Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and the
Lord Jesus Christ;
Our
text begins: On the third day there was a
wedding at Cana in Galilee ,
and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus also was invited to the wedding with
his disciples. When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They
have no wine.” And Jesus said to her,
“Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.”
You’ve been a guest at how many
weddings? Have you attended private
weddings with immediate family? Were you out in the woods with bare feet in the
60’s or retro-hippie 10’s? Perhaps you’ve been to a Disneyland
wedding setting somebody back 40 G’s. I
hope you left a big gift. I was at a Samoan wedding and on every table the
groom put at least one chicken and a package of celery. Important guests got
more (including grass mats). That was about reciprocity. The groom was expected
to give gifts to all the guests, and according to social rank.
In Jesus’ day weddings had reciprocity
too. After the groom came for the bride the celebration began. It went go on
for a week, if the groom could afford it. In Jesus’ day, eating was as
important as now. And drinking wine was more important
than the food. To be short on wine was more than an embarrassment. The culture
expected the groom to give something for the gifts given. That is reciprocity.
It was even possible to take legal action against a man who failed to provide
the appropriate wedding gift exchange. Running out of wine was bad; so folks
served the best first, with plenty of cheap wine when guests couldn’t tell the
difference.
But for this new couple in Cana , the wine ran out; and a concerned mother goes
looking for Jesus. She only tells him
what’s up. I suspect not unlike mothers who say to a responsible son, “the dog
needs out, the car needs washed, the drain is plugged.” “They
have no wine.” And Jesus answers, “Woman, what does this have to do with me?
My hour has not yet come.” He’s not
saying “Don’t bother me.” Nor is Jesus rude to the mother of God. The
expression, “Woman” is not disrespectful but kindly, even affectionate. Yet Jesus
makes it clear they stand on
different ground. They do not have the same reason a goal should be
accomplished. How often does God say “My ways are not your ways? My ways are
higher than your ways?” Is that why we are taught to pray, “not my will but Thine
be done?” As the saying goes, “Father knows best” and our heavenly Father does
indeed.
Consider the difference between Mary’s
and Jesus’ objectives. What does Mary see?
She sees they have no more wine. And it seems Mary, to remedy
embarrassment, to fix what the culture required at a wedding, wants to
help. That’s a good thing isn’t it?
Isn’t that Mary’s will for Jesus?
Protect the couple from humiliation. And that is God’s role toward His
creatures, is it not, to protect us? God takes care of us. We can ask God to
take care of us and He will; and that’s true enough, if we understand God’s
will. God’s will is good, but is there something we haven’t considered? Might
our Lord humble us, even let us bear humiliation for our good? Might our Lord
have bigger plans for us than we do, plans that take a different road than the
wide-easy path we prefer? And what if we have an attitude toward God, an
attitude that God is supposed to supply all we need, that’s what He’s for - so
we say “God, the dog needs walked, the car’s dirty and the sink’s plugged, we
need some wine.” It’s not that God
doesn’t care even about small things. It is what we’ve done with God in our hearts. We’ve reversed the way
things should be. We’ve made the Living God
our servant. Isn’t that idolatry? He has
a purpose and an end for us.
His ways are higher than ours. Did Mary see this? It is easy to excuse Mary…
after all we do it so often for ourselves… as for an excuse, consider how
familiar Mary was with the Son of God made man. For God’s sake, she changed his
diapers. She and Joseph trained him up, even if they got a shock when he turned
12 and sat with the elders of Israel Israel
Is that what Mary saw as the purpose
of Jesus’ mercy and power? What do you see? Is your vision just immediate
need? How near-sighted is our faith? For
example, do we pray most when in trouble but least in smooth sailing? And when
in trouble do we forget to give praise and thanks? Are we tempted to reduce the
Lord of all to a bell-hop, expecting He will do our will, and if He doesn’t
we’re unhappy? How earthbound is our
faith, and how small of a God do we want?
Woman, what does this have to do
with me? My hour has not yet come.” Jesus’ answer reveals something important. He has a will, purposes and an end. His ways
are higher and greater than Mary’s and ours.
Nor does He act on his own, but according to the Father’s will. As
recorded in John chapter 8, Jesus said,
“when you have lifted up the Son of man, then you will know that I am he, and
that I do nothing on my own authority but speak thus as the Father taught me.
And he who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what
is pleasing to him” As he spoke thus, many believe in him (Jn 8:28 -30). Jesus knew He came from the
Father. He loves the Father and does His will. His will is not idolatrous, to
first please himself, or others, or mother, but the Father. And the Father wills that Jesus be lifted up for all to
see, that all may believe. This is His hour.
Woman,
what does this have to do with me includes
another implication. Jesus doesn’t owe anything to Mary because she is His
mother. It is quite the reverse. Mary was blessed to carry in her womb, true
God. So the early church called Mary the mother of God not to praise Mary, but
to praise God for becoming God with us, Immanuel. Over the centuries that got
twisted around. Mary is blessed, but not by having something on God that
obligates Him to an exchange, to reciprocity. Jesus doesn’t have to do her will
because she changed his diapers. Rather, she is blessed because she was chosen
to do God’s will, even to change Jesus’ diapers. She is blessed because the
Saviour who speaks to her does the Father’s will. Jesus’ goal is to be lifted
up so that Mary receives the fullness of the Father’s blessings, that she
rejoice in the will of God the Father. So Jesus says, “My hour has not yet
come.”
That’s the exchange Jesus wills to accomplish.
He did not come to be everybody’s
buddy, the favorite guest at every party. He came to make an exchange. He came
to exchange your sins for His righteousness, as John the Baptist declared by
the Holy Spirit: “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”
Then the Father’s voice said “This is my beloved Son, hear Him.” Hear Him who
did the Father’s will without demanding reciprocity. Jesus fulfilled the law in
our place, bore our sorrows and died in our stead, exchanging His righteousness
for our sins. Then He did more: He rose from the dead, ascended, sent the Holy
Spirit upon the church, directed the Apostles, and keeps us in the faith until
His second coming. He continues to do His will, redeeming us in water and the
Word, justifying, regenerating, and sanctifying, even blessing us with the meal
of His body and blood. Those in whom He creates faith He delivers from bondage
to the devil. He will deliver us from death when we die. He gives us victory over sin. He did and does
all this so that His ways become our ways, so that we might be lifted up to do
His will. This is the liberty of the Christian. Liberty
Until Jesus’ work was done, Mary did
not understand all this. So He reminded her whose he was and for what reason he
came. He came to fulfill the Father’s
will. He came to be cursed so that the Father declares you pardoned. He did no
miracles to cover over embarrassment, to earn a good public opinion, or to be
made an earthly king. He came so that we
might believe in Him, and receive the will that is higher than ours, that lifts
us to eternal life. All the same, His mother said to
the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”
Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of
purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to the
servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. And
he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” So
they took it. When the master of the
feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from
(though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast
called the bridegroom and said to him,
“Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then
the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.” This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee , and
manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.
God’s Son, Jesus, chooses to serve us,
to meet our needs, even to make a wedding happy with wine. The mystified groom
receives commendation for what Jesus did. If that’s not a picture of grace,
what is? And Jesus’ didn’t skimp on the quality or the quantity of the wine.
And the reason Jesus did it? He accomplished the Father’s will. The result of
this miracle, hidden from all but the servants, Mary, and the disciples is, as
our text says, his disciples believed in
him. This is the message of
Epiphany, Jesus lifted up by the will of the Father, so that we may see
God-with-us, believe in Him, and in believing receive His will for us. The will of the Father is we believe that
great exchange through Jesus, declaring you righteous so that you receive all the
benefits of grace.
And Jesus doesn’t skimp on grace.
Indeed, His ways are higher than our ways. He lifts you up to heaven. What
about reciprocity? Is there no other exchange between Christ and us? Remember
where these events take place… at a wedding. Christ is the groom of the Church.
He cleansed her by water and the word. And what is she to do? (Do you remember
today’s text from Ephesians?) She is to receive His love. She is to receive His
love. And in receiving, she loves. In
receiving she delights to do the Father’s will, to give thanks by serving her
neighbor and sharing the message of grace.
Given this exchange what joy to pray “Our Father who art in heaven… thy
will be done.” Let us call upon Him in all
our needs.
The peace of God that
passes understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. (Amen)
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