Sermon: Wittenberg Academy – Feb 7, 2023

7 Feb 2023

Text: John 2:1-12

In the name of + Jesus.  Amen.

Water, wine, and a wedding.  This is what we see in “this, the first of His signs” which “Jesus did at Cana in Galilee.”

And this is part of an eternal pattern.  For “In the beginning was the Word.”  And “the earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep.  And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters” (Gen 1:1-2).  On the third day, “God said, ‘Let the earth sprout vegetation’” (Gen 1:11).  And God “planted a garden in Eden” (Gen 2:8) and placed the man in a lush garden.  And finally, He provided the man with a wife, “Bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh” (Gen 2:23), said the man.

Jesus has come to recreate the world anew – to undo the damage to the world by this first married couple in their sin.  For the curse descended upon us that there would be scarcity of things in this world (Gen 3:17-19), and strife between husbands and wives (Gen 3:16).  Jesus comes to bring peace – between God and man, and between men, and between husbands and wives. 

And this is His first sign.

And so, “on the third day there was a wedding.”  We see the water in the “six stone water jars” for the “Jewish rites of purification.”  We see wine at this celebration, but the “wine ran out.”  The scarcity that plagues fallen man appears yet again to impose misery upon the joy of married life.  Of course, our Lord transforms the water into wine, and He has “kept the good wine until now.”  He transforms sinners into saints by means of His Word and the wine of His blood.  He cleanses us, His bride, “that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish” (Eph 5:26-27).

And we will see water, wine, and a wedding appear again: at the cross, and in eternity.  Water and blood will pour from the side of Jesus at the cross (John 19:34).  He will rise again “on the third day” (Acts 10:40). He will drink the new wine with us in eternity (Matt 26:29).  And eternity will be a wedding banquet for the church and her Bridegroom (Rev 19:7). 

Water, wine, and a wedding.  This is what we see in “this, the first of His signs” which “Jesus did at Cana in Galilee.”

Amen.

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