Providing Bountifully

Text: John 2:1-11

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

            Weddings can be a lot of fun. They’re a source of joy, great memories, and stories. They can also be a source of stress. It can lead to some—let’s call them “interesting”—interactions that also can be quite memorable. We have before us an interesting interaction between Jesus and His mother today at a wedding in Cana. They’ve both been invited to attend and join in the celebrations around the wedding. At this time, in this part of the world, wedding celebrations lasted a week. There were multiple blessings spoken over the couple each day. Friends and relatives traveled, usually by foot, sometimes over long distances, so the expectation was to stay, enjoy the company of people they didn’t often get to see, and remain in the town for at least seven days. During this time, the bride and groom were expected to see to the hospitality of those arriving for the wedding, including food and drink for that week.

            But we find that there’s a snag in the celebrations in Cana. The wine has run out. This could be potentially humiliating for the bride and groom starting out their life together. If they couldn’t provide for their own wedding guests for a week, how could they be trusted to provide for a family for a lifetime? They would be starting out their life together with more than a faux pas. They would be embarrassed and an object of whispering for years to come.

            But Mary would like to prevent this social embarrassment. She knows something about being the subject of malicious gossip, so she looks for a way to spare them. She goes to her Son, Jesus. “They have no wine,” she informs Him, hoping He’ll be able to do something about it before the rest of the party finds out. But Jesus’ response might surprise us. “Woman,” He says, “what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.”

            We should recognize that Jesus perfectly keeps every Commandment. So when He speaks to Mary this way, He is not doing it out of disrespect or rudeness. What He is doing is reminding her that He has one task, one purpose and goal that He has come into this world to do, and it’s not time for that yet. He’s speaking to her not as a Son to His mother. He’s speaking to her as One who has come to save humanity, woman and man. So He addresses her as that, as woman, and lets her know that His purpose is not yet going to be fulfilled. That’s still three years down the road on a hill outside of Jerusalem, not here at a wedding in Cana.

            But Mary knows her Son. She holds out hope—faith—that if anyone can do something about this situation, it’s Him. So she holds on to that hope and finds the servants tending to the wedding festivities and says to them, “Do whatever He tells you. It might seem unusual or not make sense to you, but if He says it, do it.” And, as it turns out, her faith was not misplaced.

            In our reading, it’s almost as if Jesus just can’t help Himself when it comes to rescuing people from every evil, whether it’s body or soul, possessions or reputation. So, seeing six jars for the Jewish rites of purification standing there, each holding somewhere between twenty and thirty gallons, He tells the servants to fill up the jars. And then, in a hidden way, not visible, not expounded upon in John’s gospel, Jesus quietly changes the water into wine. He tells the servants to draw some of it out and take it to the master of ceremonies for approval. Upon tasting it, the MC is astounded and goes to the groom. “Everyone serves the good wine first,” he says, “and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine; when they won’t really know or care about the difference. But you have kept the good wine until now.” And as a result, Mary’s faith and the disciples’ faith in Jesus was strengthened and affirmed. His disciples believed in Him after this first miraculous sign performed in Cana.

            Sometimes when asking Jesus for something, it might seem at first like you get an answer of “No.” “Woman, what does this have to do with me? Man, why is this so important to you?” We might worry that the things we ask for are too trivial, or silly, or selfish, or whatever. We might lose heart when it seems like we’re getting nothing but “No” back from Him, or even worse, just silence. But as Mary knew, as you also know, even in the depths of your worry and despair and frustration and temptation—you know to hold on to Jesus in faith. Tell Him about the wine running out. Tell Him what you’re worried about. Tell Him what’s on your mind. Tell Him what you know He alone can fix, even when it seems like there’s no way out. Tell Him about whatever it is. He wants to know. So pray. Let faith close its eyes and grip even tighter. Because your Lord cannot help Himself when it comes to saving you. It’s what He’s come to do. Even if it’s unusual or not what you expected as a solution to your problem; even if He fixes it in a hidden, secret way that’s never fully explained, He will save you. That’s why He taught you to pray “Deliver us from evil,” which means, in summary, that your God would rescue you from every evil of body and soul, possessions and reputation. And, when your last hour comes, give you a blessed end, graciously taking you from this valley of sorrow to Himself in heaven.

            So ask Him. His goal, all of His work is done to save you, to rescue you, to provide bountifully for you, whether it’s daily bread or eternal treasures. And if you need a token of that—or, rather, if you want to see it in action—see how He does the same thing for you today that He did at the wedding in Cana.

            There’s some amazing layering going in our reading from John’s gospel today. And much like the miracle of water becoming wine hidden in the jars, there is a miracle hidden in this reading. There is wine, more than enough, plentiful, even embarrassing in how much is provided to people that have been drinking all week—something to the tune of 120 to 180 gallons; more than they would need. And your Lord has done this for you. From His own limitlessness, from His own eternity and infinity, He has provided you wine beyond measure. And it’s not poor wine; not the stuff that a lowly mortal would press and ferment. He gives you heavenly wine, the wine of the wedding feast of the Lamb. He gives you wine that is also His own blood. And notice where the wine comes from in Cana: it’s drawn out of vessels for purification. Indeed, the wine and blood that Jesus pours out for you comes from the vessel of His own body, given and shed for you for your purification. And just as man and wife were bound together at that wedding in Cana, in the wine now also blood shed for you, you are bound together with your Lord. Further, what day did the miracle at Cana occur? On the third day. What do we know the third day to be? The day of resurrection. Today, the Lord’s Day, is resurrection day, when He rose from the dead and promised you your own resurrection to eternal life. Hidden in Cana is the promise that Jesus is providing abundantly for you—now in His wedding supper feast in Holy Communion and throughout eternity.

            Jesus does not hold back from providing for you, from saving you. Even if it seems like He is, or if He even could, He won’t. He loves you too much. He purifies you from sin and shame, from guilt and grief. He gives you the fullness of heaven’s treasures and everything that you need for your body and life here and now. He gives you joy, unity with Him and with one another. He gives you heaven and earth. But even that is not enough. He gives you Himself, completely and fully. Receive the abundance of that gift now. In the name of Jesus, the Son of God made man. Amen.