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Grace,
mercy and peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ.
Everyone
serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor
wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.
Prayer: Let the words of my mouth, and the
meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our
Redeemer. Amen.
Today’s Gospel reading has to do with Jesus
turning water into wine at a wedding at Cana. This is a wonderful event, and we
read in John’s gospel that this was the first of his signs. This was the
first miracle that Jesus performed.
Last week, we were reading about Jesus’
baptism, where he was baptised by John the Baptist in the Jordan River, and the
Holy Spirit came down on him in the form of a dove, and God the Father spoke
the words: This is my beloved son; with you I am well pleased. Before
his baptism, Jesus hadn’t performed any miracles, or preached any sermons. His
baptism was the beginning of his ministry.
Now we read in the bible about all kinds of
miraculous things that happened to Jesus when he was a baby. At Christmas time,
we read that Jesus happened to fulfil all kinds of prophesies in miraculous
way—the fact that he would be born in Bethlehem, even though he didn’t live in
Bethlehem. We read about the miraculous way in which the shepherds were able to
come and visit him through the good news brought by the angels. We read about
the miraculous way in which the wise men were brought to Jesus by means of a
star. There’s also something miraculous in the way that Jesus knew when he was
12 years old that the temple in Jerusalem was his Father’s house, that
he knew that God the Father was actually his father.
But all of these miraculous things were not
actually signs that Jesus performed. There were miraculous things that happened
to him, but this event in our Gospel reading is the first sign, the first
public visible miracle that he performed.
And isn’t a wonderful thing that all this
happens at a wedding! Don’t you like going to a wedding? What’s the best
wedding you’ve ever been to? There’s something very special about going to a
nice wedding.
Actually, we can see here that organising a
wedding was one of the first things we read about God doing in the Old
Testament. We read about how God created the world in Genesis 1, and then we
read about the Garden of Eden in Genesis 2, and at the end of that chapter, we
read that wonderful passage which says: So the Lord God caused a deep sleep
to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its
place with flesh. And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made
into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said, “This at last is
bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she
was taken out of Man.” Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother
and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his
wife were both naked and were not ashamed.
Isn’t that a wonderful passage, where we read
about the first time a man and a woman ever saw each other! In the following
chapter, we read about the fall into sin. It’s almost hard for us to imagine
such an event happening completely without sin: a man and a woman completely in
love, with no shame, with no dodginess, with no sadness, with no
disappointments, with no smut, no treating of each other as a sexual object—just
completely and totally pure, lovely, wonderful.
And then when Adam and Eve fall into sin, it’s
significant that the first thing to be effected is this relationship. We read
where God says: I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain
you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be for your husband, and he
shall rule over you. We can see that for the rest of history, we are going
to realise that the love between a man and a woman is one of the most wonderful
creations and gifts of God, but because of sin, it’s going to come now with
some pain and sorrow. It’s going to come with a cross.
Even right from the beginning of creation,
God said: Be fruitful and multiply. And now, because of sin, it’s going
to be a difficult thing to give birth. Children, who are such precious little
people that God creates, are going to be difficult to raise—it’s going to
require effort. The pain here doesn’t just simply refer to giving birth, but refers
to before birth where women often get sick with morning-sickness, and after
birth, where children are going to be hard work, giving mothers and fathers
many a sleepness night, and then as they get older, they will come with more
challenges.
And then we also read where it says: Your
desire shall be for your husband, but he shall rule over you. Every
marriage is going to come with tensions—what does it mean to be a good husband?
What does it mean to be a good wife? Who’s in charge? Who has the last word? Some
of the greatest sadnesses in the world are the sadnesses of unhappy and failed
marriages. Some of you might know this pain particularly sharply.
I think that everyone can see that God has
created marriage between a man and a woman as a wonderful thing, but that
because of sin it’s also one of the things that is so sharply effected by the
devil. The devil knows just what a good thing marriage is, and he wants to
attack it. In our current times, the devil seeks to redefine marriage
completely from top to bottom, as if it has nothing to do with men and women at
all anymore. It’s become politically incorrect now to speak the truth that
marriage is between a man and a woman. Everyone know this is true, and yet
people can’t say it. And yet, this should be said, while we have still have the
opportunity to do so, because the bullies of political correctness will not
rest until the voice of truth is silenced in their favour. Today, if Christians
are attacked, for example, in the media, they are often attacked on their
definition of marriage.
Jesus knows this full well. He was there when
the first man and the first woman were given to each other in the Garden of
Eden. Jesus is true God. After creating the world, setting up the marriage
between a man and a women was the first thing that he organised. So isn’t it
significant then that the first miracle of Jesus happens at a wedding? Jesus
had instituted marriage right at the beginning of creation, and now that he has
become a man, and has been baptised and has begun his ministry, he does things
in the same order: he goes to a wedding, and he blesses it. He knows that
marriage is a wonderful thing, and he knows that the devil roams around trying
to stuff it up. And so Jesus begins his new creation by being present at this
simply little wedding, in a simple town, in a simple village, with a simple
couple. This very fact that Jesus shows up to this wedding should be a
tremendous encouragement and strength to all married couples. All the crosses
of marriage are blessed now, because Jesus has died on the cross. The sting is
taken out of them—the hardships of marriage lift up our eyes to that wonderful
wedding banquet in heaven where we will be with Jesus, the Lamb of God who was
slain for us. Even if we’re not married, it’s a wonderful privilege to be able
to encourage married couples and to pray for them and to wish them all the
best, in their life together.
Also, it’s not just marriage that is blessed
in this passage. Jesus, for example, himself is not the groom in this passage,
but leads a single life and brings a great blessing to the occasion. Every
Christian is made part of the church, which is Christ’s bride, and we already
join in his wedding banquet, and also wait for it in heaven. We can see that Jesus
was invited to the wedding with his mother, and his disciples. Jesus and his
mother are together in this reading—just through this fact, there is a blessing
in the relationship with our parents. Jesus is there with his disciples—we
don’t just have marriages, and families, but we also have other companions just
like Jesus—friends, and all kinds of people that we can enjoy good conversation
with and who pray for us and help us.
Anyway, there’s a problem. We read: When
the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” What
a terrible embarrassing thing it must have been for this couple to run out of
wine at their wedding! People would have talked about it for years! But Mary’s
words are a wonderful encouragement to us about prayer. Mary here gives such a
good example to us about how to pray. She doesn’t tell Jesus what to do. She
doesn’t prescribe for him some kind of method to fix the problem. She just
tells him what the problem is. They have no wine. If only we had this
kind of strength in prayer.
When it comes to prayer, we often think: If
only I had strong faith, then I could pray properly. Then say: Jesus, I
don’t have strong faith. Dump it on him, and let him fix the
problem. We might think: If only I had time to pray… Then say: Jesus, I have
no time to pray. Already as soon as we’ve prayed this, we realise
that Jesus has already put a stamp on your order and it’s already in the post!
You might think: If only I was good person… Perfect! Jesus didn’t die for good
people, he only died for sinners. So say: Jesus, I have no goodness in me.
Let him give you his, and cover your sin over with his blood. You can see
just what a wonderful prayer this is of Mary.
Mary must have known Jesus better than anyone
else, except of course for God! She tells him because she knows he can help. We
often want to help ourselves, and then at the last moment, as a last resort,
then we pray. But when we think we don’t need to pray, we won’t. But it’s
precisely at those times when we realise that we’re in need, and Jesus is the
only one who can help us, when we realise that we’re completely helpless, that
Jesus comes and says: Come and talk to me. I want to know exactly what you need
help with. Only helpless people pray. That’s what prayer is all about—it’s
simply telling Jesus all the things in our life where we are helpless.
We read: Jesus said to [Mary], “Woman,
what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said
to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”
Sometimes people think that Jesus is being
harsh on his mother here. That’s often because in English, when someone calls
someone “woman”, it’s often a rude way of talking. So some ungrateful husband
says to his wife, “I don’t want egg and chips, woman! I want steak and
chips!”
It’s funny that if we say to a man, “Give me
a hand, man!” it’s quite friendly. But if we say, “Give me a hand, woman!” it
sounds rough. Jesus is not being rude to his mother here, even though it sounds
like it to our ears. After all, at the creation of the world, woman was like
the last jewel in the crown, the final masterpiece. Jesus doesn’t despise
anything that he has made! There’s nothing in this passage to suggest that
Jesus isn’t giving his mother the normal kind of respect that good children
normally give. Yet, Jesus puts the matter back on her: Why are you telling me
about it? What do you want me to do about it? What’s it got to do with me?
What’s it got to do with you?
Mary’s request still stands. They still don’t
have any wine. And Jesus’ words to her maybe make her think that he already has
something in mind. So she says to the servants: Do whatever he tells you.
And now we read about this wonderful event.
Let’s read it exactly as John puts it: 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. And he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it
to the master of the feast.” So they took it.
Six stone water jars filled with twenty or
thirty gallons of wine is a lot of wine. It really is far more wine than they
need for this wedding. There’s plenty for the wedding celebration to go on for
a few more days yet. And maybe people could take some home as a present. It’s
quite a tremendous gift that Jesus gives this couple.
We also might think that it’s strange that
Jesus gives them a gift of wine. Wine, of all things! This is a very
sensitive issue for some people, especially those who are tee-totallers. Now, people
are free to drink as little wine as they like, but there’s no rule that
Christians are not allowed to drink alcohol. It’s a gift. It’s something to be
enjoyed. And Jesus gives this gift for these people to enjoy at a wedding. Some
people think that Jesus didn’t give them alcoholic wine—but the text is very
clear that this is what we normally think is wine.
However, we also know that alcohol can be
dangerous, that it can be harmful, if people don’t know when to stop drinking.
In my ministry as a pastor, I once buried a six year old who was killed by a
drunk driver. Many of you will know from your own experience how alcoholism can
destroy families and marriages. Alcoholism is a terrible problem in Australia.
There may be people who for their own good need to refrain from drinking,
because it’s a temptation for them.
However, it’s the devil who wants to corrupt
things. God gives these things as a good gift, to be enjoyed.
Wine was even used by Jesus for the Lord’s
Supper, for Holy Communion. On the night he was betrayed, he took a cup of
wine, and said: Drink of it all of you, this is my blood shed for you for
the forgiveness of sins. To drink Christ’s blood in the Lord’s Supper is a
wonderful gift! And what an amazing thing that Jesus should give us his blood
to drink by using the drink for weddings, for special occasions, for gladness.
And this brings us to our last point. Why did
Jesus turn the water into wine? Simply because he wanted to make the people
happy, and he wants to show us that all happiness comes from him. It really is
as simple as that.
But there’s a great mystery in the words of
the master of ceremonies, where he says: Everyone serves the good wine
first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept
the good wine until now.
We always want the good wine first, and then
the bad wine. We want happiness and joy and gladness now. We might look around
at the world and think: Why are all the Christians I know having a hard time in
life right now? And why are all the unbelievers I know going off on fancy
holidays and having a great time?
The way the world works is to have the good
wine now, now, now, because they don’t have a Saviour who can turn water into
wine. Now is all they’ve got! However, we Christians need to remember that
Jesus puts things in the reverse order. He saves the best to last. We might
think sometimes that Jesus has abandoned us, and that there’s just no
possibility that we could have any joy in life any more. He’s preparing you for
an eternity of joy, and he will give you all the encouragement and foretastes
of that joy that you need along the way. It’s better to be sad, it’s better to
have some sorrow for a while, it’s better to have a hard time—because when
we’re with Jesus, we know that he can cheer us up. Think what it’s like to have
all the joy in the world, but no Jesus. They don’t put trailers on the back of
hearses for you to put all your money in. Eventually, the world’s joy will end.
Jesus says: Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep.
But then he says: Blessed are you who weep
now, for you will laugh. Jesus says: Truly, truly, I say to you, you
will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but
your sorrow will turn into joy. When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow
because the hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer
remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world.
So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will
rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you.
Everyone serves the good wine first, and when
people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But
Jesus, you have saved the best wine until now. Who cares if I have some
sadness now? Better than being happy all the time for a short while now, and be
in darkness and misery for ever. Yes, Jesus, I know that you have wonderful
vintage in store for me, a Grange hermitage of eternal joy waiting for me, a
Barossa Shiraz of everlasting happiness and gladness, and I know nobody will
take that joy away from me. St Paul says in Romans: I consider that the
sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is
to be revealed to us. Jesus, we look forward to that time when your best
wine will be served up! We will see you again, and our hearts will rejoice, and
no one will take your joy away from you!
Amen.
Lord Jesus Christ, we come to you with all
our helplessness and all our needs and we place them into your arms. We know
that you are the source of pure joy, and we look to you. Amen.
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