Epiphany 2 January 15, 2023
John 2:1-11
The Hour of Power
v.4 And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.”
Dear friends in Christ, I am sure that many of you have heard of, if not actually seen, the television program called The Hour of Power. It was begun by the notable Rev. Dr. Schuller, but is now hosted by his grandson, Bobby Schuller. This program which grew prominent under Dr. Schuller’s prosperity gospel preaching, has suffered some decline in recent years. Indeed, this iconic “hour of power,” which for so long seemed so strong, so impressive, with its beautiful building—the Crystal Cathedral, magnificent choir, charismatic preacher, etc. has shown signs of weakening and eroding. Quite a contrast with our Lord in talking about His hour and the power that He revealed.
Our text takes place following Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan by John the Baptist, wherein as we heard last week, Jesus was confirmed in His public ministry by the sign of His Father’s voice from heaven proclaiming His pleasure in the Son, as well as the anointing of the Holy Spirit, who came upon Jesus in the form of a dove. Now, however, Jesus will confirm His ministry among sinners with this first sign of His power—at this very hour.
Now, this is certainly not the way in which you would expect our Lord to first demonstrate His power to the people He had come to save. It takes place at a wedding celebration and involves saving the bride and groom from some embarrassment in not having provided enough wine for their guests. At first, Jesus attempts to avoid this situation claiming His hour has not yet come, but His mother simply instructs the servants to do whatever He tells them.
We see at this wedding feast the elements of a fallen creation run short. Jesus, as the One who has come to make all things new, steps in to restore creation, and miraculously changes water into an abundance of the very best wine, thereby fulfilling one of many Old Testament prophecies regarding the Messiah. With this sign Christ does indeed manifest His glory. However, again, it is not as we would do. For only the servants and Jesus’ own disciples knew what had happened—furthermore, this miracle occurred in a small town in the back country of Galilee. Not the most auspicious of beginnings for such a powerful ministry.
This hour, where Jesus first manifested His power and glory at Cana in Galilee pointed ahead to a greater hour of power—though one not adorned with what we would consider great displays of power—His cross at Golgotha. There Jesus showed His glory by taking all of creation’s curse into His own flesh to release us from its power. Paul describes this great hour for us in our epistle reading where He speaks of Jesus as the bridegroom who gave His life for His bride. This Christ has done with His own suffering and death on the cross.
Jesus' greatest “hour of power” was in taking your place upon the cross—suffering shame, humility, agonizing pain, and death—unjustly—for your sin and mine. He gave Himself up to the judgement and wrath of God so that you and I might be spared—saved from damnation and hell—and given a place at the great wedding feast of the kingdom of God in everlasting life.
Just so it is today that Christ continues to use the fallen elements of this creation to bring abundant blessing and life and to manifest His power and glory this side of heaven. We see Jesus’ power at work in each hour of worship here in His house. For Christ has chosen to combine the power of His redeeming Word with common elements—water, bread, and wine—that in them—lowly though they may appear—Christ’s great power is manifested for sinners like you and me.
Apart from Christ’s Word the water is just plain water, but with His Word it is a Baptism—that is a washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit—forgiving sins, creating faith, pouring out life and salvation where before there had been only death and decay. This is His gift to you, dear friends. That you may always look back to the hour of your Baptism as the moment when God made you His own dear child—showering upon you the power of His grace and mercy—that you might be washed clean and so receive entry into the kingdom of heaven.
Similarly, in the Sacrament of the Altar, again Christ took simple, everyday elements, bread and wine, and combined them with His Word of promise to give us a foretaste of the great feast to come. For, under the power of Christ’s own creative and salvific Word, Christ’s body and blood are present with the bread and wine. His body and blood given up for you at the hour of His death on Calvary’s cross come to bring you His holiness and purity—wiping out every stain and wrinkle of sin in your life—pledging you His eternal life and salvation. This gift He gives to you each hour we come together to celebrate Him and His Word. The mighty and powerful benefits of His hour of death become fully yours through faith as you believe and trust in Him and His sacrifice for you.
Indeed, the whole hour of this Divine Service is one in which God is at work serving you, dear friends, with His powerful Word and Sacrament. From the beautiful words of the liturgy that speak back to God what He has already told us in His Word, to the words of the Creed, the hymns and the prayers. Indeed, in the absolution and the preached Word of the sermon God’s powerful and redemptive Word comes to you to lift up and restore your weary souls. To pull you from the depths of the darkness of your sin-shrouded lives and bring you to His glorious light.
As you come and hear—as you come and receive—the water and blood that flowed from Christ’s side at Calvary—you are able to rejoice! For the bridegroom has given His life for the bride—to wash her and sanctify her—purifying her from all unrighteousness—through His own shed blood. You are the bride dear friends, and Christ is the groom. He has given Himself up to death, even death upon a cross—so that He might take creation’s curse into His own flesh to release you from its power—thereby manifesting His glory in a most unusual way—in suffering and death.
Yet through His tremendous sacrifice—through His glorious resurrection and triumph over the grave, Satan, and all our enemies—you are promised a seat at the great wedding feast in the kingdom of heaven where there will be no sorrow—no pain or suffering—where death and darkness will be a distant memory, for Christ our Light and Life will shine upon us always in glorious splendor.
This is His great promise to you, dear friends, that at the hour of trial and tribulation—at the very hour of your death—you may be comforted in the sure and certain knowledge that the benefits of Christ’s hour that came upon Him at the cross—have been given wholly and completely to you. May this hope bring you all comfort and joy in this hour, now and forever. Thanks be to God in Christ Jesus. Amen.
John 2:1-11
The Hour of Power
v.4 And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.”
Dear friends in Christ, I am sure that many of you have heard of, if not actually seen, the television program called The Hour of Power. It was begun by the notable Rev. Dr. Schuller, but is now hosted by his grandson, Bobby Schuller. This program which grew prominent under Dr. Schuller’s prosperity gospel preaching, has suffered some decline in recent years. Indeed, this iconic “hour of power,” which for so long seemed so strong, so impressive, with its beautiful building—the Crystal Cathedral, magnificent choir, charismatic preacher, etc. has shown signs of weakening and eroding. Quite a contrast with our Lord in talking about His hour and the power that He revealed.
Our text takes place following Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan by John the Baptist, wherein as we heard last week, Jesus was confirmed in His public ministry by the sign of His Father’s voice from heaven proclaiming His pleasure in the Son, as well as the anointing of the Holy Spirit, who came upon Jesus in the form of a dove. Now, however, Jesus will confirm His ministry among sinners with this first sign of His power—at this very hour.
Now, this is certainly not the way in which you would expect our Lord to first demonstrate His power to the people He had come to save. It takes place at a wedding celebration and involves saving the bride and groom from some embarrassment in not having provided enough wine for their guests. At first, Jesus attempts to avoid this situation claiming His hour has not yet come, but His mother simply instructs the servants to do whatever He tells them.
We see at this wedding feast the elements of a fallen creation run short. Jesus, as the One who has come to make all things new, steps in to restore creation, and miraculously changes water into an abundance of the very best wine, thereby fulfilling one of many Old Testament prophecies regarding the Messiah. With this sign Christ does indeed manifest His glory. However, again, it is not as we would do. For only the servants and Jesus’ own disciples knew what had happened—furthermore, this miracle occurred in a small town in the back country of Galilee. Not the most auspicious of beginnings for such a powerful ministry.
This hour, where Jesus first manifested His power and glory at Cana in Galilee pointed ahead to a greater hour of power—though one not adorned with what we would consider great displays of power—His cross at Golgotha. There Jesus showed His glory by taking all of creation’s curse into His own flesh to release us from its power. Paul describes this great hour for us in our epistle reading where He speaks of Jesus as the bridegroom who gave His life for His bride. This Christ has done with His own suffering and death on the cross.
Jesus' greatest “hour of power” was in taking your place upon the cross—suffering shame, humility, agonizing pain, and death—unjustly—for your sin and mine. He gave Himself up to the judgement and wrath of God so that you and I might be spared—saved from damnation and hell—and given a place at the great wedding feast of the kingdom of God in everlasting life.
Just so it is today that Christ continues to use the fallen elements of this creation to bring abundant blessing and life and to manifest His power and glory this side of heaven. We see Jesus’ power at work in each hour of worship here in His house. For Christ has chosen to combine the power of His redeeming Word with common elements—water, bread, and wine—that in them—lowly though they may appear—Christ’s great power is manifested for sinners like you and me.
Apart from Christ’s Word the water is just plain water, but with His Word it is a Baptism—that is a washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit—forgiving sins, creating faith, pouring out life and salvation where before there had been only death and decay. This is His gift to you, dear friends. That you may always look back to the hour of your Baptism as the moment when God made you His own dear child—showering upon you the power of His grace and mercy—that you might be washed clean and so receive entry into the kingdom of heaven.
Similarly, in the Sacrament of the Altar, again Christ took simple, everyday elements, bread and wine, and combined them with His Word of promise to give us a foretaste of the great feast to come. For, under the power of Christ’s own creative and salvific Word, Christ’s body and blood are present with the bread and wine. His body and blood given up for you at the hour of His death on Calvary’s cross come to bring you His holiness and purity—wiping out every stain and wrinkle of sin in your life—pledging you His eternal life and salvation. This gift He gives to you each hour we come together to celebrate Him and His Word. The mighty and powerful benefits of His hour of death become fully yours through faith as you believe and trust in Him and His sacrifice for you.
Indeed, the whole hour of this Divine Service is one in which God is at work serving you, dear friends, with His powerful Word and Sacrament. From the beautiful words of the liturgy that speak back to God what He has already told us in His Word, to the words of the Creed, the hymns and the prayers. Indeed, in the absolution and the preached Word of the sermon God’s powerful and redemptive Word comes to you to lift up and restore your weary souls. To pull you from the depths of the darkness of your sin-shrouded lives and bring you to His glorious light.
As you come and hear—as you come and receive—the water and blood that flowed from Christ’s side at Calvary—you are able to rejoice! For the bridegroom has given His life for the bride—to wash her and sanctify her—purifying her from all unrighteousness—through His own shed blood. You are the bride dear friends, and Christ is the groom. He has given Himself up to death, even death upon a cross—so that He might take creation’s curse into His own flesh to release you from its power—thereby manifesting His glory in a most unusual way—in suffering and death.
Yet through His tremendous sacrifice—through His glorious resurrection and triumph over the grave, Satan, and all our enemies—you are promised a seat at the great wedding feast in the kingdom of heaven where there will be no sorrow—no pain or suffering—where death and darkness will be a distant memory, for Christ our Light and Life will shine upon us always in glorious splendor.
This is His great promise to you, dear friends, that at the hour of trial and tribulation—at the very hour of your death—you may be comforted in the sure and certain knowledge that the benefits of Christ’s hour that came upon Him at the cross—have been given wholly and completely to you. May this hope bring you all comfort and joy in this hour, now and forever. Thanks be to God in Christ Jesus. Amen.