Bible Passage: John 2:1-11
Pastor: Joel Jenswold
Sermon Date: January 16, 2025

Bulletin – January 19, 2025

In the name of, and to the eternal glory of, Jesus,

Before us this morning is the story of a wedding.  Now, when it comes to weddings, we might say this wedding is quite unspectacular.  There is nothing exotic about the destination.  It’s not some white, sandy beach somewhere at sunset.  It is in a little village in Galilee, considered by many at the time to be “hillbilly country.”  It did not take place in a grand old church with a long center aisle and a magnificent pipe organ; it likely took place at the groom’s home.  The bride wore something nice, but certainly nothing compared to the wedding dresses of today costing four-figures.  I’m sure the meal was nice, but not 5-star by today’s standards.  There was no multi-tiered wedding cake.   By today’s measurements, this wedding would have been quite “minimal” and “underwhelming.”

And yet for all of that, it was a glorious wedding!  It was glorious not because of bride or groom, or venue or food.  It was glorious for the sake of one of the guests, Jesus.  It was glorious because at this wedding Jesus performed his first miracle.  And with this miracle,  he revealed his glory, and his disciples believed in him (v. 11).

We don’t really know that much about this wedding.  The most important thing about this wedding remains a mystery to us:  whose wedding was it?  We have no names of bride and groom.  We don’t know who they were.  The proximity of Cana to Nazareth and the fact Jesus and his mother, Mary, were invited guests may indicate that Jesus was related to one of them.  But we do not know for certain.

Here’s what we know.  After the ceremony, at the wedding banquet, the wine ran out.  Not the end of the world by any stretch.  Perhaps you have all been at a wedding reception where the free beer ran out.  However,  we need to understand how important hospitality was in that culture, especially to your invited guests.  It was a big deal to a bride and groom who wouldn’t want to be embarrassed in front of their invited guests by such an inglorious failure to plan.

Mary says to Jesus, They have no wine. (v. 3)  What do we make of Mary’s comment to her son?  It is a simple statement of fact.  She doesn’t ask for anything.  She doesn’t tell him to do anything.  Perhaps her years of treasuring and pondering things in her heart had created an expectation inside her.  Jesus’ response shows he understands Mary to be “nudging” him to do something.  Woman, what does that have to do with you and me?  My time has not yet come. (v. 4)  As always, Jesus’ work will not be governed by panic or pressure.  He will act in God’s perfect time.  Mary puts the servants on notice, Do whatever he tells you. (v. 5)

Standing there were six stone water jars.  Each one could hold 20 to 30 gallons of water.  John tells us this water was used for ceremonial cleansing (v. 5).  Jews wouldn’t eat unless they washed their hands.  Remember, this became an issue with the Pharisees and Jesus’ disciples?  The Pharisees criticized the disciples because they were eating before they had ceremonially dipped their hands into water.  Some rabbis even said you must dip your eating utensils into water.  Jesus tells the servants to fill these jars up.  They do.  Then Jesus instructs that they take a sample to the master of the banquet.

The master tastes it and can’t believe what he is tasting!  This isn’t Two Buck Chuck!  This is good wine, REALLY good wine!  He calls the groom.  Everyone serves the good wine first, and when the guests have had plenty to drink, then the cheaper wine.  You saved the good wine until now! (v. 10)  What a glorious turn of events!  Glorious, not because Jesus made the equivalent of 600-900 bottles of good vino, but because in turning water into wine he revealed his glory (v. 11).

What does that mean?  By doing this supernatural thing he gave humanity a glimpse of his divinity.  To see Jesus attending the wedding of these two people in Cana, he would have looked like any other guest.  Rather inglorious.  However, sip some good wine that Jesus had just made from water and now you are thinking about Jesus, “There is more here than meets the eye!”  Indeed, this is God in flesh!  John, the writer of our text, was present at this wedding.  He LIVED this miracle, maybe even tasted the wine!  In chapter 1 of this Gospel John wrote, We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (1:14b)

Through John’s writing, we too have seen it.  In our text John calls this miracle of Jesus a sign (v. 11).   Signs get our attention.  “Exit 18A – 1 mile.”  You see that sign and say, “Hey, that’s my exit!”  Our text is a huge sign:  “Jesus of Nazareth just turned water into wine.”  We see that sign and say, “Hey, that’s God’s Son!”

There’s an interesting question that results from this miracle.  What did the people at the wedding do about ceremonial washing after Jesus’ miracle?  If a person went to one of the jars to dip his hands into it and cleanse himself, all he found was good wine!  It seems those ceremonial washings were suspended for the remainder of the reception!  The jars were full of wine!  All they could do was enjoy what Jesus had provided!  Those jars ceased being a place where a person did their “work” and became a place where the people RECEIVED the blessing from Jesus.  That really is the whole point of God’s Son being here, isn’t it?  He has come that we might be forever done trying to clean and purify ourselves by our own efforts and deeds.  That can never work!  He has come to shed divine blood to truly and completely cleanse us from sin.  He has come so that we stop trusting in ourselves, but instead trust in him.

This miracle wants to be believed.  It calls for faith.  That is what the disciples did at the wedding.  He revealed his glory, and his disciples believed in him. (v. 11)  So may we see Jesus’ glory in this miracle, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.  And in seeing this glory, trust our dear Savior even more!

Amen.