The Gladness That Comes in Believing in Jesus 2 Epiphany C John 2:11

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

 “This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.” (John 2:11 ESV)

Prayer: “All glory, Jesus, be to Thee  For this Thy glad epiphany;  Whom with the Father we adore  And Holy Ghost forevermore.”  Amen.

What gladdens your heart?  That is, what really makes you happy?  Your spouse?  Your children?  Grandchildren?  How about the things you enjoy doing?  The places you like to be?  Maybe it’s cooking, or sewing?  Gardens are a great source of joy to many people around here.  Whatever it is, I’m sure that everyone who knows you is aware of that which makes you truly happy.  We talk about it.  We do it. We’re different when they’re around.

What about the Savior?  And if he is your greatest source of joy, how is it that he makes you glad?  The hymn Beautiful Savior sings, “Beautiful Savior, King of creation, Son of God and Son of Man! Truly I’d love Thee, Truly I’d serve Thee, Light of my soul, my Joy, my Crown.”

What measure of happiness does our Savior give to you?  And can people easily tell that Jesus is a great source of gladness in your life and that by being around you they can sense his presence?

The joy and gladness that normally accompanies wedding festivities were in danger of coming to a fast end when, almost two thousand years ago, at a wedding in Cana of Galilee, it was discovered that the wine had run out.  Certainly culturally, but also in a real sense practically, this was a disaster.

If you’ve traveled to Europe then you know that people in Germany and France prefer not to drink the water from the municipal water sources.  Not that water is dangerous in Northern Europe, or that it will make you sick like water in Mexico.  They just culturally are not interested in drinking water that has been previously used, treated, and then returned to the supply.  So when you ask for water, chances are that you’ll get bottled water –even delightful carbonated water.

In Jesus’ day wine made or unmade a wedding.  The guests expected it.  They even knew when they were served good wine–judging from the words of the wine steward in our text.  And to run out was a serious enough matter to cause the Mother of Our Lord to suggest to Jesus that he do something supernatural about it.

Now we don’t know if Jesus had done miracles previously to this –perhaps only in private.  John says this was his first miracle in public. Yet, I believe it is highly doubtful that Jesus restocked the pantry for his mother on emergency occasions when she ran out of sugar or eggs.  What we do know is that Mary believed that Jesus could help, and she meant for him to do more than run down to the local store and get a few more cases of wine.

It is further interesting that given the conversation that takes place here between mother and son and from our previous lesson a couple of weeks ago, from Luke 2, where Mary must ask, “Son, why have you treated us so?” that there still are Christians who insist that Mary holds some kind of sway over Her Son Jesus.  Even now when he is ascended into heaven and has all power and authority given to him the majority of Christians believe they must pray to Mary and have her intercede for them.  We don’t.

Nonetheless, Jesus understands what his mother is asking and he tells her that the first manifestation of who he is by way of a miraculous sign will take place at the hour the Father has appointed.  In other words, “mother –my Heavenly Father has my work all planned out for me, and according to his will, I will act.”

Aren’t we often like Mary in so many circumstances?  We believe that God can help us and is willing to help us.  But don’t we also so often feel the necessity to name the way and even the time?  As if God didn’t know what is best for us!  We pray, “God your will be done, BUT if you are open to suggestions…”

Our Gospel Lesson for today teaches us that God provides in abundance for every need we have. And He does so solely on the merit and sake of his Son, Jesus Christ.  The greatest provision was made on Calvary, where the blood of Christ flowed in streams –enough to cleanse the world of all its sin once and for all.  When Jesus cried, “It is finished!” he meant that his work of redemption for the world was complete.  This was the greatest miracle of all: that God’s Son would die to save sinners.

Yet that is the way it is with the Savior.  Jesus provided more than wine to the Cana couple.  He also provided the best of wines! Still, the miracle is not about wine and wine quality or quantity.  It is about believing in Jesus.

Faith in Jesus Christ makes the believer’s heart glad because better than wine, or anything else here on earth, it promises the eternal gladness of heaven.  That is by far the best reason to be glad.  When the disciples believed in Jesus after the miracle, they were there believing for us.  For later they wrote down what they had seen and heard and by the power and direction of the Holy Spirit we have the Good News of Jesus.

Later, on the night he was betrayed, Jesus prayed to his heavenly Father concerning the disciples. “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word,” (John 17:20)  That’s why John concludes chapter 20 of His Gospel, the chapter that describes for us the resurrection of Jesus in this way:

“Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” (John 20:30-31)

Jesus’ miracle at Galilee was just the beginning.  We don’t know how many miracles Jesus did while on earth.  We know that the ones we have recorded for us in the gospels are not the only ones Jesus did.  We’re also told he went throughout the land healing every kind of sickness and disease.  John writes at the end of his Gospel,

“Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.” (John 21:25)

The important thing is we have heard about Jesus. God has given us faith to believe.  We rejoice that the Christ has come.  He is our Lord and Savior.  While on earth he provided abundantly where there was need and it was in agreement with the Father’s will.  And we, too, have all received, as John says in his first chapter, “…from his fullness….grace upon grace.” (John 1:16) Amen.