“MANIFESTING HIS GLORY”
Second Sunday after the Epiphany
January 17, 2016
Bethel Evangelical Lutheran Church
Glenshaw, Pennsylvania
TEXT:
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)
One hundred and two years ago last month, Orville Wright made the
first successful flight in a heavier-than-air mechanically-propelled
airplane. It was hardly an impressive beginning. The flight lasted
fifty-nine seconds and extended the distance of 852 feet. It all
happened at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina--a place that is still
virtually unknown except for that one claim to fame. Who would have
guessed back in December of 1903 that those nutty men and their flying
machine would make the impact that they did on science and
transportation? Traveling from New York to California in four hours
wasn’t even a dream in 1903, to say nothing of people actually
traveling safely to the moon and back. And yet today these things are
history--so mediocre that they are all but forgotten. And they are
all the result of that insignificant, humble beginning at Kitty Hawk.
It’s not all that uncommon for very big things to have very small
beginnings. It happens all the time. The earthly ministry of Jesus
Christ, through which He accomplished the salvation of sinners and
brought about reconciliation between perfect God and sinful humanity,
also had a very small and humble beginning. It happened in Cana of
Galilee--not in the holy city of Jerusalem as one might expect. It
was a miracle for sure, but not a very dramatic one. No mumbo-jumbo
or song-and-dance. No big production or attention-getting antics.
But even with its quiet simplicity we are told that through this
changing of water into wine Jesus “manifested His glory.” I’d like to
spend these few minutes with you this morning examining this
manifestation of the divine glory of the Son of God, looking at two
things in particular: (1) the manifestation of His glory for our
happiness and (2) the manifestation of His glory for our faith.
The first manifestation of Jesus’ glory through His miraculous
action, which we read about in today’s Gospel, doesn’t seem on the
surface to be a very important one. In fact, it doesn’t even seem to
be necessary. It wasn’t a matter of life and death into which the
Lord intervened here. The need that He responded to wasn’t anything
so lofty as food for the starving, clothing for the naked, shelter for
the homeless, or healing for the sick. It was only wine for a wedding
reception! The closest thing that we can find here to a need of any
kind is the host’s need not to be embarrassed in front of his guests.
Many today would be appalled at such a thing. How could our Lord and
Savior--the Friend of the downtrodden and the needy--be bothered with
attending to the needs of those seeking to satisfy their luxurious
excesses with even more self-indulgence? It just doesn’t seem to make
any sense.
Perhaps for this reason a number of other themes have been found in
this story. No doubt most people choose their favorite and emphasize
that as the central point. I’m quite sure that if you were to ask
twenty or thirty different people what this whole story means you’d
get a variety of answers. Someone would probably say that the story
proves that Jesus was no “party-pooper” since He obviously accepted
the party invitation that had been extended to Him and His disciples.
Someone else might suggest that since Jesus rebuked His mother when
she tried to recruit Him to address the situation, she certainly
cannot in any way be thought of as an intercessor to be prayed to.
And you can always count on at least one person to say that the deep
meaning of this story is that it’s okay to drink wine and other
alcoholic beverages! All of these observations may indeed have a
certain degree of truth in them, but the main theme of the passage is
stated in the concluding verse, which serves as our text. Jesus’
glory is manifested--and it is manifested in the midst of happiness
and joy. That’s something that all of us as Christians need to
remember. Jesus Christ is concerned about your happiness just as
surely as He is concerned about your salvation. You don’t have to be
on your deathbed before you need Jesus, nor do you have to be engulfed
in the deepest depression. Your Savior cares about you in good times
as well as in bad. He cares about you right now whether you care
about Him or not. He wants you to be happy--and He gives you every
reason to be happy.
But the results of what Jesus did at that wedding in Cana involve a
lot more than just somebody’s happiness. The text before us tells us
that because of this revelation of Jesus’ glory, “His disciples
believed in Him.” Undoubtedly they must have had some faith in Him
before this, since they were already following Him. At the very least
they must have respected Him tremendously. But this revelation of His
glory confirmed their faith--made them all the more certain that Jesus
was indeed the One in whom they could and should place their trust.
Jesus did the same kind of reassuring a few years later when He
appeared to His frightened disciples after He rose from the dead and
reminded them of His earlier promises. Why would He find it necessary
to reveal His glory to those who already believed in Him? It is
because even the strongest Christians need to be reassured in their
faith from time to time.
And that sure is a comforting thing to know. We all know from
firsthand experience that there are times--difficult times of trial
and tribulation--when even Christians are harassed and tormented by
doubts and questions. Don’t be surprised or overwhelmed when those
doubts and questions arise in your mind and heart. As long as you are
still breathing, Satan is trying His best to tempt you to fall away
from your Lord and Savior. But the manifestation of Christ’s glory is
there for you to encourage you and to reassure you so that you might
be better equipped to ward off the vicious attacks of the devil.
Where and when do we see His glory revealed? We can see it right here
and right now--whenever and wherever God’s people come together in
their Savior’s name around Word and Sacrament to receive the
strengthening of their faith, which the Holy Spirit gives them through
these means.
We don’t visibly see our Savior walking around, nor do we converse
with Him as His disciples did in the Gospels. But even today His
glory is still being manifested. It is manifested in simple things
like words and water and bread and wine--in simple words like “I
baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Spirit”--in words like “I forgive you”--in words like “given and shed
for you for the forgiveness of sins.” The glory of Jesus Christ is
manifested for our happiness and it is manifested for our faith. In
fact, He has granted to you and me as His people the privilege of
manifesting His glory today--to one another for our mutual happiness
and reassurance and especially to others who are not His followers, so
that saving faith might be created in their hearts. The Holy Spirit,
as God wills, will use our witness to turn the hearts of many so that
they, like us and all the disciples of Jesus, may have their faith,
their joy, and their confidence in Him.
Amen.
May the God who caused light to shine out of darkness cause you to
increase and abound in love toward one another and toward all people,
as His love abounds for us; and may the glory of His Son be manifested
to you and in you, that you may be witnesses to all nations now and
until the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is
faithful, and He will do it. Amen.