John 2:1-11; Romans
12:6-16; Exodus 33:12-23
In the Name of the Father and of the
+ Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Back in New York, whenever I would speak
of God’s institution of Marriage, I had this one parishioner who would say, “Pastor,
God may have created the institution of marriage, but who wants to live in an
institution?” Now, that man was kidding, sort of. Nevertheless, it is a sad
reality today that Holy Matrimony, God’s institution of marriage, is too often
spoken of in contempt and with derision, has been redefined into utter meaninglessness,
and has become the butt of too many a sarcastic joke. God instituted marriage
in the Garden of Eden, before man’s fall into sin, when He made a woman to join
the man by his side, from which she was taken, and joined them in a one-flesh
union. God blessed them that they should be fruitful and multiply and fill,
subdue, and rule over the earth. That is God’s institution of marriage, which
God Himself proclaimed to be, not just good, but very good.
Martin Luther considered marriage to be
one of Three Estates or Hierarchies: The home (marriage and family), the
Church, and the state (civil government). All three consist of rulers and the
ruled – parents and children in the home, pastors and parishioners in the
Church, magistrates and citizens in the civil government – each an intrinsic
part of a divine order through which God provides and cares for His people, and
God’s people provide for and care for each other and glorify Him. Closely
related to the doctrine of the Three Estates is the Two Kingdoms Doctrine
through which God rules, protects, and cares for His people through the Kingdom
of Grace (or the Kingdom of the Right), the Church, and the Kingdom of Power
(or the Kingdom of the Left), the civil government. The point being this, the
lifelong marriage of one man and one woman, blessed with fruitfulness in the
bearing, raising, and training of children, is the foundation of societal
structure and order and civil government, and marriage is itself a reflection
of the divine structure and order of the Holy Trinity so that, through
marriage, we are blessed with a glimpse, albeit a glimpse darkened by our sin
and idolatry, of God Himself and what it means to truly love selflessly and sacrificially.
Marriage is created and instituted by
God that we might know Him and learn to love and serve like Him. Through
marriage, we are blessed to participate in God’s ongoing creative activity by
bringing forth new life, conceived and born out of love for God, for each
other, and for the new life brought forth as good fruit from the vine. Such
love is truly and only love when each spouse humbles themselves and selflessly
and sacrificially gives of themselves for the sake of the other to the glory of
God. Such love St. Paul says is patient and kind, does not envy or boast, is
not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or
resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Such
love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all
things. Such love never fails. Only with such love can two individuals, so
different, so distinct and unique, possibly become one flesh. There is no
equation in which one plus one equals one except in Holy Marriage as it was
instituted by God in creation. Such unity is the fruit of love, selfless and
sacrificial love, the love of God for His Son, for humanity, and for you.
Truly, there is no other.
And thus, Jesus’ first recorded miracle
occurred within the context of a marriage. Even as God created and instituted
marriage in the beginning, so He Himself is present with and abides within the
one-flesh unions of those He joins together in Holy Marriage. There are few
things more common and ordinary than a wedding. Indeed, Jesus Himself described
the ordinary, common, day to day life of those people who were destroyed in the
flood saying, “people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in
marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark.” Marriage and weddings are
common, normal, and routine. Nevertheless, our Lord Jesus attended and
participated in a wedding, and likely several others, because He is fully
human, and because He is Emmanuel, God with us, as one of us, in all the things
it means to be human. Furthermore, God Himself created and instituted marriage,
and He blesses it with His presence and with fruitfulness. There is nothing
shameful or undesirable about marriage – that is a modern idea – but marriage
is sacred and holy in God’s sight, for it is of Him and from Him and has His
blessing.
The first chapter of John’s Gospel
abounds with creation themes: The Word of God, light and darkness, water, the
descent of the Holy Spirit, etc. Some exegetes believe that John’s Gospel is a
sort of catechism and that he begins by recounting the six days of creation. In
that respect, “on the third day” in chapter two, verse one, would correspond to
the sixth day of creation, the day in which God created Adam and Eve and joined
them in the one-flesh union of holy marriage, blessing them that they should be
fruitful and multiply. That Jesus’ first miracle occurs at a wedding points to
the reason He has come: To restore fallen humanity to a right relationship with
God by fulfilling God’s Law and suffering the death His creatures rightly
merited by their disobedience and rebellion, death on the cross.
Now, a first century Jewish wedding
feast would have lasted seven days. The families of the bride and groom were
expected to provide food and drink, and possibly lodging, for all of their
guests throughout the seven days. The fact that they had run out of wine early
in the feast would have been a horrifying embarrassment for the families, and
for the bride and groom as their new life together was just beginning. Mary,
Jesus’ mother, told Him of their dilemma. Jesus answered her saying, “Woman,
what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” Now, the English
translation makes this sound almost rude, but it truly was not, but only the
common manner of speaking at the time. The important thing was not how Jesus
addressed His mother, but the fact that His hour had not yet come. Jesus’ hour
was the hour of His Passion, His suffering and death. It was but the beginning
of His ministry, and He had many things to do and teach before His passion.
Still, He did help, and He did it in such a way as to not attract the attention
of most to Himself, but only His disciples and a few servants.
Jesus commanded the servants to fill six
stone water jars to the brim with fresh water. The stone jars were there for
the Jewish purification rights. They stood as a rock-solid, immovable, symbol
of the Law of God. For, because of their sin, all the people were unclean and
were thus unable to participate in the wedding or the feast until they had
ceremonially washed themselves according to the Law. They could not enter into
the holy presence of God without first being cleansed. That Jesus had the jars
filled to the brim points to the fulfilling of the Law of God that Jesus would
accomplish by His obedience unto death. Then Jesus commanded a servant to draw
some of the water and bring it to the master of the feast. The servant did as
Jesus directed, and, unbeknownst to all, as he did, the water was made to be
wine. When the master tasted it He praised the bridegroom saying, “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.” The wedding couple and their
families, who were at dire risk of being humiliated, embarrassed, and
disgraced, were instead praised by all. Jesus has turned their sorrow and
despair into wonderful joy, laughter, and celebration. And, the only people who
knew that He had done anything at all were Mary, His mother, His disciples, and
a few servants. Everyone else praised and glorified the wedding family for
their gracious hospitality. “This, the first of His signs, Jesus did at Cana in
Galilee, and manifested His glory. And His disciples believed in Him.”
God instituted marriage that we might
know and love Him and bear forth His fruits of love by knowing and loving
another man or woman, by selflessly and sacrificially giving ourselves to each
other, and by selflessly and sacrificially bearing the good fruit of new life
to the glory of God. We do not know how long the first marriage of our First
Parents in the Garden of Eden lasted before they succumbed to the serpent’s
temptations and sinned, but it probably wasn’t long. Their sin truly consisted
of selfishness and self-centeredness, the very opposite of love. Their desire
was to have wisdom for themselves, to know good and evil by their own judgment
(as opposed to God’s), and to be like god’s unto themselves. Not only was their
love for God corrupted, but their love for each other was corrupted. Thus, when
God questioned each of them, they each in turn blamed the other, and they even
blamed God for their fall. By their own will and decision they fell from grace
and became slaves of sin under the curse of the Law. Jesus’ first miracle at a
wedding in Cana pointed towards who He was and what He would do to undo the
curse and to restore God’s people to a right relationship with Him and with
each other once again. He would fulfill the Law’s demands, hence the water jars
for purification were filled to the brim. And, in exchange for the curse of the
Law, which He would take upon Himself and die upon the cross, He would give the
blessing of His Sonship with the Father, His innocence, righteousness, and life
that cannot die.
God instituted marriage to show the kind
of relationship He desires to have with you: A selfless and sacrificial
relationship in which each spouse lays down his or her own life for the sake of
the other and bears the fruit of love and life, mercy, grace, compassion, and
forgiveness. God doesn’t want to rule you, but He wants you to rule with Him.
God wants to marry you. Jesus is your true Bridegroom, and you, His Church, are
His Bride. And the Bridegroom invites you this day and every Lord’s Day to eat
and drink in communion fellowship this foretaste of the great wedding feast yet
to come in heaven that you may be filled to overflowing with His love. Love to
fulfill all your needs to the very brim, and more to overflow in sheer
abundance through your words and deeds of love to others to the glory of His
holy Name.
In
the + Name of Jesus. Amen.
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