Epiphany 2 January 14, 2018
Epiphany 2
John 2:1-11
January 14, 2018
“When Jesus First Showed Us Who He Is”
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
You’ve probably all seen magic shows before. Seen some of the classic magic tricks many different times. Well, one of those is pulling the rabbit out of the hat. You show the hat. Make sure everybody sees that there’s nothing inside. And then, poof, here comes a rabbit out of the hat.
Think about that magic trick and then think about Jesus pulling wine out of these six stone water jars. Is it a magical thing Jesus is doing? A little trick to wow his audience? To impress his disciples? So He says look, “Everyone check out these six stone water jars. Do you see that they’re empty?” And then he asks for them to be filled water saying, “Servants, taste that water before you pour it in. It’s just plain water, right? Everybody see that?” And then when the six jars are all full, He tells the servants to draw some out and, poof, it’s the best wine they’ve ever tasted.
Is it a trick? I’m very well aware that none of you think this was a magic trick by Jesus. Otherwise you probably wouldn’t be going to Church if you just thought Jesus was a magician. But thinking about magic tricks may help us to realize the gravity of what Jesus does here. It isn’t a trick. It’s not somebody manipulating us or manipulating the situation. It’s not someone impressing his friends or doing a cool science experiment. Afterward, the disciples don’t say, “Hey, that was really awesome. Can you show us how to do that?”
No, there’s only one possible explanation for what happened there at that wedding in Cana. The only possible explanation is that Jesus is God. That’s what it means that Jesus “manifested His glory”. He shows us who He is. Only God can turn water into wine.
Now winemaking really isn’t all that hard. I’ve never tried it myself but I think it would be fun to do that sometime. My uncle makes his own wine and I bet some of you have done that. Not too hard. There are recipes all over the internet. Just need some fruit juice, yeast, sugar, water, and time. Not too hard.
I say “not too hard” but you also know that if you bring us a bottle of water up here—no one in this room is going to change it into wine instantly. And even more still, just mixing up some ingredients and letting it sit together for a while is hardly the same thing as making the actual process that produces wine. Only God can do that.
There’s just no other explanation for this first miracle Jesus does. It’s a sign (sign is the word that John uses in the Gospel many times)—a sign that Jesus is God. And Jesus will go on from this one sign to many other signs culminating in the greatest sign ever—His resurrection from the dead. Again, something only God can do.
Now then, we need to talk about signs. This turning water to wine was a sign. Jesus did many other signs. The signs show us not only that Jesus is God but that He loves us and saves us from our sins. People today, like you and me, are always looking for signs. A perfect example of this is a book like the one that came out in 2010 entitled, Heaven is for Real: A Little Boy’s Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back. I’d guess a number of you read the book. The fact that it quickly hit the bestsellers list shows how much we are all looking for signs. I never read it myself and I’m not trying to disparage it necessarily. But only to say that we’re all looking for signs to prove that heaven is real. Signs like near death experiences, which have been around forever, by the way.
But we do this with much lesser signs. If we have a number of little things go wrong during the day, we take that a sign that God is against us today. Or maybe He’s not happy with us about something. If we have a good day where a number of things go well, then we say, “God is with me today.” Do we understand that those signs, a bad day or a good day, are not showing us whether God loves us and is with us? God always love you and is always with you. Those aren’t signs of it.
Or even sillier things like I shopped at the right store and found a good deal—it’s a sign. Or I got a Christmas bonus at work—it’s a sign. Or my car won’t start in these subzero temperatures—it’s a sign.
We need to get past these things. God does give us signs where He shows us His glory and shows us who He is—like changing water into wine. But He tells us what those signs are. He doesn’t leave us hanging or trying to guess each day what His signs are. He tells us the signs. They are His Word—Baptism—Absolution—and the Lord’s Supper. Those are the signs.
The question for you and me is—are you seeing the signs? Are you seeing His glory? It’s not going out and looking for a hundred little coincidences during the day and saying, “Aha! God is with me.” No, it’s hearing His Word, living in His forgiveness, and receiving the Lord’s Supper. Those are His signs.
The Lord’s Supper isn’t a magic trick. His blood given under the wine isn’t a sleight of hand or an illusion. It’s a miracle. It’s something only God can do. And it’s a sign for you. When you come and receive this bread and wine, you are receiving the body and blood that Jesus gave on the cross. You say, “Well, all I see is wine.” Yes, and if I or any other human had told you that our blood was in that wine we would laugh at them and forget about it. But Jesus is God. We know. He turned water into wine. He healed the sick and raised the dead. He gave sight to the blind and hearing to the deaf. And He Himself rose from the dead on Easter morning. So since it is Him telling us that under this wine is His blood for us—we believe Him. It’s a sign. A sign for you—that God forgives your sin and loves you.
Now about wine—some of you like it and some of you probably don’t. And just go to a store that sells wine and it is ridiculous how many different kinds of wine a person can buy today. It seems that no one can agree on what a good wine tastes like. Some like it very sweet—like candy. Some like it dry and some like it in the middle.
But let’s all agree on something. The wine that Jesus drank for us on the cross was bitter. As He was dying for your sins, He was thirsty. He asked for something to drink. And they gave Him bitter, acidic wine—like vinegar. Have you drank vinegar straight up? Ugh. Someone convinced me a while back to try drinking a tablespoon of pure apple cider vinegar every morning. This was supposed to help with a number of things. A home remedy of sorts.
Well, whatever that tablespoon of vinegar is supposed to cure—I’d rather have that than drink that tablespoon of vinegar every day. Man was it horrible. I’m mixing it in strong juices. Holding my nose while I’m drinking it. But that taste just wouldn’t go away.
The cross was bitter. Jesus drank the cup of the Father’s wrath for you. Your sins are bitter. And He tasted every last one of them. He bore your punishment. He bore your shame. He bore your guilt. And it’s bitter.
But because of His cross, the bitterness has been taken away. He promises us a wine that is perfect. Even for those of you who don’t really like wine. I’m promising you that you’ll like this wine in heaven. Just like the master of the wedding feast said—that wine Jesus made was the best he had ever tasted.
And the wine of heaven will be that way too. I’m not sure how dry or how sweet it will be—but you will love it. It will be perfect as Isaiah says in chapter 25, “On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined. And he will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the LORD has spoken. It will be said on that day, “Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the LORD; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”
In Jesus’ name. Amen.