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Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the Church.(Ephesians 5:31–32)
That's what happened on the third day of Jesus' ministry at Cana in Galilee. A bridegroom took unto himself a bride. A man held fast to his wife in the public and lasting, lifelong union of one man and one woman. The two became one flesh, blessed by God and the prayers of God's people. And the celebration ensued.
But unlike our marriages today being a picture of Christ and His Church, at Cana there was no mystery and no picturing or referring to it. Paul could have said, “I am saying that at Cana, there was Christ and there was His Church” all in one place at one time. Jesus and His disciples and His mother were all present at the wedding feast. It was a living picture of what is to come.
And this is the thing to keep in mind. Christ and His Church. Bridegroom and Bride. He is our Bridegroom. We — the baptized saints gathered around Gospel and Sacrament — His own Bride, dearly coveted by God, bought and paid for with His own blood.
No surprise then to find Jesus in the midst of His people and their daily, ongoing lives. He is united and one with us in the most intimate of ways. He is one with us in our human flesh. We are one family with Him.
A serious problem develops at the wedding, there in the middle of ordinary life. They were running out of wine. You know, in the vast scheme of things, we would be tempted to ask why it was such a big deal to run out of wine at a wedding. Today, in the era of expensive alcoholic beverages, sometimes we are fortunate to enjoy beer or wine at a wedding, and this consideration is one on a large checklist of considerations and choices to be made in the modern American wedding.
Of course, I know I had a whole lot of friends of mine and friends of our family who would have loudly given me a hard time — and some perhaps would not have stayed for the reception — if we had not had beer and wine at our wedding reception. Where we come from in the Midwest, it is pretty much an expectation. Eventually, they would have gotten over it, but since it was there, everyone had something available to enjoy if they wanted it. It probably enabled me to dance the Chicken Dance and the Hokey Pokey that much more successfully.
But in the era and time of our Lord Jesus, at Cana in Galilee, in that Palestinian culture, to run out of wine on the first day or so of what was usually upwards of a seven–day wedding festival celebration would have been a social disaster. The couple would have been shamed. Their reputation would have been harmed, because to not provide wine for the feast was to not be a gracious and hospitable host. And there were few things more insulting to people of that time than to be the guest of someone who was not a hospitable host. The couple would have been shunned by many of the guests. Seems harsh to our modern sensibilities, but that was the expectation of the time.
But Jesus was there in the midst of His people. The hour of His time to accomplish salvation had not yet come, for sure. Jesus helping with the problem of the wine running out was not ultimately what He came to earth to do. To be helped by our Lord with such a mundane, everyday problem is not the be–all end–all of what God intends for us. Ultimately, Jesus came to suffer and die in our place and to rise again in order to clear the way for us to join Him in eternal life.
But Jesus was there in the midst of His people. Christ is present with His Church. When that is the case, Jesus stands with us and stands by us. He will manifest His glory, according to His time and His will, even though we are sinners who do not deserve to be stood by, even through our sufferings, great and small.
The daily problems and sufferings of life are all caused by sin and the power of the devil. There is confronting all of us, in running out of wine or in more serious and grave problems and disasters, the issue that this world and all of us are infected with original sin. You cannot get around the fact that you have inherited Adam's condition. You are by nature rebellious against God and His holy and righteous law. You cannot please God in any possible way on your own account. You have no ability whatsoever to come near unto God in any way. You have no right to see the full glory of God. With Moses in today's Old Testament lesson, the most you can see is the backside of God's glory, and that only by His grace.
So, we are all messed up. We are all water and no wine. We do not treat our neighbors as we ought. We do not love and forgive each other as we ought. We do not love God and depend upon His forgiveness as we ought. Instead, we take God and His will for granted and go on doing as we please.
Perhaps a look into the mirror of God's Law reveals that your life seems to be water and no wine. Not getting along with your spouse as you ought? Husbands, are you failing to be the spiritual leader of your house? Are you failing to lead your family by unconditionally loving, cherishing, and serving your wife and children? Are you, instead, lording it over your family and acting without mercy and forgiveness to them?
Wives, do you fail to follow your husband in and support their leadership of your family and home? Or, are you trying to usurp your husband's God–given place and authority? Do you attempt to lord it over your husband and children and never show them mercy and forgiveness?
Parents, do you provide Godly and spiritual leadership for your children, or do you leave it to everyone else to teach them in the way they should go?
Then, there are the daily disasters of life that confront us all. Notably today, the economy has everyone worried. Job security is low. House payments and other bills are high and loom around every month of the calendar. Those older face an uncertain future. Retirement doesn't look so golden. Maybe retirement is not even a part of the equation. Then, our neighbors and even our Christian brothers and sisters let us down. We fail so easily to be forgiving and considerate of and patient with each other.
And then, the major disasters strike. Sometimes things are so bad, there is not even water, much less wine, to worry about. Think of the poorest nation in the western hemisphere, Haiti, which was hit with a huge earthquake this week. A place that was already living on the edge of civilization has been seriously crushed by the ongoing effects of this sinful world. We have many Lutheran brothers and sisters there, suffering for sure. If they have not been killed or injured, no doubt many are mourning and wondering where the next meal and shelter will come from. Our problems in this country pail when compared to such a place. We have, even in our poorest situation in this country, nothing to compare with the problems of such a place. We pray our Christian friends in Haiti are okay and are spared of further calamity and are kept safe and comforted by the peace of Christ.
But even in this world at its worst, whether here in the sins and sufferings of daily life or in the disaster of Haiti, we have a God who loves us and is one with us in the flesh. Jesus is with His Church. He is in the midst of His people, just as He was at Cana in Galilee, just as He was on Golgotha outside of Jerusalem on Good Friday, just as He was on the third day when He walked out of His tomb alive and glorified and bearing the Good News of eternal salvation for each of us in Him.
Christ is with His Church, for His Church. So He is with you, for you, here in Plano, Texas, and in Haiti and wherever His baptized saints are. He is your bridegroom. He goes to the ends of the earth for you. He does anything and everything for you, to serve you with His grace and forgiveness. He is here to love you unconditionally, even though you do not deserve it, because you are a member of His body, of His beloved bride, the Church. He gave over and exchanged His holy, precious, body and blood for you, to redeem you and make you His own and give you the spotless, white wedding garment of Holy Baptism, assuring you of your eternal life with Him.
Mary was right when she said to the servants, “Whatever He might say to you, you do.” That is the faith of someone who knows exactly who that Man, Jesus Christ, is, standing there in the wedding feast of Cana. She knows from her own experience that this Man is God's own Son, eternal, holy, and perfect, who created all things. He is the Glory of God hidden in human flesh.
So, think of it. Without question, the servants went and poured upwards of 200 gallons of water into those stone jars. And they drew out some and took it to the master of the banquet feast. It was the best of wine. The true Bridegroom had blessed and saved the wedding at Cana, had given life and reputation back to the wedding couple. Jesus manifested His glory and turned the suffering and upset of the new bride and groom into joy and relief, endurance, character, hope, increased faith and belief in Him.
Whatever He might say to you, you do. Trust His Word. Christ promises that He is present with you, even in the midst of your sufferings and ongoing daily problems, even in the midst of your sinfulness. He promises to manifest His glory for your sake. He promises never to leave you nor forsake you. He promises that He is here to forgive you, to remind you of your saving baptism into Him, to tell you that your sins are forgiven, to help you forgive and bring comfort and aid to your neighbor, to ever increase your trust in and love for Him, to put His peace and forgiveness on your tongue in His Holy Supper.
What He says to each of us is very simple: trust in Him and receive His gifts of forgiveness and eternal life with thanksgiving and humility, with simple faith that trusts His Word and takes Him at His Word. What He says to us is that He is coming to take us with Him in the final resurrection to a new heaven and a new earth, a place where the new wine of God's unhidden glory shines with resplendent and unending joy. Come Lord Jesus. Come soon and bring Your bride from this veil of tears unto the home You have prepared for her.
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
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