cana. Why is this highlighted? Jesus doesn’t find anything that you do as insignificant. He is not embarrassed to grace you with his presence. The reputation of the wedding is kept safe with the miracle. Your reputation has also been kept safe through Jesus’ cleansing blood. Your reputation was condemning you to hell. It is now safe as Jesus takes away your sins. Moses was right that another prophet would be raised up like him. This prophet would not only speak the commands of God, but He would live them out perfectly for you. Jesus’ presence is a joy for you right here and now. In the means of grace, we see and hear Him all the time! He speaks to you through His Word. He comes directly to you forgiving your sins at the altar in Holy Communion. Through the means of grace, the Hour has come for each one of us.

As the bridegroom is given credit, Jesus reveals himself as the ultimate bridegroom who lays down His life for His bride. His bride is you and me and all believers. Jesus is an example of what a Christian marriage should look like. How He laid down his life for the church. He also shows children how to obey their loving father. He followed His willingly. Jesus shows us how He provided for a wedding on earth. He provided for it with great abundance. He provides for us a wedding banquet that is even greater. It is a banquet that will be celebrated for all eternity.

Since this was His first public miracle, the servants witness the miracle and the disciples believe in Him. How great it would have been to witness this miracle. To see the joy on everyone’s faces. We do have that joy. Jesus has provided us with many blessings. He has provided us with blessings here on earth, and He has provided us with the blessing of heaven that we couldn’t earn on our own.

As stressful as planning weddings can be, they are very special moments. When the hour is here and the wedding takes place, everyone is happy. Jesus reminds us how He is there with us in the stressful times and in the happy moments. We are not alone and He saves us. Our text teaches us who we want to put all of our hope in. He knew the plan that was needed for winning our salvation and He completed it willingly. We can rejoice and give thanks to God because the bridegroom has come, given His life, risen from the dead, and we will be present at the heavenly banquet forever. Amen.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore. Amen.

+  +  +

(picture from a work by a 10th century monk)