The 2d Sunday after Epiphany
January sixteen, 2011
"Jesus Sanctifies Marriage"
John 2:1-11
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On the third day there changed into a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Now both Jesus and His disciples had been invited to the wedding. And when they ran out of wine, the mom of Jesus stated to Him, "They don't have any wine." Jesus stated to her, "lady, what does your concern must do with Me? My hour has now not yet come." His mom stated to the servants, "whatever thing He says to you, do it." Now there were set there six waterpots of stone, based on the manner of purification of the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece. Jesus stated to them, "Fill the waterpots with water." and that they crammed them as much as the brim. And He referred to to them, "Draw some out now, and take it to the grasp of the feast." and they took it. When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did not understand where it got here from (however the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast referred to as the bridegroom. And he mentioned to him, "each man at the beginning units out the decent wine, and when the guests have well inebriated, then the inferior. you've got kept the good wine until now!" This starting of signals Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him. John 2:1-eleven
God grew to become a man. We name this the incarnation. He also humbled himself. We call this the humiliation. They aren't the identical element. The incarnation lasts always. Jesus remains the incarnate God all over eternity. As we sing within the Christmas hymn:
God is man; man to carry
His expensive Son now is one with our blood perpetually.
but his humiliation got here to an end. It ended when he died. He humbled himself and have become obedient all the approach to the demise of a go. Then he became exalted. He is still exalted as he sits at the appropriate hand of the daddy and intercedes for us all. From thence he shall come to judge the living and the useless.
all through his thirty three years of humiliation he did not always fully use his divine powers. He hid his vigour under humility. in this manner he might take our location and are living our lives for us. but he did demonstrate his divine vigor. He confirmed the realm who he become.
this is what the Church focuses on all over the Epiphany season. The Gospel training reveal us how Jesus manifested his glory. 
ultimate week we noticed how the twelve 12 months historic boy displayed advantage that amazed the theological professors at the temple. nowadays we see how Jesus manifested his glory on the wedding of Cana.
Epiphany ability to shine upon. The glory of God shines forth in Christ showing Christ to be God within the flesh. The proper deity of Christ is elementary. here is not a element of the Christian religion. it's at its very coronary heart. If Christ is not real God – equal to the father – then he can not be our Savior from sin, death, and hell. If Christ isn't proper God we are dead in our sins and have no hope for everlasting lifestyles. here is why the Church need to always and far and wide teach and confess this precious actuality. Jesus Christ shines forth his true deity in doing what most effective God can do.
here's a simple function of Jesus' miracles. He did what handiest God might do. That's how he manifested his glory. He did what most effective God could do. He confirmed his glory in his miracles.
Jesus manifested his glory when he became water into wine on the marriage ceremony of Cana. Now water becomes wine in a herbal means and we don't name it fantastic. We take it without any consideration that the water will come down from the sky and trigger the grapes to develop. The grapes might be harvested and beaten and become wine. It takes time. a definite system must be adopted.
A miracle is when God decides to pass the ordinary methods and to do issues directly. In so doing he indicates he is in cost of everything. Jesus did miracles with a purpose to train us. here's why the Bible calls them signals. signs signify issues. The very first miracle Jesus did become changing water into wine. As with all the miracles, it turned into an indication signifying that Jesus is correct God. He did what most effective God could do.
It turned into also a sign signifying that God does all issues smartly. Moses statistics in Genesis 1:31,
Then God saw every thing that He had made, and certainly it become very respectable. So the evening and the morning had been the sixth day.
It became very respectable. The wine that Jesus made become very decent. The customized was to serve the most appropriate wine first as a result of after consuming a little of wine the style buds develop into dulled and can't discriminate as smartly. I should element out an unlucky translation by using the new foreign version that reads:
"each person brings out the choice wine first after which the cheaper wine after the visitors have had too a good deal to drink; but you've got saved the optimum until now."
That's now not what the text says. the new King James is correct in translating it, "When the guests have neatly under the influence of alcohol." Jesus did not provide wine for americans who had already had too tons to drink.
The Bible teaches us that wine is a positive blessing from God. In record the advantages God gives for man and beast, the psalmist writes,
He makes grass grow for the cattle, and flora for individuals to cultivate— bringing forth food from the earth: wine that gladdens human hearts, oil to make their faces shine, and bread that sustains their hearts. (Psalm 104:14-15)
even so, the Bible additionally teaches that wine may also be a curse as well as a blessing. Solomon writes,
Wine is a mocker and beer a brawler; whoever is led off beam via them isn't wise. (Proverbs 20:1)
Jesus modified water into wine to show his real deity. He changed water into first rate wine as a result of every thing God creates is respectable. God isn't the author of evil or sin. consuming alcoholic drinks is not a sin. Getting inebriated is a sin. There are adequate real sins of which we Christians are responsible devoid of individuals inventing new ones in which to choose their neighbors. The Bible doesn't condemn using alcohol sparsely and neither should those that communicate in Christ's name.
Years ago I used to examine a journal edited by way of a Fundamentalist preacher by means of the name of John R. Rice. He claimed that all consuming of any alcohol become a sin. He argued that if it took six beers to get drunk then drinking one beer made you one sixth under the influence of alcohol and that became a sin. He notion he had it all discovered.
here is a standard practice of non secular folks all the way through the a long time. It's called placing a hedge around the law. At what point does dancing develop into lustful and therefore a sin? better forbid all dancing, just in case. At what aspect has somebody had too lots to drink? more advantageous forbid all ingesting, simply in case. The thought is that we avoid sin by means of placing a hedge around the legislations, retaining people from crossing over the road.
inserting a hedge around the legislations doesn't work. The concept that an inventory of guidelines that go past God's law will make it simpler for us to obey God's legislations isn't simplest false; it is downright harmful. It misunderstands the character of God's law, sin, and righteousness. God's law isn't a list of guidelines. Sin isn't breaking suggestions. Righteousness is not obeying suggestions.
God's law is that you simply love him with all of your coronary heart, soul, power and intellect and that you love your neighbor as your self. The commandments explain how here's accomplished. Sin is breaking God's law. Righteousness is conforming to it. It's all about love. It's no longer about rules.
here is symbolized in today's Gospel lesson by using the six waterpots filled with water that become used according to a Jewish ritual of purification. The quantity six has symbolic which means. it's one short of seven. Seven is the excellent quantity. It signifies God blessing the world. God rested on the seventh day. The quantity six is brief of seven. it's symbolic of coming short of what is ultimate. The rules of purification had been inadequate. They supplied no peace and no rest. They are just water and never wine.
Christ sanctifies marriage. He does so, now not with the aid of setting up a gadget of suggestions for us to follow so that husbands and wives can decide one yet another on what number of suggestions the other one breaks. No, he sanctifies marriage by means of giving up his life for his bride, the holy Christian Church. He purchases her via his precious blood. He loves her with a perfect love. He holds nothing lower back. He does not feel of his personal finest pursuits. He thinks of hers. So he dies for her. As we sing:
From heaven he came and sought her to be his holy bride
with his own blood he bought her and for her lifestyles he died.
Our marriages are full of selfishness and sins. The husband desires to be the pinnacle however he doesn't want to serve his wife. but Christ becomes the pinnacle of the Church exactly with the aid of serving her, giving his life for her. The spouse doesn't want to put up to her husband. She'd quite be his boss. however the Church becomes the Church precisely via submitting to the carrier of Christ. She takes his name and she or he receives his grace and she willingly finds her new identification in him.
We want Jesus to sanctify our marriages. He did his first miracle at a marriage to exhibit what he thinks of marriage. He approves. And he will sanctify our marriages. He rescued the marriage at Cana from disaster. he will rescue our marriages as well. he will do it when his hour has come.
depart it to me, he pointed out. My hour has no longer yet come. however Jesus' hour didn't come at a wedding occasion. His hour came when he faced the powers of darkness, when he prayed on their lonesome, when he sweat drops of blood, when he became betrayed into the fingers of sinners, when he changed into whipped, mocked, and finally crucified. There his hour came. It was for that hour that he got here into this world. There it changed into that he took away all our sin. There it changed into that he sanctified marriage along with his own blood.
Marriage is challenging work. No relationship in this lifestyles is closer than that of husband and spouse. They turn into one flesh. every thing that has to do with our bodily wants is part of marriage: talking, consuming, slumbering, selecting up messes, overlooking weaknesses, defending, keeping, respecting, and mainly, forgiving.
We husbands and wives need to see ourselves as our Lord Jesus sees us. He looks at his bride, the Holy Christian Church, as eye-catching, spotless, and free from blame. And so we may still see ourselves. There is no man more valuable to a girl than her husband. There isn't any woman greater precious to a person than his wife. not somebody else's husband. not someone else's wife. The husband God gave you is God's present to you. The spouse God gave you is God's gift to you. And if the sins you see to your better half give you grief, then, in the event you each day confess your sins to God, take to coronary heart that the forgiveness he gives you for Christ's sake he offers to your better half as neatly. And so for those who.
this is what makes marriage a joy and a gorgeous blessing right here on the planet. The wine that gladdens our hearts is the blood of Jesus Christ God's Son that cleanses us from all sin, strengthens us in the genuine faith, and enables us to love one an extra while God has first cherished us.
Amen.
Pastor Rolf Preus
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