The Wedding at Cana - John 2:1-11

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[John 2:1-11] On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 2 Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples. 3 When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” 4 And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” 5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”

6 Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. 7 Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. 8 And he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” So they took it. 9 When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom 10 and said to him, “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.” 11 This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.

The Best Wine Comes Last

Talk about brides and grooms – white dresses, tuxedos, and flowers – wedding ceremonies – and especially, finally, the wedding feast at the reception – generally brings thoughts of joy. The day of marriage, the uniting of a man and woman, is joyous. Although, the many preparations to make that day possible might be painful.

Another sign of joy in the Bible – the joy of God’s people – is flowing and abundant wine. The wedding feast at Cana in Galilee – which Jesus’ mother attended and to which He and His disciples were also invited – was certainly a joyous occasion, but the wine ran out.

The mother of our Lord, having some idea about what her Son can supply, tells Him: “They have no wine.”

Jesus, who had not yet healed any sick, raised the dead, or performed any signs manifesting (revealing) Himself to be the Son of God – and whose hour had not yet come – says, “Woman, what does that have to do with Me?” (Jesus referred to Mary as the Woman in Genesis 3:15 whose Offspring would be the Savior.) 

It was not yet the hour for Jesus to provide the wine He came to provide, but He does concede and provides wine for that wedding in Cana – by means of a miracle, pointing to what He would be accomplishing when His hour does come.

His mother tells the servants, “Do whatever He tells you.” There were six stone water jars present, with a capacity of twenty to thirty gallons a piece. Jesus tells them to fill the jars with water, which they do to the brim. “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast,” He says. So they take it.

The master of the feast, upon tasting the water that has now become wine – not knowing that it has come from the Lord – says to the groom, “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.” Usually, the good wine comes first. But, in this case, the good wine has come last.

It is fitting that the first of Christ’s signs – revealing His glory – would be done at a wedding. In Scripture, God and His people are depicted as Groom & Bride: “For your Maker is your husband, the Lord of hosts is His name… for the Lord has called you like a wife… like a wife of youth.” [Isaiah 54:5]

Weddings are joyous and create a life-long bond. The dividing of a marriage is therefore painful and destructive – whether it’s caused by infidelity, abandonment, or abuse – hardheartedness – or by a misguided decision to divorce.

To fix such a division is difficult and takes sacrifice. To fail in marriage is sin. But there is forgiveness in Jesus. Being wronged in marriage hurts. But there is healing in Jesus.

In Scripture, God Himself is found to be Groom in a nearly divorced marriage - due to His people’s unfaithfulness: “You trusted in your beauty and were unfaithful… and lavished your unfaithfulness on any passerby” [Ezekiel 16:15]. “‘You have played the harlot with many lovers, and would you return to Me,’ declares the Lord.” [Jeremiah 3:1]

Yet He did promise to bring her back: “You shall no more be termed Forsaken, and your land shall no more be termed Desolate, but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her” [Isaiah 62:4]. At His hour, Jesus made the sacrifice to reunite us to Himself.

Jesus’ hour is the cross. Upon the cross, Jesus made the atoning sacrifice to forgive your sins – to forgive your unfaithfulness to the One who is yours.

Under the Law of God, marital infidelity was a capital crime – it warranted the death penalty. Upon the cross, Jesus, God-in-the-flesh, suffered that death penalty in His unfaithful Bride’s place – the penalty we owed.

Jesus’ death in our place created a pardon and a washing that makes us His again. What was accomplished fully in His hour on the cross has been applied to us, in our time, in Holy Baptism: “Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her, that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that He might present the church to Himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.” [Ephesians 5:25-27]

Jesus made you presentable to Him once and for all – “though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.” [Isaiah 1:18]

What does this mean? It means for us that we now live in the best of times. We often look with nostalgia to the past for better times. But the reality is that whatever might be happening in the world in our day, we, each of us, still live in the very best of times.

You and I do not live in the times of Moses or the Prophets who hoped for this salvation to come. We live in the time when it already has come. We do not live in the time of a rocky relationship with our God. We live in the time when that union has already been repaired by the Savior Jesus. The best of times have come last.

We do not live in the time when we were not His people. We live in the time when we are His people – Jew or Gentile – by faith in Christ, which has spread across the globe. The better wine has come last – the greater joy. We live in the later, better time.

And the best of the best time is yet to come, and many of our loved ones in the faith have gone ahead to it – the wedding reception. The Wedding Feast of the Lamb in His Kingdom. The forever-Wedding Banquet of heaven. The family reunion in Christ Jesus to which we will soon come. That best of the best wine is coming last and forever. Amen.