His Signs Continue to Reveal to the Glory of God :: John 2:1-11

But you have kept the good wine until now (v 10b).

When Jesus changed water into wine, he did what was humanly impossible to do: He created something out of nothing. He didn’t substitute wine for water. He changed the water into wine ... and not just any wine ... but that which is good ... you know like in the beginning ... that which abounds to the end. It was a miracle. It was a sign. It manifested his glory (v 11). 

As a miraculous sign, it signified something extraordinary about Jesus, and something glorious about marriage. So today we will talk about Jesus, and we will talk about marriage, and we’ll talk about the relationship between Jesus and marriage and the celebration that goes with it.

THE SIGNS OF CHRIST CONTINUE TO REVEAL THE GLORY OF GOD

1.

First, we’ll talk about Jesus. 

The changing of water into wine is a sign that reveals who Jesus is. Note first, that this wedding happened on the third day (v 1). This points us to the Resurrection and the Marriage Feast of the Lamb in his Kingdom. It points us to the truth that Jesus is God in the flesh ... that Jesus is God incarnate ... that Jesus is God with us. It strengthens our confession that Jesus is God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made. It strengthens our confession that ... in the fullness of time ... our eternal God came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary, and was made man. 

Jesus is not just a son of God, as if he is somehow less than God. Jesus is God. God cannot cease to be God ... even when he died on a cross. Were Jesus to become something other than God, he would be mutable ... that is, changeable. ... But God cannot change ... just as he declared to both the prophet Malachi and the evangelist to the Hebrews. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow (Hb 13:8). 

Thus, Jesus did not become God. We cannot belabor this too much. There are too many so-called Christians who think he did. The Second Person of the Triune God became a man, and that man who was glorified first on the cross and then in the resurrection. Jesus has returned to the right hand of God. In this way Christ is able to be with us always, even to the end of the age, delivering the forgiveness of sins through his sacraments. Christians can’t help but believe that.

This is a wonderful mystery, as Saint Paul also tells Timothy. Beyond all question, great is the mystery of godliness: [He] was manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached in the nations, believed in the world, received up in glory (1 Tm 3:16).

2.

Yet for thirty years after the incarnation of God, the incarnate God hid his divine glory. Then came the wedding at Cana of Galilee. When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, they have no wine. And Jesus said to her, Woman, what is this to me and you? My hour has not yet come (vv 3-4). 

Although the twelve year old we heard about last week marveled us with the realization that he can be found only where he said he would be ... in the temple through Word and Sacraments ... It was not until he was thirty years old as a guest at this wedding feast that Jesus first manifested his glory as God ... and his disciples had faith in him (v 11). The manifestation of Christ’s glory at the wedding feast was not done simply to help his friends. Saint John, who wrote the Fourth Gospel from which we read today, was an eyewitness to this event (Mt 4:18-22). He saw Jesus do what only God could do: He created something out of nothing. John writes, now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification ... you know, for baptism ... each holding twenty or thirty gallons. And Jesus said to the servants, Fill the jars to the brim (vv 6-7).

3.

This miracle of Jesus, turning water into wine, causes us to remember the night Jesus was betrayed ... the night Jesus gave us his Supper ... the night Jesus took the cup and gave the very best of himself ... his blood of the new covenant poured out for the forgiveness of your sins. John is recording this miracle to catechize you.

Please now turn to page 327 in your [Lutheran Service Book[ and join me in confessing our faithful doctrine on the benefit of eating and drinking the sacrament of the altar.

What is the benefit of this eating and drinking? ... 

4.

And [Jesus] said to them, Now draw some and carry it to the master of the feast. So they took it. That is, they did what Jesus told them to do. 

We need to get a handle on this wine. Jesus created 1,080 bottles of wine. And it wasn’t just any ol’ wine. It was the good stuff ... 180 gallons of the best of heaven ... each gallon of water weighing eight pounds. That means Jesus created at least 1,440 pounds of wine. Think about how long it would take to carry all that! To drink all that! And it is the best! 

Who would not want that? Who would not want a God who gives you the best of himself? 

This is your God! Jesus created it ... as Isaiah proclaims, treading the winepress alone ... himself crushed by it (Isa 63:3) and as Moses foretold, washing his garments with wine and his robe with the blood of grapes (Gen 49:11). He provides the wedding party so much of the best gifts of heaven, they never would have been able to drink it all. Are you getting a picture of the extravagance of our God in the flesh? This is what Jesus gives when you least expect it.

Then [the master of the feast] said, All men first set the good wine, and when it has been drunk freely, then the least. But you have kept the good wine until now.

Sadly, this is not a compliment. The world thinks poorly of the extraordinary love of God. They dismiss his sacraments. The world, like this master, looks at this fabulous gift from Jesus and has nothing but anger. The world says, Why would you do this? Why would you give this? It’ll just be wasted. We may have to pour it out. It’s foolish to give the best. 

Yes, as Paul tells the Corinthians: The word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing; but to those who are being saved, it is the power of God (1 Cor 1:18). They don’t think they need it.

5.

Now we can talk about marriage. Jesus did this first miracle at a wedding. This tells us what he thinks of marriage. He honors it. He blesses it. He approves of it. He provides the best for it. 

And this matters. It matters to all of us, whether or not we are married. God established marriage in Paradise when he made Adam out of the dust ... the woman from the rib of the man ... and he brought them together. God married man to woman and woman to man, and in so doing he established that marriage is good. God joins one man and one woman as one flesh for as long as they both shall live. Everything that God says in the Bible about marriage is confirmed by the fact that God in the flesh first reveals his divine glory at a wedding. As the Apology even says, marriage has the command of God. It also has the promises. Therefore, it too could be called a sacrament (Ap XIII 14). 

Sadly, though, marriage is under attack among us. 

The assault on marriage takes on different forms. It is assaulted by the public approval of sexual immorality. It is assaulted by divorce. It is assaulted by neglect, blame, selfishness, unforgiveness. And these assaults on the sanctity of marriage are an assault on Christ, the heavenly bridegroom who gave his life for the Church, his bride. Paul tells us that those who do these things will not inherit the kingdom of God (1 Cor 6:9). It is sin that is rooted in idolatry. It is sin that contradicts the Christian confession. The notion that a man and a woman may enjoy intimacy that belongs to marriage even when they are not married is godless and sinful. This hardness of heart ruins countless families. The world doesn’t think they need it.

So heed Paul today. Wives submit to your husband. ... And husbands, love your wife, just as Christ loved the church ... and gave himself up for her.

6.

God loved the world in this way: He sent us Jesus to pour out himself as the perfect sacrificial offering for you ... to unite you, the body of Christ, with him ... through Word and sacrament. The Lord of Glory lived without sin for you, he was punished for your sin ... for your immorality and adultery and idolatry alike. Jesus ... who gave us the best wine on the night he was betrayed ... continues to give himself to us. He shed the very blood we drink that same day he was glorified upon a cross. He gave his very body. The body and blood of this new covenant delivers to you the forgiveness of your sins. And he continues to offer that cup of salvation to you in his Divine Service to you. It is in the breaking of the bread every Lord’s Day that we come to know God in the flesh. 

In this way, Jesus comes to bless us, not to judge us. In this way, Jesus comes to give to us, not receive from us. In this way Jesus comes to reconcile the world to himself, and to encourage us to do the same. He does what only God can do, giving more forgiveness than you possibly deserve. And to all who do believe, he has given the right to become children of God, wholly and dearly loved ... in Jesus’ name.