On the Gospel for the Second Sunday after Epiphany
My wife and I were fortunate to hear this homily on the Wedding Feast at Cana in Galilee this morning, delivered by the Revd Kurt A. Lantz, pastor of Resurrection Lutheran Church and guest instructor at CLTS; it seems fitting to share this sermon with a wider audience.
Dear women, men, and children,
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Coming near the beginning of the Gospel of John (and you may have to imagine that you don’t know the entire revelation), it peaks curiosity that Mary looks to Jesus (both of them invited guests to the wedding) when they run out of wine at the celebrations in Cana. Could she be initiating a nugget of gossip that might begin the spread of denigrating news about the newlyweds? “Hey, remember that couple that got married and didn’t have enough wine for everyone at the reception?”
Even though this is the first mention of the mother of Jesus in John’s Gospel, from what the Evangelist has already revealed about Jesus Himself, we know that we ought to keep our eyes on Him and expect something. And that is exactly what Mary is about when she takes the matter to her Son and then tells the servants to do whatever He might tell them. No, this wasn’t about starting a chain of gossip. And there is more to this than the possibility that Jesus owned a local vineyard and could arrange for a barrel or two to be brought quickly.
It is not as if they ran out of fish at the wedding banquet and Mary knew that some of her Son’s disciples had been in the fishing business. Why wasn’t the problem brought to James and John, the sons of Zebedee, or their fishing partners Peter and Andrew? What did Mary believe Jesus could do and would want to do about the situation? Even the way that the Evangelist John (one of those fishing disciples) records the event, it sounds like an awkward interaction that must have some deeper significance to be revealed before it will all make sense.
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 come.”
Did Jesus help out His mother throughout His younger years when she was caught short of food and guests had unexpectedly arrived? Did the in-laws from Bethlehem take a surprise vacation to Nazareth and Jesus multiply some provisions so that Mary could feed them all? We have no record of Jesus doing anything like that at home. Yet, Mary turns to her Son to help out at this banquet to save the young couple from a wedding disaster.
Mary had experienced the salvation of her own marriage. When she was pregnant with Jesus, her husband Joseph was about to divorce her. But when it was revealed to Joseph that the Child was conceived by the Holy Spirit and would be the One to “save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21), Joseph followed the direction of the angel and took Mary to be his wife.
Jesus was the reason that Mary’s betrothal was saved. She was delivered from the disgrace of an illegitimate pregnancy. She obtained a faithful and honourable husband, who saved both her and her Son from the murderous rage of King Herod who killed all the boys in Bethlehem (Matthew 2). Jesus was the reason that Mary’s marriage was a blessing and delight to her.
Furthermore, Mary believed that her Son Jesus was the promised Messiah to reign over the people forever. She believed that the Old Testament prophecies of the Messiah would come to fulfillment in Him. Some of those prophecies were couched in terms of an abundant wedding banquet.
You might be familiar with the one from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah, which is sometimes read at funeral services: “On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined” (Isaiah 25:6), and goes on to say that “He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces” (v. 8).
Our Old Testament reading for today (from the prophet Amos) speaks of the days of the Messiah being days when, among other great blessings, the wine will be abundant. “’Behold, the days are coming,’ declares the LORD, ‘when the plowman shall overtake the reaper and the treader of grapes him who sows the seed; the mountains shall drip sweet wine, and all the hills shall flow with it... They shall plant vineyards and drink their wine, and they shall make gardens and eat their fruit’” (Amos 9:13, 14b).
As Mary believed what the angel had spoken to her about her Child Jesus, and what the angel spoke to her husband Joseph, and what her relative Elizabeth had said when filled with the Holy Spirit, and what Simeon and Anna said when the parents brought Jesus to the temple, and how the elders at the temple reacted when the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem to interact with them, and what John the Baptist had said about Him, and what happened at Jesus’ baptism, then she believed that Jesus was the promised Messiah, come to relieve His people of all their sufferings and hardships, and to bring abundant blessing and grace to the life of His people.
In addition to being a faithful, expectant daughter of Zion, Mary was also a typical mother, believing and expecting great things from her child. She was eager to see all of this come to fruition, like the mother of an actor on opening night of the performance, or the mother of an athlete the first time her child takes the field, or the mother of an academic about to receive their diploma.
As a theologian, Mary deduced that a wedding was a fitting place for the Messiah to make His debut. Mary leaned over to Jesus at the wedding in Cana, and with a nod and a wink informed Him, “They have no wine.” Now is your chance. This would be a good time. And Jesus said to her “Woman, what does this have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come.” (John 2:4). But, in faith, not willing to let it go, His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” (v. 5). She still knew that something wondrous, gracious, and blessed would come through her Son.
And she was absolutely correct, and proves to be a prime example of faith for us. Although the hour of Jesus’ death and resurrection for the salvation of the world had not yet come, He still had something to give, even to this newly wedded couple who are nowhere named in the Scriptures. Jesus had great blessing to give so that embarrassment and disgrace were taken away and joy and gladness would fill the wedding hall and spread to all the guests in attendance and give wonder and awe, hope and faith even to the servants who were at work.
We know the rest of the revelation. Jesus did reveal Himself as the promised Messiah. He suffered, was crucified, died, and was buried. The third day He rose again from the dead and ascended into heaven. From thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead. We know what He has done and we believe that what we have not yet seen come to fulfillment is indeed on its way (the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting).
Like Mary knew, we know. Can we, in hopeful anticipation, see and expect the gracious work of our Messiah when a situation arises like the possible disgrace that might come upon a couple who find themselves unprepared and unable to provide for themselves or their guests? Can we take problems like these to Jesus and look with faithful anticipation for Him to act? Or do we only await the day of His coming on the clouds and in the meantime, struggle on our own and suffer all with no hope for the present?
Jesus said to Mary His mother, “Woman, what does that have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come.” In your marriage, in your family, in your daily life and all of the struggles, challenges, heartaches, and disgrace that come upon you, how do you hear Jesus’ answer? “What does that have to do with Me?”
At those points we are tempted to hang our heads and slink away into a corner. Perhaps we will curl up in a fetal position and hope to endure until it is time for Jesus to act, to come again with a victorious shout and the blast of a trumpet to raise us back to our feet in joyful greeting of our Lord and Saviour. But for today, in our shame and disgrace, as others gossip about our frailties and weaknesses, we will just cry in the corner and be miserable.
Mary shows us a different way to take Jesus’ words. If anyone should have found offense in them it is her, “Woman, what does that have to do with Me?” But Mary does not take them with offense, but rather, with inspiration to look with eager expectation and to tell others to be prepared to act in faithful obedience, for the Saviour is about to do something. To Mary, Jesus’ words kindle her faith to believe that this Jesus is going to do something compassionate, something salvific, not only to meet the present need, but to confirm our faith in the Messianic promises whose hour has not yet come.
While we look in faith to Jesus to inaugurate the feast in celebration of His marriage to His Bride the Church, we do so not only looking to that day, but looking to Him on this day. We come to Him with our sins, our oppressions, our shame and disgrace, and with faithful anticipation we follow Mary’s lead and expect Him to act in grace and compassion.
There are countless ways that the Lord delivers us with manifold wonders of His creative blessings upon the things of this earth. As we pray for forgiveness even for sins of which we are unaware, so also we give thanks to God for the innumerable blessings that He bestows upon us without any merit or worthiness on our part, and many of which we fail to see.
What we do see, what he draws to our attention is the immediate and gracious bestowal of forgiveness in abundance that He pours out for us through His body and blood given in bread and wine. Regularly, faithfully, graciously, and more often than we desire, He serves out salvation through this seemingly meagre feast which is not only a foretaste of the feast to come, but even now a banquet of food rich in mercy and love and of wine well-aged through the life and resurrection of the eternal Son of God.
Like Mary the theologian, may we embrace all of the promises of Christ so that we might come to Him in every need, and anticipate with joy His compassionate and abundant blessings in our every trial now and when His hour comes.
The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.