Savoring the First Sign

In Nomine Iesu
St. John 2:1-11
January 20, 2019
Epiphany 2C

Dear Saints of Our Savior~

Do you know what a sommelier is? A sommelier is a wine expert—a wine steward—a trained and knowledgeable wine professional. Whereas most of us take a sip of wine and think, “This tastes like fermented grapes,” a sommelier is someone who sniffs the cork, lets the wine breathe, twirls the glass, takes a sip, and detects hints of sage, oak, and butterscotch—and knows with one sip that the grapes came from a hidden river valley deep in the far southern regions of Tuscany. Few of us will ever be able to extract and savor the flavors of vino like a sommelier.

But with the help of the Holy Spirit, you can be a sommelier of the Scriptures. You can read, mark, learn, inwardly digest, and savor what God gives us in His Word; and detect subtle hints of Law and Gospel—the bitter taste of judgment, and the sweet, smooth flavor of God’s amazing grace in Jesus Christ. The more you taste of the Scriptures, the more you can discern truth from error and the joy that comes from Jesus.

There are few moments in our Lord’s earthly ministry that are as ripe and flavorful as the wedding at Cana. It’s our Lord’s first miracle—the changing of water into wine. It’s full of surprises and bursting with joy. St. John invites us to really savor this moment

when he describes this miracle as a “sign,” the first of Jesus’ signs. That word “sign” tells us that there’s more here than meets the eye. If to you this account simply means that Jesus saved the father of the bride a trip to the liquor store, then please hang with me as we explore the full array of flavors this account has to offer.

Wine is all natural. Wine is the natural, normal way for grapes to be used. Fermentation is a natural, God-given chemical reaction. Now, notice if you will, the setting for Jesus’ first “sign.” Where did Jesus first show His miraculous wine-making ability? It’s a wedding feast. A groom and a bride—a man and a woman—have been joined together in holy matrimony. Marriage, like wine, is natural, normal, and God-given. At the very least, our Lord’s attendance at these nuptials shows that marriage matters to Jesus. Marriage is His gift. It’s the foundation on which all of human life is based. Children need both a mother and a father. God’s focus is always on the family.

The recent attempts of our culture to redefine marriage in unnatural and abnormal ways are sort of like trying to extract wine from potatoes instead of grapes. It doesn’t work. The end result of same-sex unions is not marriage, but a shallow imitation of marriage. Same-sex unions are unnatural and abnormal because everyone knows that the normal, natural result of marriage is babies, children, offspring. It takes two sexes to make a baby—male and female.

Marriage is natural; and children are the natural result of marriage. On this Life Sunday it needs to be said that when human beings despise and reject what is basic, normal and natural in God’s creation—we are rejecting God Himself. When we pretend that unborn children are somehow less than human—when we do not protect those little ones, but allow their lives to be ended in the most violent and painful ways—we do great harm. There is nothing more unnatural and abnormal than abortion. And there is nothing more beautiful and precious than the birth of a baby.

We just recently spent twelve days celebrating the birth of a baby. How many stamps—how many Christmas cards did you get with a mother and a baby—the Madonna and Child—depicted? In today’s Gospel that child and His blessed mother are together again. Coincidence? I don’t think so. The interaction between Jesus and Mary in Cana is yet another subtle flavor in this complex vintage we’re sampling from John chapter two.

It’s Mary who first informs Jesus that the wine had run out. At first, Jesus doesn’t seem very eager to do anything about it. Woman, what does this have to do with me? He asks. And then Jesus lets loose with one of those rich, profound, pregnant phrases: My hour has not yet come. Jesus’ “hour” refers to the moment of His glory—the moment when He brings glory to His Father—when He brings life to us—by hanging dead on a cross for the sins of the world. Jesus seems to be telling Mary that His miracles aren’t intended to be cute little parlor tricks cooked up to dazzle the guests at weddings and bar mitzvahs. Jesus’ miracles are “signs” that point the way to the cross—signs that lead us to believe in Him.

But Mary is a model of faith; and she forges ahead in faith, confident that Jesus will act. Mary said to the servants, “Do whatever He tells you.” Those happen to be the last recorded words of Mary in the Scriptures. And we really can’t go wrong by taking those words to heart: “Do whatever [my Son] tells you.” That’s pretty good advice from the mother of our Lord. After all, He’s the one who died on the cross and rose from the dead to save you. So if Jesus says to love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, then we should do it. If He says to forgive those who trespass against us, then we should do it. Do whatever He tells you.

There’s so much to savor in this story. For instance, Jesus has the servants fill six stone jars with water. John tells us that these water jars were used for Jewish rites of purification. And that’s important. Jesus’ Jewish contemporaries washed in this water for reasons of godliness, not cleanliness—thought this washing could make them more acceptable to God.

Well, you know what happens next. The master of the feast takes a sip of the new wine and immediately calls the groom over. “Listen,” he says. “Someone’s made a mistake here. You’re supposed to serve the fine wine first. Then, after everyone’s senses are a little dulled, you slip in the cheap stuff from CVS. But,” says the sommelier, “you have kept the good wine until now.” You have saved the best for last!

Now, remember, this text is like fine wine. Let’s savor what’s going on here. When Mary said, “They have no more wine,” she might just as well have been talking about the Jews of the Old Covenant. Their time was just about up. A new covenant was on the horizon. But they were hopelessly mired in the law—in keeping man-made rules, regulations and ceremonies—with nothing to show for it but six jars of water. That’s about as far as the Law of God can take you. At best, it can give you clean hands; but it can’t purify the heart of a sinner. And that’s a problem.

So savor this good news. Drink deeply of the joy Jesus brings. In Jesus, the old is gone and the new creation has come. In Jesus, Old Testament bathwater becomes New Testament wedding wine. Jesus fulfills the commandments of Moses with His own perfect obedience. That’s why He came—to fulfill the Law of God and then to die an innocent death on the cross—to pour out His blood like fine wine from heaven, to make glad every heart with the joy of His forgiveness, life, and salvation.

Jesus’ coming spells the end of all attempts to clean ourselves up and impress God with our good behavior. You can’t do it no matter how hard you scrub. You’ll never be pure enough by your own efforts to make things right. But Jesus does it for you in His death and resurrection. He takes your sin and gives you His purity. All who believe in Him are completely cleansed and purified—by grace, through faith. And that’s something worth celebrating. And, I’m sorry, but grape juice just doesn’t cut it. In Jesus you have a place at the wedding feast of the Lamb in His kingdom, where the meat is richly marbled and the wine never runs out.

Have we made too much of this first sign of Jesus at Cana? No way. In fact, there are a few drops more of this text left to enjoy. We can’t quit until you recognize this: that what goes on right here at Our Savior every Sunday is more marvelous and more meaningful than what happened at the wedding at Cana. Here Jesus takes water and makes water a sign—a baptism—a sacrament of His death and resurrection life, which is given to you in the splash of your own baptism. Here Jesus takes bread and gives it as His body; here Jesus takes wine and gives it to you as His blood. Right here every Sunday we have a wedding feast where Jesus is the groom, Jesus is bartender, Jesus is even the food and drink. And best of all, you are His honored guests. You get to savor it all like a world-class sommelier.

God has saved the best for last, and the best always comes with Jesus.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.