Pious Lutheran

The Wedding at Cana,  Paolo Veronese, 1562 Jesus Manifests His Glory in Marriage Jesus manifested His glory at the wedding at Cana His hour hadn’t yet come; the ultimate wedding feast is yet to come Our abuse of marriage dishonors Christ  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...

the Marriage at Cana , Fresco from the Visoki Decani Monastery, 14th cent. Jesus’ glory is revealed in marriage. The significance of marriage What marriage is The glory of Christ is made manifest in marriage “ 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… This, the first of His signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested His glory. And His disciples believed in Him. ” Isn’t it wondrous that this first manifestation of Jesus’ glory is revealed at a wedding! This is no minor detail or random coincidence, because marriage matters, marriage is huge! Jesus’ glory isn’t only revealed at this particular wedding in Cana, but Jesus’ glory is revealed in every marriage. In Ephesians we read today: “ This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. ” Marriage is a profound mystery which refers to Christ and the church. The love between a husband and wif...

Marriage at Cana,  Jan Steen, 1676 Jesus’ glory is to purify His creation. Jesus reveals His glory through His miracles Water for purification is replaced with Jesus’ blood for purification Jesus purifies His creation; in particular: marriage Moses implored the Lord: “ Please show me your glory. ” Over a thousand years later God does exactly that: “ This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. ” This is what we celebrate during this season of Epiphany: Jesus’ glory is “epiphanied,” revealed and made manifest. At the wedding at Cana we learn that Jesus’ glory is to purify His creation. In turning the water into wine we learn that Jesus reveals His glory through His miracles. Moreover, in this particular miracle the water for purification is replaced with Jesus’ blood for purification. Thus Jesus purifies His creation, today He starts with the foundational institution among us: marriage. Back on Christmas Day we learned what’s meant by God’s g...

Marriage at Cana, Jacopo Tintoretto, 1561 Have you always gotten exactly what it is that you’ve prayed for? Probably not. It’s not unusual that in answer to our prayers, God at times says “no” to specific requests, but gives us what it is that we actually need. Our Introit today from Psalm 66 introduced us to this topic: “ Come and see the works of God; He is awesome in His doing toward the sons of men. Blessed be God, who has not turned away my prayer, nor His mercy from me! ” In the Collect of the Day we prayed to God who “governs all things in heaven and on earth” that He “mercifully hear the prayers” of His people.  In our Old Testament reading from Exodus, it took place right after the whole Golden Calf incident, in which Aaron made the golden calf at the people’s sinful request. Thousands were killed by the Levites and a plague as punishment. God refused to be present with the people because His very presence would consume them all. The people were stripped of all their ornam...

  God loves marriage. Among all of the earthly institutions we have on earth, from rulers to schools, from the military to local employers, there is one earthly institution which stands above the rest: marriage. Marriage is the one earthly institution God created before sin. Marriage is the foundational building block for all of civilization. Marriage is God’s gift. So what is marriage? Quite simply, marriage is the one flesh union between one man and one woman until death parts them. From Genesis we read: “ The rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. ” In spite of sin, marriage is still a good gift from God and it is still His institution on earth. We see that He very greatly bles...

The first plague that the Lord brought upon Egypt through Moses was to turn the waters of the Nile river into blood. So the first miracle Moses performed was indeed frightening, the thing of which nightmares are made! But the first miracle that Jesus performs is to change water into wine. Jesus’ ministry is not one of frightening terrors, as was Moses’ ministry, but rather quite the opposite. Instead of turning water into blood, Jesus turns water into wine, and as the Psalmist says “ wine cheers up the heart of man. ” Jesus’ ministry is one of joy and gladness, Jesus comes to cheer the heart of man. If Jesus’ ministry is one of joy and gladness, then so is the life of the Christian to be one of joy. You see here, Jesus desires that our lives on earth right now would be filled with joy, and He makes that plain and obvious to us in our Gospel. The first miracle Jesus performed wasn’t among the ruling classes, but it’s a miracle done among ordinary people doing ordinary things. “ On ...