Sermon - Epiphany 2, Year C, 2024 - John 2:1-11

The Wedding at Cana, Paolo Veronese, 1562

Jesus Manifests His Glory in Marriage

1. Jesus manifested His glory at the wedding at Cana

2. His hour hadn’t yet come; the ultimate wedding feast is yet to come

3. Our abuse of marriage dishonors Christ 

4. Our honoring of marriage points us to the wedding feast of the Lamb in His kingdom to His bride the church.

When you think of all of the things which have changed over the past century, from vehicles to entertainment to careers to clothing, many things have changed dramatically. But perhaps one of the most dramatic changes in the past century has been something far simpler: the household. Marriage is one of those areas of life that has seen dramatic change. A century ago nearly 80% of US households included a married couple, today it’s closer to 45%. Of those married couples today, the majority have no children compared to a century ago when the majority did have children. 

I mention these statistics, however we know this already without any fancy studies, because we see it with our own eyes. Young people are getting married later in life, and fewer of them are getting married at all. Of those married couples, many of them have very few children, if any at all. As such, marriage is an area of life clouded by confusion today, since so many fewer people are involved in it than there used to be. 

Nevertheless, marriage is a blessed estate, instituted by God, upon which all of human flourishing and civilization is founded. Today’s gospel text reminds us of that fact, for today we see that Jesus manifests His glory in marriage. As the gospel concludes: “This, the first of His signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested His glory. And His disciples believed in Him.” None of the details here are merely coincidental either.

There was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, about 4 miles from Nazareth, and Jesus’ mother was present. Considering Mary’s behind the scenes knowledge of the festivities, and her authority over the servants, it implies that she is somehow involved in making the wedding feast run smoothly. Jesus and His disciples were also invited to this wedding, further implying a certain level of intimacy between Jesus’ family and the bridal party, since at this point Jesus wasn’t yet well known for His miracles.

Wedding celebrations of the ancient mediterranean were multi-day parties, and over the course of this reception the wine ran out. This is of course a problem, a social blunder, to run out of food for your guests when you host a party. This is even more of a problem when you can’t just run down the street to MGM to pick up more wine. As such, Mary wisely presented this dilemma to Jesus, her son and her Lord.

In response Jesus answers Mary in a surprisingly abrupt and abrasive manner. “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” Yet, Mary trusts her Lord to provide in time of need, and she instructs the servants to do as Jesus says. Of course Jesus does provide, very generously and richly, around 150 gallons of good wine, to the astonishment of all, and leading others to believe in and glorify Jesus as Lord. All of this took place at a wedding.

But among all of the important details in today’s text, I want to draw your attention to Jesus’ interaction with Mary, particularly when Jesus said: “My hour has not yet come.” What does Jesus mean by that? Jesus uses the term “my hour” elsewhere in the Gospels, referring particularly to His crucifixion. Additionally, Mary only shows up twice in John’s gospel, and both times Jesus refers to her as “woman;” Mary appears here and at the foot of the cross.

Thus, this interaction between Jesus and Mary is much richer than first meets the eye! For Jesus’ hour is when He fully comes into His glory upon the cross, shedding His blood for the purification of sinful mankind. The wine Jesus will provide isn’t merely made of grapes, but of His own blood. Through His crucifixion He invites His people and gives them an invitation into the eschatalogical final heavenly wedding feast of the Lamb and His bride the church. The day is yet to come when the bridegroom, Jesus, shall return and lead us forth in procession to the eternal wedding hall where our cup shall runneth over and the festivities will never cease.

It’s not a coincidence at all that Jesus performed His first miracle at a wedding feast, because all of Jesus’ ministry is in preparation for that final eternal wedding feast. It’s just as the master of the feast noticed: “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.” Upon this earth there are a plethora of marriage feasts, but the greatest penultimate marriage feast is yet to come in paradise. Marriage therefore, from Adam and Eve to Cana to the last one, including all of our marriages, are a reflection of the marriage between Christ and His bride the church.

This is why St. Paul writes in Ephesians: “For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, … “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. However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.” 

Our marriages are images, reflections, mysteries that refer to Christ and the church. Thus, marriage is important in a way in which other things in life are not, and therefore we must hold marriage up to higher standards. One of the implications therefore is that our abuse of marriage dishonors Christ and disfigures our conception of God’s love for us.

This is why it is so abominable that our society has now attempted to redefine marriage to include same-sex, sodomy, relationships, because it perverts the entire institution. No-fault divorce has done similar harm by encouraging marriage to be treated as disposable. Adultery, pornography, and abuse within marriage undermines the institution. Now, many couples are fornicating, living as though they are married without actually being married, which further erodes the whole thing. These abuses of marriage are not only harmful to the people involved and society as a whole, but they dishonor Christ such that the glory of marriage is diminished and the manifestation of Jesus’ glory is also therefore diminished.

On the other hand, just as our abuse of marriage dishonors Christ, so too does our honoring of marriage honor Christ and point us to the wedding feast between Christ and His bride the church. When husbands sacrificially lead their wives, this points us to Christ who is our head and sacrificed Himself for us. When wives submit to their husbands, this points us to the church which gladly submits to Christ and receives His guidance. When spouses are faithful to each other, we see the faithfulness of God to us in keeping His promises.

Perhaps the little bits of marriage often seem unimportant and are ignored, but your marriage and the little aspects of it have eternal significance because our marriages point us all to Jesus! So the next time you are about to belittle your spouse, bite your tongue. The next time you want to yell at each other, cool down first. The next time you’re going to look at something you shouldn’t, turn it off. Because when you husbands speak tenderly to your wives and show them compassion, Jesus is glorified. When you wives follow your husbands leading and praise his labors, Jesus is glorified. It’s a kind of mystery, but when spouses speak well of each other, the glory of Jesus is manifested.

We would do well today to praise and encourage couples in their marriages. Of course not all are given to marriage, at least half of married people find themselves widowed eventually, and sin frequently arises and messes it all up, and sometimes we’re the ones who make the mistakes. Nevertheless, the significance of marriage is bigger than each of us personally. For marriage on earth points us to Jesus, and His sacrificial love for us. 

He is the faithful Bridegroom who shed His blood in order to cleanse us of every sin. At this altar we have a foretaste of the feast to come; here every mistake and failure, even the really big ones, every sin, every abuse committed by us or received by us is cleansed in the blood of Jesus. Here we have far more than 150 gallons of wine, because even one drop of the precious blood of Christ is potent enough to atone for the entire world. In this feast every one of the abuses against marriage is forgiven and the shame is taken away.

Jesus’ hour came at His crucifixion, and the hour of Jesus’ return is coming soon. Soon, the Bridegroom shall come, all shall be raised, and we the bride of Christ shall enter into the wedding hall. Rejoice! In that day the Lord shall delight in you as the young bridegroom delights in His bride and welcomes her into His home.