15 January 2017
Text: John 2:1-11 (Amos 9:11-15, Romans 12;6-16)
In the name of +
Jesus. Amen.
We
tend to treat the miracle at Cana as Jesus sort-of warming up with a small
miracle, a kind of teaser for the really big stuff to come. After all, in the grand scheme of things, what’s
the big deal if wine runs out at a wedding? Sure, there would be some immediate embarrassment,
but at the end of the day, the couple would be married and life would go on.
But
let’s not forget that what Jesus did at Cana was to override the laws of
physics and nature. What our Lord did to
the big stone jars of water was the equivalent of splitting atoms. Jesus took one substance, and by His command,
changed the chemical process of that substance into something else. It is a mighty act of God.
We
say it in the creed, that Jesus is the one: “by whom all things were made.” And this is the great mystery of our Lord’s
incarnation: He is positioned within the creation that He created, acting
within the universe that He controls at will.
No-one had ever seen such a miracle.
And the purpose of this miracle is to bring joy, to assure delight, to
celebrate the beauty of the institution of marriage that Jesus also built into
the fabric of human life itself.
And
before sin came to the world, wine could not be abused. It is a joyful and delightful substance – one
that is promised to again be perfect: at the end of time – when God will truly
keep the best for the last. The prophet
Amos calls to mind this eternal sinless world as “the mountains shall drip
sweet wine, and all the hills shall flow from it.”
The
master of the feast at Cana could tell the difference. This was the “good wine” – the finest, that
which is normally reserved to be served first.
For even as creation before the Fall was perfect, so too is our eternal
destiny. And this eternal existence has
nothing to do with spirits floating around in heaven, but rather a flesh and
blood restored paradise – a new earth, as the prophet says: “they shall rebuild
the ruined cities and inhabit them, they shall plant vineyards and drink their
wine, and they shall make gardens and eat their fruit.”
This
is the eternal life that Amos prophesies, and that Jesus delivers. It is a life of fertile fields, of perfect
fruits grown in perfect gardens, of the good wine that, at this time, is
treated as a commodity to be prized and rationed, but in eternity, will be
common, and will drip from the very mountains.
Jesus
has come into our world to deliver perfection – from the big to the small, from
world peace and a renewed existence without predators and without death, as
well as a world without mealy apples, without dried up oranges, without bitter
beer, and without sour wine. Jesus is
turning our scarcity into abundance. He
is transforming our mediocre, and our broken and bitter, into something
spectacular and glorious – all by His restorative work in our midst in His very
flesh and blood.
Our
Lord’s first miracle was at a wedding, even as the first man and first woman
were united in Holy Matrimony. Jesus has
come to us as the Bridegroom: strong, loving, protective, and withholding
nothing from His Bride, not even His life on the cross and the shedding of His
blood as a sacrifice. And we, as His Bride,
come to Him in joyful and willing submission, honoring and respecting Him as
our merciful God and as our perfect Man in the flesh who has been sent to
rescue us and bring us into perfect communion, like a perfect glass of wine –
sweet, smooth, delivering joy, and offered in love and hospitality.
The
Lord Jesus has truly saved the best for the last: the wine that is truly His
blood: the same blood offered on the cross, the blood which cries out to the
Father to avenge us for the evil brought upon us by Satan, the blood which pays
the horrific price of our guilt, the blood of the Lamb that takes away the sin
of the world, the blood which restores life to us, even as those stone jars at
Cana, dripping with sweet wine, restored joy to the wedding feast.
For
when we receive the wine of the Lord’s blood, we receive a preview, a little taste
of eternity, of the prophecy of Amos, of the perfect vineyard yielding perfect
juice of the grape, perfectly aged into perfect wine. We receive this not by virtue of the wine
itself, dear friends, but by the Word of Christ – the same Word by whom all
things were made. This Word says: “This
is My body… This is My blood… For the forgiveness of sins.” This sacrament delivers the joy of the wedding
feast, though we still live the fallen world, where wine can be too bitter or
too sweet, and can be drunk in unhealthy quantities, and even in such a way as
to destroy communion in marriages and families.
But
we have the foretaste, dear friends, a little down-payment on the eternal
feast, even as the Lord delivered such a delightful sample to the wedding party
at Cana.
In
Cana, the people needed wine, and our Lord provided it in both quality and
quantity. The Lord is equally generous
and diligent in that which He gives His bride today. As St. Paul says: “Having gifts that differ
according to the grace given to us, let us use them.”
We
all have different vocations in the kingdom, and by God’s grace, we can use
them to serve the kingdom and to “live in harmony with one another.”
The
miracle of the transformation of water into wine at Cana isn’t just an opening
act – it is truly what the Lord has come to do: to bless marriage by being our
Bridegroom, by taking the water that begins our life in the purification of baptism,
bringing us to the altar, to partake of the wine that He offers us – His very
own perfect blood. Jesus is transforming
the universe atom by atom, molecule by molecule, person by person, and even
galaxy by galaxy, in a glorious reclamation and recreation so that we might
live in perfection with God and with one another.
Yes
indeed, while the world and our sinful flesh have only poor wine to offer, in
the end, in Christ, in eternity, we have the very best served to us, the good
wine, that has no end. Amen.
In the name of the Father
and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment