St. John 2:1-11
Dearly beloved,
It is the way of Jesus to surprise and shock. Jesus moves when people
least expect it, and He stands still when people seek movement. It is part
of the great irony of the Christian faith. How often do we pray and seek
God's hand to direct a given situation only to find that our gaze picks up
nothing in the way of God's intervention. Or one may be living out his
daily existence and God comes on the wings of His word and brings us nearer
to Him.
Great irony and symbolism envelope the gospel for today. The evangelist
St. John records for us the wedding at Cana. What is there to make of it?
Some may simply say, "Jesus turns water into wine and we see that He is
God." It is true, but there is color that flows through this painting and
it paints a vivid picture for the coming of the Messiah. It is the first
sign that Jesus performs. Jesus doesn't seem to be ready, but Mary, His
mother, urges Him onward. In actuality, Jesus ordained that this should
come to pass.
It is a wedding feast, and they have run out of wine. There sit six
empty jars that are used for the Jewish ritual washing and purification.
Jesus commands them to be filled with water. Then, Jesus turns the water
into wine. This gives the guests between 120 to 180 gallons of wine. But
why? What is Jesus trying to teach? Remember, this is His first sign. This
replacement of water to wine is very similar to what we see take place in
the Old Testament.
Moses was told by God that he would be like "God to the people"(Exodus
7). Then, Moses turns the water in Egypt into blood. It is one of the
signs of plague against Egypt. The Nile River is turned to blood, and jars
of water turn into blood. Water in every cup is turned to blood. Jesus
looks like Moses, turning water into something else. Jesus looks similar to
Elijah and Elisha, as well. Elisha helps a widow of a prophet. She has a
debt to pay and so, we are told, she only has one jar of oil to sell. It
would not be near enough to pay the debt.
So, Elisha has many jars gathered and they begin pouring the jar of
precious oil into the empty jars. The oil miraculously fills many jars, and
she sells them to pay the debt. The debt and the penalty was that her
children were to become slaves. Bound and burdened for slavery, the
children were freed and ransomed.
Jesus looks a lot like the Old Testament prophets at the Wedding at
Cana, but with one exception. This account includes the flowing of much
wine. The prophet Amos prophesies of those days that include the Messiah:
"‘Behold the days are coming,' declares the Lord, ‘when the plowman shall
overtake the reaper and the treader of the grapes him who sows the seed; the
mountains shall drip sweet wine and all the hills shall flow with it'"(Amos
9:13).
When the mountain of the Lord drips sweet wine and it flows from the
hills, then you know that the Messiah has arrived. John the Evangelist
paints for us a picture that contains a marked contrast: Mary, the mother of
Jesus proclaims to Jesus, "They have no wine." On the other hand, the
master of the feast, upon tasting the wine, exclaims, "You have kept the
good wine until now." The choice wine was kept until last. The evangelist
makes the point for all to hear that the people have just gone from the
barrenness of the times to the fruitfulness of the Messiah. Everything has
changed.
The world, at the headmaster's own exclamation, likes the good things
first. Jesus does just the opposite. The times and days of blessing do not
fall as the world would have them fall. You want things good now. You want
peace and tranquility now. You run from hardship. The world thinks that
the Christian life is nothing but earthly and visible blessings one right
after the other. The world wants the good wine first, but the way of
salvation is often paved with difficulty. The Christian will struggle.
This is biblical.
We don't like to struggle and face hardship, however. We may even
compromise the Christian faith and Christian doctrine just to keep things
easy. We may not tell our children that they are sinning by the way they
live because we are afraid of alienation or abandonment. We may not want to
uphold and practice the historic ways of the church because we are afraid
people will be turned off. We may not deal honestly in business or in the
office, because we may fear that being honest will jeopardize a future
promotion or future business.
Because of our desire for things to be smooth, easy and good now,
because we desire the good wine now, we allow ourselves to sin. We allow
ourselves to compromise and hinder our prayer to God. We compromise our
liturgy and worship, when we fear the barrenness of now. We get so worried
about the church growing or not growing that we compromise our liturgy and
the beautiful historic ceremonies of the church. We want the good wine now
but, ironically, lead ourselves to the barrenness of unbelief and sin.
We let the world compromise our worship to God. We sin. But our Lord
Jesus shows all the world that true fruitfulness of the vine comes by Him
and only Him. A person who continually compromises his or her faith will
not find peace. He will not find a content rest in Jesus...until your sins
are brought to the cross.
The promise by Amos is set in motion and it comes to pass. In Jesus the
mountains drip with sweet wine. The hills then flow with the blessings of
Jesus. Jesus is teaching the church that all must forsake the things of
this world. All the barrenness of the world ways will ultimately come to
naught. But in Jesus is your comfort. In Jesus are all things good and
noble. A greater peace is to be found by forsaking the world and putting on
the cloak of Jesus, who is the protector of those who are His.
Your sins are forgiven and you are loved by Jesus. You are His. The
Lord is your antidote to unbelief and sin. Jesus feeds you with the things
that bring life and salvation. So let us gather around the throne and
exclaim along with the headmaster of the wedding feast that indeed "The Lord
has saved the choicest wine for the end." The best is yet to come. Amen.
--
Rev. Chad Kendall
www.frchadius.blogspot.com
Trinity Lutheran Church
Lowell, Indiana
www.trinitylowell.org
