John 2,1-11 1021
2. Sonntag nach dem Epiphanias 012
Antonius the Great, hermit in Thebais, Egypt ✠ 356
17. Januar 2021
1. O Lord God, Heavenly Father, we beseech You to send Your blessing upon everyone, so that we may not provoke each other to anger and strife, but live peaceably together in love and godliness, receiving Your gracious help in all temptations; grant unto us all to walk before You, in purity and holiness, to put all our trust in You, and lead such lives on earth, so that in the world to come we may have everlasting life. Amen. (Veit Dietrich)
2. »On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 2Jesus was also invited to the wedding with His disciples. 3When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to Him: „They have no wine.“ 4And Jesus said to her: „Woman, what does this have to do with Me? My hour has not yet arrived.“ 5His mother said to the servants: „Do whatever He tells you.“ 6Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. 7Jesus said to the servants: „Fill the jars with water.“ And they filled them up to the brim. 8And He said to them: „Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.“ So they took it. 9When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it was from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom 10and 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.“ 11This, the first of His signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested His glory. And His disciples believed in Him.«
3. an epiphany is a revelation and manifestation of a divine being. In our common usage it also refers to a sudden insight or intuitive understanding. In the Gospels, an epiphany is when Jesus manifests His Divine nature. John began his Gospel with a theological and philosophical presentation of who Jesus is. John 1 is chock-full of epiphanic language, including: »And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His Glory, Glory as of the Only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth« (John 1,14). John is making an obvious connection to the Glory of Yahweh shown in the Old Testament. This Divine Glory was manifested as the Pillar of cloud by day and of fire at night who lead Israel. Later this Glory resided in the most holy place in the temple. John says Jesus is this Divine Glory now manifested in a human body.
4. John tells us that Jesus’ first epiphany, or miracle, happened at a wedding when He changed water into wine. John calls it the first of Jesus’ signs whereby He manifested His Glory. Think about this for a moment. Jesus manifest His Divinity in numerous ways throughout the Gospels – He heals the sick, cast out demons, raised the dead and forgives peoples’ sins – but His first miracle is none of these; His first miracle is turning water into wine.
5. This might seem an odd choice, but it has profound Scriptural and theological implications; Jesus does this miracle to make a particular point. I like how Wilhelm Löhe describes Jesus’ miracles in his 1859 sermon on John 2: Jesus’ miracles „are miracles of blessing through which man is led to his salvation and they are also given as examples and proof that the Lord uses nature in His healing of humanity“ (Löhe 176 § 5).
6. Weddings and wine have a theological symbolism in the Scriptures. A wedding banquet was a feast, literally, and in small towns like Nazareth and Cana, these events brought nearly the entire community together. As such, wedding banquets were used to show and teach the great and glorious heavenly fellowship that we will partake of in paradise. Jesus used weddings as a way to teach this fellowship in several parables. The apostles, particularly John, use this image to describe eternal life. Wine and weddings go together. The Prophet Isaiah says that wine is a symbol of joy (55,1). Solomon wisely states: wine gladdens life (Ecclesiastes 10,19). David describes Yahweh’s rich and abundant blessings as his wine cup overflowing (Psalm 23,5).
7. The Master of the feast praises the bridegroom for bringing out the best wine for last. Making this wine better than all the wine that had been served thus far, Jesus is making a theological point with His first sign: God saves the best for last. God had given His people promises of His arrival, and now Jesus is here to fill those promises. God had given Israel patriarchs and prophets, and now Jesus is here as the Chief Prophet. God had given Judah kings, and now Jesus is here who is the Son of David and the Rightful King. Jesus is the True Vine (John 15,1); He is the Best Wine given last.
8. The Sinai covenant was good, but Jesus fulfills it and brings a better covenant. Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1,29). Jesus destroyed the temple, His body, and then three days raised it up (John 2,19). »For God so loved the world, that He gave His Only Son, so that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but shall have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world shall be saved through Him« (John 3,16-17).
9. John tells us at the conclusion of his Gospel that the signs Jesus did are written in this book so that we may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing we may have ζωήν (life) in His Name (John 20,30-31). Jesus’ first sign, turning water into wine, was done so that we would believe He is the Christ and the Savior who gives us eternal life. The Scriptures record these epiphanies to remind us that God is with us, in our midst, and He desires to save us. Today, Jesus gives us the gift of wine again, for in the Lord’s Supper we received the bread and wine that is His body and blood given for us and our forgiveness. Jesus is the Sacramental Wine that is served last for the blessing of all who partake of Him. Amen.
10. Let us pray. O Christ Jesus, Divine Image of the Father; help us to believe Your signs, hear Your Word and receive Your Sacraments, so that through them we receive by faith all grace upon grace. 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 28. Revised Edition © 2012 by Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart.
ELKB. Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern. www.bayern-evangelisch.de/www/index.php. Copyright © 2019 Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern.
VELKD. Vereinigte Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche Deutschlands. www.velkd.de. Copyright © 2020 Vereinigte Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche Deutschlands.
Löhe, Wilhelm. Evangelien-Postille für die Sonn- und Festage des Kirchenjahres. Copyright © 1859 Samuel Gottlieb Liesching. A sermon preached on John 2,1-11 for The 2. Sunday after the Epiphany. The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind, Tr. © 2011.
Weinrich, William C. John 1:1 – 7:1. Copyright © 2015 Concordia Publishing House.
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