Grace Evangelical-Lutheran: John 2,1-11. 2. Sunday after Epiphany

Monday, January 19, 2015

John 2,1-11. 2. Sunday after Epiphany

✠ One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you ✠

The Word of the Lord Endures Forever

se cwide þæs béaggiefan ábireþ ferhþ

John 2,1-11 0915

2. Sonntag nach Epiphanias 15

The Confession of St. Peter

Prisca, Virgin, Martyr at Rome, 275 ✠

18. Januar 2015

1. O Jesus Christ, Creator, Redeemer and Foundation of Eternal Joy, You showed love, friendship and kindness to the steward in Cana. Help us to be Your stewards of reconciliation and healing in a world broken by sinful mankind and sinfulness so that our neighbors see Your love and mercy for them through us and our Christian lives. Amen. (VELKD, Prayer for 2. So. nach Epiphanias § 1).

2. On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus was also invited to the wedding with His disciples. When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to Him: „They have no wine.“ And Jesus said to her: „Woman, what does this have to do with Me? My hour has not yet arrived.“ His mother said to the servants: „Do whatever He tells you.“ 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. When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him: „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.“ This, the first of His signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested His glory. And His disciples believed in Him.

3. The Apostle John tells us that the first manifestation of Jesus’ miracles occurred at a wedding banquet in Cana. This feast is a gathering of family, friends and neighbors in Cana. Jesus attended this banquet along with His mother and disciples. Cana is about 7 miles NNE of Nazareth. Jesus almost certainly knew the bride and or the groom; perhaps their families were customers of Joseph and Jesus when needing carpentry work done.

4. Some clarification on 1. century ad wedding traditions help explain the drama of the event that John has written for us in his Gospel. Jewish wedding feasts lasted at least a few days, and could continue for as long as a week. The richer you were, the longer the feast was expected to last in the minds of neighbors. At these feasts, the groom had two types of wine on hand for the guests: a small supply of expensive wine and a much larger supply of cheaper wine. The good wine was normally served first and then the poor wine was rolled out throughout the remaining days of the festive celebration.

5. John tells us that at this particular wedding banquet in Cana the poor wine had run out before the feasting had ended. This is a highly embarrassing turn of events that threatens to tarnish the honor of both the groom and the steward he had put in charge of ensuring that the wedding feast went off without a hitch. Now the festivities are going to end sooner than anyone had anticipated and wanted.

6. Jesus stepped in and kept the honor of both the groom and his steward intact. Jesus took the six stone jars filled with water and turned that water into 180 gallons of exquisite wine: this equates to 907 bottles of wine! The tradition was expensive wine first, and cheap wine last. Jesus made it so that the groom abrogated that tradition: good wine first, cheap wine next and exceptional wine last.

7. Meditating one this, we discover that Jesus’ first miracle manifested simultaneous blessings: the honor of the groom and his steward were enhanced among their neighbors in Cana, a wine shortage was averted and over 900 bottles of the best wine were consumed in joyous festivities. These are all good temporal blessings that flowed from Jesus’ first miracle, but an even greater spiritual blessing occurred in Cana: Jesus had manifested His Glory with this miracle, and His disciples believed in Him.

8. The Holy Scriptures often use wine as a symbol of the festive joy in heaven. David writes: »O Yahweh, You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies, You anoint my head with oil and my cup overflows« (Psalm 23,5). David is referring to his wine goblet that overflows with wine because of God’s rich and abundant blessings. Solomon later philosophizes: »Wine gladdens life« (Ecclesiastes 10,19). Wine is considered a symbol of joy (Isaiah 55,1), and wine is often served at parties, festivities and the holidays to toast the particular celebration. Jesus, therefore, used a wedding feast and wine to manifest the great and glorious heavenly fellowship that His people will experience in His heavenly banquet hall.

9. Jesus furthermore said at another occasion: »No one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed. But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. And no one after drinking old wine desires new, for he says: „The old is good“« (Luke 5,37-39). You can buy a bottle of Australian Yellow Tail Reserve Shiraz for $10, and I can tell you from personal experience that it is a fine-tasting wine, but many wine enthusiasts rate the French vineyard Domaine Romanée-Conti in Burgundy, France as the vineyard that produces the world’s best wines (http://moreintelligentlife.com/story/best-wine-world). A bottle of this vineyard’s exceptional 2005 Pinot Noir will cost you $8995 (€7779; £5956). The wine Jesus made in Cana is comparable to the French Domaine Pinot Noir; after drinking this fine wine you would never look at the common Yellow Tail Shiraz the same way ever again.

10. Later in John’s Gospel, Jesus uses wine again to teach about the reign of God. Jesus says: »I am the True Vine, and My Father is the Vinedresser. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the Vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in Me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing« (John 15,1.4-5).

11. Today Jesus gives this gift out to us once again. Take and receive it for your forgiveness and salvation. Jesus is good and gracious. His loving-kindness toward you is overflowing. In Jesus, you see God’s Glory. You do not see God from behind, after He has passed you by, but you see Him face to face in Jesus, for in Christ God has become man. This God-man suffered for you, died for you, and in His most glorious miracle, rose from the dead for you. He did all this so that you would enjoy abundant life forever. Jesus is the New Wine that is served last for the delight of all who partake of Him. He is the Best, the Most Expensive and the New Wine of the New Testament. He gives us the reign of God, redeemed us and promises to us an eternal life hat will be grander than a never-ending wedding feast with the best foods and finest wines. Amen.

12. Let us pray. O Christ, Thou New Testament that brings everlasting life, may our lives boast in You so that we may remain humble and happy in our hearts. Amen.

To God alone be the Glory

Gode ealdore sy se cyneþrymm

✠

All Scriptural quotations are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 4. Edition © 1990 by the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, and the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 27. Edition © 1993 by Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart.

Grace Evangelical-Lutheran

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church

Monday, January 19, 2015

John 2,1-11. 2. Sunday after Epiphany

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