The Absolution
The Introit p. 16
Introit
The Kyrie p. 17
The Gloria in Excelsis
The Salutation and Collect p. 19
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
Hymn #39 Praise to the Lord the Almighty
The Sanctus p. 26
The Lord's Prayer p. 27
The Words of Institution
The Agnus Dei p. 28
The Nunc Dimittis p. 29
The Benediction p. 31
Hymn # 47 Savior Again To Thy Dear Name
- Doctor's care - Pastor Shrader, Sarah Buck, Lori Howell, Randy Anderson, Kermit Way, Dr. Lito Cruz, Alicia Meyer.
- Some problems were solved with Zoom last week.
The Better Wine Last
KJV John 2:1 And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there: 2 And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage.
Sceptics (aka seminary professors) enjoy their removal of anything divine, whether miracles or anything beyond human. Their other target is faith, because they do not understand or teach faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God. This miracle begins with a precise location and setting.
The mother of Jesus was there, most likely to manage the wedding of the couple. Jesus and His discipled were invited (called) to attend, which means the Savior did not despise marriage. Not being married was a corruption of God's Creation, which came from paganism. That notion corrupted the Medieval Church and corrupts people today. Where marriage is scorned, the priestly ones make themselves holy and above all women and marriage itself. Jesus' presence at the wedding, with all His disciples, honors marriage, and the miracle was the first one, seen by all of them. They began the public ministry of Christ with faith in Him, because of this remarkable event.
3 And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine.
Wedding remain the same over the centuries. The manager-in-chief is the mother of the bride. Mary is the substitute for parents and takes charge of the event. The couple must have been poor - They ran out of wine. Mary was the key person, and she trusted in Him.
4 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come. 5 His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.
Jesus' response is the key to this miracle, a sign not only for His disciples but also for us. People who make fun of miracles and reject them are often anxious to experience one when they are in a crisis. Isaiah 7:14 teaches us that Ahaz refused any miracle - in his arrogance - and had one anyway, a direct sign from God - a virgin would conceive a son, not just any son, but one born of a virgin, and the Name would God-with-us, Immanuel.
Luther:
For this is the reason there is so much care and unpleasantness in marriage to the outward man, because everything that is God’s Word and work, if it is to be blessed at all, must be distasteful, bitter and burdensome to the outward man. On this account marriage is a state that cultivates and exercises faith in God and love to our neighbor by means of manifold cares, labors, unpleasantnesses, crosses and all kinds of adversities, that are to follow everything that is God’s Word and work. All this the chaste whoremongers, saintly effeminates and Sodomites nicely escape, serving God outside of God’s ordinance by doings of their own.
Luther himself was a celibate and did not marry until he was 38 years old. The nun Katy had escaped from the convent and was lined up to marry Glatz, an older man. She did not want to but suggested Luther himself. He laughed at this idea but his father approved. And so Luther married Katy and the Church of Rome was horrified! - even though priestly marriage was allowed by Rome and paid for with a tax, so Luther's virtue in following God was mocked by those who rejected marriage, an institution created by God.
This miracle has three parts. The first is Mary telling Jesus they had no wine. She did not tell Him what to do, but she knew what God could do. Telling the Son of God what to do is the same as demanding marshmellows growing on trees and rivers full of bottled water from France.
The second is Jesus being very short with His mother. There is no escape, even if He says "dear" mother, which He does not. One translator wrote in a note - "Woman is a sign of respect." That word alone, not matter how it is spun, continues with "Is that my fault? This is not my time."
The third part of the miracle is in the order of spoken words - "Whatever He says, do it." We get our order of words from Greek. For emphasis - Whatever He says. That is first in order. It is her faith and the emphasis on Him... and ... whatever follows. Not a frantic, DO SOMETHING! to the servants, because the emphasis is on Jesus' Word.
Luther emphasized what the Bible clearly teaches - the bitter comes first, the sweetness later. That is true of grief, when someone can endure thousands of pains based on loss, but then the peace and blessings of memories. We see it in children, who have special needs that seem to be an enormous burden, and yet the unique qualities what makes them special, much stronger than the typical child in other ways, much more a miracle in many ways.
If the bitter brings on sweetness from God, then we should not berate God for the first step - they have no wine. If our country flounders for another year, could that be the signal that the evil ones will collapse from their own evil?
6 And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins [GJ -10 gallons per firkin] apiece. 7 Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim. 8 And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it.
We can easily recall Gospel miracles that involved touching, but this one has servants doing the work (not the disciples), the pots filled with 20-30 gallons of water, which the servants saw, and then Jesus commanded them to draw the liquid to the toastmaster. This makes unbelievers realize the power of God's Word, unless they harden themselves against it.
Denial of the water turned into wine is a parallel to the bread and wine as the body of Christ. The miracles caused by the Word are plentiful and should cause us to consider the power of God.
9 When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom, 10 And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now.
The ruler - also called governor of the feast - was invited to do his job at checking out the food and drink. When he tasted the water turned into wine (το υδωρ οινον γεγενημενον) not knowing its origin, he promptly called the bridegroom. The best wine is always served first, but this rule was violated. The toastmaster did not know anything about the water miraculously made wine, so he was upset that the best wine came last.
This is a metaphor for how God works at all times. He knows in advance and lets us go through many kinds of difficulties. The worst students I ever had in class were those whose tuition or new cars or gigantic phones or apartments were paid instead of being the fruit of their labors. Parallel to that was a student who did not have any more paper at home to print his paper (in olden days when dinosaurs still roamed the earth), so he printed his paper on the back of 5 pages of cell phone use. I said, "No wonder you cannot afford typing paper.
The lesson is very clear for marriage and children. There are many bad times for various reason. However, God transforms so that even when things remain the same or worse, life is transformed and blessed.
The disciples are good examples of facing the worst kind of distress and opposition, with only the Apostle John living a long time, according to tradition. He was the one who took care of the mother of Jesus. Mary perhaps suffered more than anyone else, but she also had great faith from God's own messenger.
John 19:19:26 When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son!
19:27 Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home.
This faith came from God's Word -
KJV Luke 1:26 And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, 27 To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. 28 And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. 29 And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. 30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. 31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus. 32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: 33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.34 Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. 36 And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren. 37 For with God nothing shall be impossible.
The end.
