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The Good Wine Text:
John 2:1-11 What a wonderful day this is! Our joy overflows and we are glad, indeed, as we welcome the newest members of our family at St. Mark's—Aaron and Rachel Zoeller and little Asher Matthew; Greg and Nancy Gmyrek and little Jaclynn; Patty Barrett; Arthur and Dorothy Vermeersch and Andrew. And how pleased we are that Aaron and Rachel's parents are here, all the way from Montana—and the rare blessing for Pastor Ken Zoeller to baptize his own grandson. “Grandson!” What a blessing! That, of course, makes you “Grandpa!” “Grandpas and Grandmas.” ‘Has a nice ring to it! No offense, kids, but now the spoiling begins!
And we are happy this day also, if a little apprehensive, to place our newly elected congregational officers and board members as we at St. Mark's step into a new future with our new Constitution and Bylaws and our new Sunday schedule of one, unified Divine Service. All of this speaks of new challenges and opportunities, new blessings, new life. Today is a day of celebration. As our psalm says today, so we say, “Shout for joy to God…sing the glory of his name; give to him glorious praise!” [Ps. 66:1 (ESV)].
How appropriate for a celebration like this, then, is the Gospel reading for today according to the one-year lectionary. As our Lord brought joy to the wedding in Cana so does he bless us with his joy this day. That's why he did this miracle, this sign, you know—simply to provide joy and maybe to save the host of the reception from the embarrassment of prematurely running out of wine for the party. And we know that the miraculous wine Jesus provided was of such high quality that the master of the feast accused the bridegroom of being a cheapskate—saving the best till last. So, on the basis of this text, we could call the joy we have today, “The Good Wine.”
As with everything Jesus did and said, however, there was always a deeper and higher reality implied, meant and intended. By this sign, John says, Jesus “thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him.” Jesus' glory and the disciples' faith go together. Our baptisms today and even our officers and board members also point beyond themselves and ourselves, beyond the present moment and joy to the glory of our Lord and invite and inspire God's gift of faith.
Even the opening chapters of St. John's Gospel are written in a way that point beyond just the narration of a few days' events. Beginning with the testimony of John the Baptist the Evangelist relates the inaugural events of the gospel using the repeated phrase, “the next day.” There are four days. After the first day of the Baptist's testimony, “the next day” he points out Jesus calling him “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” Then, “the next day,” with the same words, he directs his own disciples to follow Jesus. Finally, “the next day,” Jesus calls Philip and Nathanael. These four days serve as a sort of metaphor summarizing Jesus' earthly ministry of calling disciples to follow him, learn from him and tell others what they had learned, his ministry of preaching, teaching and healing. All that remains is three more days to complete one week.
It is therefore not accidental that the very first words of our text are “on the third day.” And “on the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee.” The metaphor or outline of John's Gospel is complete. After the “four days,” that is, Jesus' earthly ministry ending in his death and burial, “on the third day” the Lord is risen! And there is a wedding. The day of the resurrection of all flesh is pictured in scripture as a wedding banquet, the marriage of the Lamb and his Bride, the Church.
What does the wedding at Cana say about eternal life? What does the baptism of little Asher and Jaclynn and your baptism say about eternal life? What does the placing of our church officers and board members say about eternal life? Only if each of these has something to say, some place in pointing to the goal of eternal life, do they have any meaningful significance, anything to say about the real and ultimate meaning of our lives and the life of the world.
At the wedding in Cana Jesus first responds to the inquiry of his mother with the significant words, “my hour has not yet come.” The wedding-feast of the Lamb of heaven, however, happens because his hour had come. This “hour” speaks of our Lord's ultimate goal and destiny. In John's Gospel that hour began to come when certain Greek Gentiles were drawn desiring to see Jesus. Jesus said, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified” [John 12:23 (ESV)] as he saw the original promise to Abraham beginning already coming true, that “in your seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed” (Genesis 11). Then, just before his betrayal by Judas and capture in Gethsemane, Jesus prayed, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you” [John 17:1 (ESV)]. In each of these cases “the hour” and the “glory” is Jesus' goal and destiny, his vicarious atonement on the cross, the single sacrifice that alone has wiped out sin and its sentence of death for the life of the world, that opens the kingdom of heaven to all believers.
At the wedding in Cana Jesus says to his mother, “My hour has not yet come.” But this didn't mean he would do nothing. Somehow Mary knew this and told the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” Salvation, the release from the condemnation of sin, the power of Christ's crucifixion, death and resurrection comes to all before and after the fact. God's Old Testament people were saved by faith in the certain hope of the coming Messiah. God's New Testament people are saved by the same faith in the Christ who has come. And that saving faith comes to a person when you “do whatever he tells you”—not in the sense that faith is the result of our actions, preparations or obedience, however, but in the way of being in the place where Christ acts for us and for our salvation imparting the gift of faith.
“Do whatever he tells you.” Jesus directed the servants to fill the six stone jars with water and then take some of the water to the master of the feast. It must have sounded and looked silly. Why so much water? And what was the MC to do with it? “Do whatever he tells you.” So they did. And there was good wine and joy. But, more than that, John says, there was glory and there was faith for those who knew where the water now become wine came from.
“Do whatever he tells you.” Jesus said, “Go…and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” [Matthew 28:19-20 (ESV)]. This too sounds and looks silly; that with a little water splashed a person is suddenly made a disciple. But as Martin Luther wrote in his hymn, All that the mortal eye beholds Is water as we pour it. Before the eye of faith unfolds The pow'r of Jesus' merit. “The eye of faith.” “Do whatever he tells you.” So we do. And there is glory and there is faith.
“Do whatever he tells you.” These same words apply to our officers and board members and, indeed, to all members of St. Mark's. Above and beyond everything else that goes on in a Lutheran congregation—from the budget to singing in the choir to Christmas decorations to the ladies group, even our 50 th anniversary classic car show and banquet and pictorial directory—everything is aimed at this: providing a place where sinners are made saints, disciples of Jesus through baptism and the preaching and teaching of the Word.
“Do whatever he tells you.” Jesus took bread and said, “Take, eat; this is my body,” and some wine, saying, “Take, drink; this is my blood,” and then the command, “Do this.” Again, apart from faith, this looks silly, people solemnly filing forward and kneeling to receive a little wafer of bread and a little sip of wine. “Do whatever he tells you.” And so we do. And there is glory and there is faith.
“Do whatever he tells you.” Mary said that. “Make disciples by baptizing and teaching, eat, drink, abide in me and my word.” Jesus said that. Through these, his Word and sacraments, as through means the Holy Spirit works faith when and where he wills in those who hear the gospel. And where there is the true, saving faith, there is the glory of Christ. You are the glory of Christ, for he came to become what we are in order that we may become what he is, sons and daughters and fellow heirs of the kingdom of God our Father. Jesus manifests his glory and his disciples put their faith in him. Look around you. This is the Good Wine—young couples made one in holy matrimony; baptized children whose angels “always see the face of [the] Father who is in heaven” [Matthew 18:10 (ESV)]; grandparents beaming with pride; new members drawn by the Spirit; fellow members offering their service to the work and mission of our congregation; single folks either preparing for or already engaged in or retired from all sorts of godly vocations; Christians united in a common confession of the one, true faith, one Lord, one baptism, one God and Father of us all. We have been made the glory of Christ, the light of Christ in our world today. Together we are told, “Do whatever he tells you.” And when we do, our Lord brings his care, his healing, his glory, his salvation, his joy. ___________________
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