Our Divine Bridegroom

Title:  Our Divine Bridegroom By Pastor Lohn Johnson

John 2:9-10  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."

INTRODUCTION: My dear friends in Christ, Years ago when Johnny Carson was the host of The Tonight Show he interviewed an eight year old boy. The young man was asked to appear because he had rescued two friends in a coalmine outside his hometown in West Virginia. As Johnny questioned the boy, it became apparent to him and the audience that the young man was a Christian. So Johnny asked him if he attended Sunday school. When the boy said he did Johnny inquired, "What are you learning in Sunday school?" "Last week," came his reply, "our lesson was about when Jesus went to a wedding and turned water into wine." The audience roared, but Johnny tried to keep a straight face. Then he said, "And what did you learn from that story?" The boy squirmed in his chair. It was apparent he hadn't thought about this. But then he lifted up his face and said, "If you're going to have a wedding, make sure you invite Jesus!" The little boy was on to something. And the people at the wedding at Cana learned the same lesson.  If you're going to have a wedding, make sure you invite Jesus

I. The wine had run out prematurely. It was a social gaffe beyond bad. No more wine and the feast was still going on. Maybe it was due to an unexpected number of guests. Perhaps it was Jesus’ disciples.

A. Jesus' heart went out to his hosts. So, he turned six stone jars (each holding 20-30 gallons each) filled with water, into wine. That’s between 120 to 180 gallons of wine. That’s 3 55 gallon barrels of wine.  Do you get the picture? That’s a lot of wine. But there’s got to be more to this miracle, other than to make sure Jesus is on your guest list when you have a party—so he can make more wine.

1. Well, yes there is.  First we learn that there’s a message that comes from Jesus’ using those water jars.

a. Jesus uses the big stone water jars—the ones that are normally set aside for the Jewish rites of purification.  The Pharisees insist on washing hands, utensils, cups and even couches before they eat a meal; it’s a law they’ve made up, as they expanded the Law of Moses.    b. The Pharisees were big on laws—in fact, they believe that you earn God’s favor and work your way into heaven by keeping lots of laws.

2. But washing hands and silverware doesn’t get rid of sin.  The Law of Moses, signified by the six stone jars of washing water, cannot save us. So Jesus has a better use of these pots. It is to say, “Someone greater than Moses was here.”

B. And note Jesus did not rise up and wave His hands over the water pots. He did nothing that seemed out of the ordinary. Jesus stood behind the scene.

1. He had the servants fill the water jars. He had the servants take the water, now become wine, to the master of the feast.

a. He could have charged the wedding couple a hefty price for all that wine, but He didn’t. He could have taken credit for His miracle, but He didn’t.    b. But this little miracle was quietly done behind the scenes.  The servants knew; the disciples knew; and you and I know.  But there is even something more going on here at Cana.   Even though Jesus He saved the day by providing wine for the wedding guests, that was not His primary objective.

2. His objective is to say, “It was time to begin the wedding feast.”

a. When Jesus changed the water into wine, He wasn’t saving the best wine for last; He was bringing out the best wine first because the wedding feast was just beginning.    b. Jesus the Divine Bridegroom had come to claim His Bride, and here at Cana He begins that wedding feast by changing water into the choicest of all wines.

II. And at this feast Jesus proclaims that He is the divine Bridegroom.  And His objective is to come to claim His Bride – and all believers are part of His Bride, the Church.  So He is your Divine Bridegroom and He rejoices over you, His Bride.

A. And we would be absolutely correct if we wondered, “Why?”  It’s not like we are the cream of the crop.  We are not some fair maiden who has caused our God to take note of our loveliness and goodness.

1. We’re not the fairest of the fair, but the ugliest of the ugly.  Our deeds are wicked.

a. Our hearts are full of unbelief and our lives show it.  Our mouths speak words of rebellion.  Our minds think that which is evil.   b. Picture a bride walking up the aisle, her teeth yellow and black, her hair full of dirt and oil, her odor repulsive, and her garments ratty and full of holes.  What bridegroom would stand up here beaming with pride as she took each step toward him?  More likely he would, quick as lightning, run out the door.   c. One pastor tells of a wedding he will never forget. It went just beautifully until the very end of the ceremony. In that tender moment when bride and groom kissed, the bride's five-year-old brother, the ring bearer, let out with a "YUK!" The congregation was on the floor laughing. As people left that afternoon, the place glowed with everyone's grins. And in years to come, when people think of that wedding, the one thing they will remember is YUK!  In a way, that is what we are confronted with in our gospel lesson. Jesus could have been like that little boy but he wasn’t.

2. Yes we look like “YUK!” because we are full of sin’s ugliness, but your Divine Bridegroom rejoices over you.

a. And that’s not because He closes His eyes and holds His nose.    b. And Jesus’ miracle at Cana sets it all in motion. Cana points us to the cross.  That is the high point of the wedding feast.  It is where the Bridegroom says, “I do,” to His Bride.  At Calvary Jesus’ time had come.  The time for Him to die for His sinful Bride.  He dies there for you, not in spite of your sin and rebellion, but because of it.  He doesn’t love you only when times are good; He loves you “for better and for worse.”    c. And so even though you and I live for ourselves and reject His claim on us, His love does not waver.  Even though we are an unfaithful Bride, He bears our burden and He forgives you of all your wrongdoing.

B. Even though we were not at Cana, we are a part of Cana’s feast.  Your baptism includes you in the wedding festivities.

1. The new wine that Jesus made at Cana comes to you at the font.

a. In baptism Jesus makes you His beautiful Bride.  In baptism He gives you a new name—You are the Bride of Christ.    b. And in your baptism He made you holy and radiant covering you, His Bride, with His holy innocence.

2. At Cana the headwaiter said that the best wine is served first and then the cheaper wine is brought out.  But for you there is no cheaper wine.

a. Christ never serves poor wine to His Bride.  He only gives you the best of His gifts.   b. His mercy and grace will never run out.  He will never grow tired of you.  His love will never fail.

III. The lesson of the wedding at Cana is ultimately that: the Lord has begun the wedding feast with a quiet miracle.  He was present then and He is present here now with you. And where the Lord is present, He is working miracles. And the miracles He works here are far greater than turning water into wine: He’s turning dead sinners into living children of God.

A. And please, do not discount your Baptism. To see someone raised from the dead would be a pretty awesome wonder to behold.  To see the devil cast out of an individual would be another outstanding sight. Both of those happen in Baptism: you’re raised from sin and death to life and salvation. The devil is cast out and Christ is now your King.

1. When Hollywood does exorcisms, the devil is cast out after all sorts of supernatural wonders and signs; but you don’t get your faith from Hollywood. You get it from the Word; and the Word assures you that Christ was present at your Baptism in a quiet miracle.   2. And to show His power He even used a servant—probably a called and ordained one—to speak His Word and apply the water. But it was His doing—His miraculous doing. By that Baptism, you were raised from death to life—eternal life. By that Baptism, the devil was sent packing.

B. Please do not discount the preaching of the Word, whether it be the sermon proclaimed here or your conversation with a friend.

1. The devil would have you believe that such talk is cheap, that pastors are windbags and the sermon is something to be endured. But whether it be a sermon or your own conversation, it’s the speaking of God’s powerful Word—the same Word that created the heavens and the earth, the same Word that Jesus spoke to heal the sick and raise the dead.   2. By that Word, He still creates faith and forgives sins. In the sermon, the pastor’s just the mouth: but the Lord is at work in His Word to give you life.   3. When you speak His Word to others, you’re the mouth of God, and the Lord is at work to bestow the miracle of eternal life on others.

C. We dare not leave out the Lord’s Supper, for Jesus is certainly present there.

1. We receive it often, and rightly so, for Jesus told us to receive it often. But with familiarity comes contempt, and you’ll be tempted to think of it as just another rite or something that makes the service drag out.   2. But once again, it is there that Christ gives forgiveness and life. It’s in the Super that heaven and earth come together. It’s there that you have a foretaste of the feast to come. With God’s permission, man will come up with all sorts of spectacular discoveries; but only Christ can give you eternal life, and He does so here.

CONCLUSION: So if you look carefully at the miracle at Cana it teaches us much of what we need to know about Jesus.  It tells us that Jesus comes and announces that He is the Bridegroom.  It tells us that He comes to prepare His Bride for the wedding feast.  And now we know that He comes even now and works miracles as subtle and quiet as that miracle.  Those miracles take us from Satan’s Kingdom to God’s.  Those miracles take us from being dirty ugly brides to the pure brides of Christ.  Those miracles feed His bride as we wait for the ultimate fulfillment of the wedding feast.  And He will come in the not so distant future to take us to our even greater wedding feast that will last forever. Amen.