Epiphany 2
Isaiah 62:1-5; 1 Corinthians 12:1-11; Psalm 36:5-10; John 2:1-11
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I.
I would like to draw your attention to five words in John 2:3, “When the wine gave out….”
The importance of a wedding in the ancient near east cannot be understated.
They were multi-day affairs.
In a small village like Cana, the whole town would have been invited.
People from neighboring villages would be there as well, which explains the attendance of Jesus, His mother, and the newly minted disciples.
The fact that Jesus and His disciples have just become acquainted is, I think, important to the significance of this story.
This is the story of Jesus’ first miracle, what John in his gospel calls the “first of his signs.” (That’s in John 2:11.)
John 1:35-51 recounts how Jesus calls Andrew, Simon Peter, Philip, and Nathanael.
So, these are “the disciples” John is talking about in John 2:2 who have been invited with Jesus to this wedding.
John mentions these disciples again in John 2:11 when he writes the “disciples believed in him” as a result of this sign, this changing water into wine.
Clearly, this sign is for them. It is meant to confirm them in their newfound faith.
What kind of faith is it?
Well, it is a fresh, enthusiastic faith, filled with excitement.
Like new wine put into old wineskins, it is fermenting and bursting out all over the place.
Jesus even gently mocks this enthusiasm. Let’s look at John 1:47-50:
Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!” Nathan′a-el said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” Nathan′a-el answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You shall see greater things than these.”
“You shall see greater things than these.”
That is the set up for our story today.
This first sign at the wedding feast in Cana, this changing water into wine, is the beginning of the fulfillment of Jesus’ promise to Nathanael and to the rest of His disciples, “You shall see greater things than these.”
II.
But the wine has given out.
In our reading from Isaiah today, we read in Isaiah 62:4, “You shall no more be termed Forsaken, and your land shall no more be termed Desolate.”
Isaiah is describing the sad state of Jerusalem and of the whole people of God.
Their wine has most certainly given out.
Now, it’s important to remember what wine means in the Bible.
It is not an excuse for drunkenness, but rather a sign of God’s blessing.
In Psalm 104:14-15, God causes the earth to be cultivated not only for food, but for “wine to gladden the heart of man.”
So, for the wine to give out means not only that the bridegroom failed to provide for his bride and all their guests on their wedding night, it signifies that the natural life and generative forces of the land are failing as well.
Isaiah tells us that Jerusalem and all Israel are desolate and forsaken.
And John is telling us that this bad omen at this unidentified couple’s wedding means that their marriage is going to be barren.
At this point, the mother of Jesus steps forward and says, “They have no wine.”
In other words, “They’re not going to make it.”
Have you ever watched a couple get married and said to yourself, “They’re not going to make it?”
Jesus’ response is not rude, though it may sound it to our ears.
“Woman” here might be more like “Ma’am” in our parlance.
But He doesn’t call her mother either, which is interesting.
Furthermore, His response, “What have you to do with me?” clearly shows a difference of opinion about how the situation should be handled.
“My hour has not yet come,” Jesus continues.
But the fact that His hour has not yet come must mean that, nevertheless, it is coming.
It also means that whatever His hour is, it must be related to the symbolism of running out of wine at a wedding feast.
Jesus’ hour must have something to do with a desolate land and a forsaken people.
It must have something to do with a couple whose children, if they are born at all, are born to die.
Of course, the miracle Jesus performs means that the wedding feast, at least this particular wedding feast, can go on.
It also, as I said before, gives the new disciples some tangible proof that their faith is not misplaced:
“This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory; and his disciples believed in him.”
III.
However, there’s a deeper meaning.
Running out of wine at a wedding feast does not mean that the groom planned poorly.
It means he didn’t have enough money.
In other words, he doesn’t have the resources to support a wife and start a family.
The wedding feast itself is meant to be the consummation of a sometimes years-long betrothal period, a time of preparation.
This couple has come to the end of that betrothal, but they are not ready to consummate the marriage.
We can infer, therefore, that there was something ill-timed and forced about this ceremony.
The hour of consummation had not yet come, which perhaps explains the difference of opinion between Jesus and His mother.
What do I mean by that?
Only that elsewhere in the New Testament there seems to be a difference of opinion between Jesus and His close relations about how His ministry should be conducted.
Have a look at Mark 3 and you’ll see what I mean.
Jesus enters the synagogue. There’s a man with a withered hand. The Pharisees are watching to see if Jesus will heal the man.
The Pharisees don’t care so much about healing. They only care if Jesus heals on the sabbath, thus breaking the sabbath by “doing work” on the sabbath.
Mark 3:5-6 tells us:
And he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. The Pharisees went out, and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him (emphasis added).
The deliberate provocation of the Pharisees by Jesus appalls His family.
Mark 3:21: “And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for people were saying, ‘He is beside himself.’”
Ten verses later at Mark 3:31 they are ready to intervene, to stop Him, “And his mother and his brothers came; and standing outside they sent to him and called him.”
Jesus’ response is quite telling.
There is no polite disagreement like the one we read about in John’s Gospel, “O woman, what have you to do with me?”
In Mark 3:33-35, Jesus publicly disavows his mother and brothers saying:
“Who are my mother and my brothers?” And looking around on those who sat about him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does the will of God is my brother, and sister, and mother.”
When Jesus tells His mother that his “hour has not yet come,” but then proceeds to change the water into wine, I think He is sending a message to His mother, His family, and His disciples about who He is and who His people now are.
I think He is saying that for Zion’s sake He will not keep silent, and that for Jerusalem’s sake He will not rest “…until her vindication goes forth as brightness, and her salvation as a burning torch” (Isaiah 62:1).
This is why the disciples believe in Him. He has just confirmed that He is the Messiah.
IV.
Now, what is it that Zion needs most? What is it that Jerusalem needs to hear?
(Zion is just another name for Jerusalem, by the way.)
Well, it’s the same thing you and I need to hear.
I think we need to hear that it’s time for the consummation, that there is an abundance of wine, and that with it, all the joy and blessing that wine brings.
Jerusalem in particular needed to hear that her “husband” — I put that word in quotes, and by it I mean those responsible for her spiritual well-being — would live up to his responsibilities.
The Old Testament had a lot to say about bad shepherds, spiritual leaders in Israel who did not do their jobs, who tried to enjoy all the delights of consummating a marriage, but who, in the end, ran out of wine, probably because they were drinking it themselves.
Listen to these words from Ezekiel 34:1-2:
Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say to them, even to the shepherds, Thus says the Lord God: Ho, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep?
These are the kinds of verses that Jesus has in mind and often quotes throughout His ministry.
In John 10:11, Jesus even calls Himself the “good shepherd” and says that the “good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”
This is clearly what Jesus means by His “hour.”
The hour is His sacrificial death on the cross.
The miracle’s setting at a wedding feast also makes it a foretaste of the consummated glory still to come.
In between, He must face His hour, the cross.
Likewise, between the blessing and consummation, we all must face our own hour.
Now, when your own hour comes, will you be ready?
V.
Jesus’ hour cannot come until He has prepared His people.
Let me end on that point.
John 2:6 says, “Now six stone jars were standing there, for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons.”
According to the Mosaic Law (Leviticus 6:28, 11:33-36) stone vessels were not subject to ritual impurity, unlike clay jars.
These stone jars were on hand for the purification of all the other utensils used at this wedding.
But they were empty.
What does that tell you?
It tells us that not only was old Israel not pure, but also that she had no way, no resources to make herself pure.
She had run through her blessing. She had run out of wine.
When the wine finally gave out, that is when Jesus began His ministry.
He orders the stone jars — the ones used for purification — to be filled, and by doing so, He signals that He is beginning to purify His people.
Do you remember what we read back during Advent?
It was these words from Malachi 3:3, “he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, till they present right offerings to the Lord.”
Purification is required before sacrifice can take place.
At the beginning of His ministry, Jesus blesses the wedding guests with wine of His own making, drawn from pure vessels.
“Every man serves the good wine first,” the steward tells the bridegroom, “and when men have drunk freely, then the poor wine; but you have kept the good wine until now.”
For Christians today, faith often begins with a blessing, a foretaste of eternal life, followed by a dry spell, a time of testing, followed by consummation, a time of delight.
The Church plays a part in each. She ministers the blessing through evangelism by baptism.
She ministers during the testing with fellowship and communion.
She will be ministered to at the consummation when she is presented as the bride herself.
Here is what I will leave you with.
When your hour comes, do you want to drink the good wine? Or do you still think that the dregs of sin are the best you can get?
Psalm 75:8 says:
For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup, with foaming wine, well mixed; and he will pour a draught from it, and all the wicked of the earth shall drain it down to the dregs.
Jesus does not want you to have to drink that cup. He does not want you to remain in your wickedness.
Instead, He’d rather drink the cup of consummation with you.
You see, this has been His wedding banquet all along.
He is the bridegroom. You, the Church, are the bride.
When your own efforts come up short, when your wine gives out, He has more than enough to share with you.
The abundance of all creation is His.
Let us pray:
Almighty God, whose Son our Savior Jesus Christ is the light of the world: Grant that thy people, illumined by thy Word and Sacraments, may shine with the radiance of Christ's glory, that he may be known, worshiped, and obeyed to the ends of the earth; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who with thee and the Holy Spirit liveth and reigneth, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Preached on January 19, 2025 at the First Congregational Church, Woodbury, Connecticut.
Questions for reflection and discussion:
The importance weddings in the ancient near east cannot be ____________.
Jesus attends the wedding in Cana with His ____________ and new ____________.
John calls the changing of water into wine the first of Jesus’ ____________.
In the Bible, wine is a sign of God’s ____________.
The wine giving out is symbolic of Israel’s ____________.
The miracle gives the new disciples tangible ____________ of their faith.
The wine ran out because the bridegroom did not have enough ____________.
Therefore, the couple is not ready to ____________ their marriage.
Jesus seems to have a difference of opinion with His family about how His ____________ should be conducted.
The Old Testament had a lot to say about bad ____________.
Jesus’ hour is His sacrificial death on the ____________.
Jesus begins His ministry by ____________ His people.
Parents and Grandparents, you are responsible to apply God’s Word to your children’s lives. Here is some help. Young Children – draw a picture about something you hear during the sermon. Explain your picture(s) to your parents or the minister after church.
Older Children – Discuss with your parents one or both of the following: 1) Think of something you want to tell someone. Now try to tell them without using words (like charades). 2) Things that are hard to explain are sometimes best explained by showing rather than telling. Think of a few examples.
(1) underestimated; (2) mother/disciples; (3) signs; (4) blessing; (5) desolation or foresakenness; (6) proof; (7) money; (8) consummate; (9) ministry; (10) shepherds; (11) cross; (12) purifying
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