Wedding Wine

The following is a very brief homily that I gave at my sister’s wedding.

I would  now like to say a few brief words about another wedding that took place about 2,000 years ago in Cana of Galilee. This is a wedding which Jesus of Nazareth attended, the account of it found in the second chapter of the gospel of St. John. It was the custom of those days to have wedding celebrations that lasted many days on end, a week, or more. There was of course much feasting, traditions, and celebrations. A primary feature of their wedding celebrations was wine. Indeed wine has been a hallmark of wedding celebrations from the dawn of time up to this very day. It is a source of enjoyment, merriment, and relaxation, given from God to gladden the heart of man as the one hundred and fourth Psalm tells us.

So it was the custom that they would begin the wedding by putting out the best wine, and as the celebrations wore on, the cheaper wine would be brought out, for reasons you can probably imagine. However, the host of this wedding at Cana, which the Lord Jesus attended, had dropped the ball, and at some point amidst the wedding celebration they had run out of wine. As the events unfolded it was Mary, the mother of Jesus, who called upon him to provide more wine. Eventually Jesus did just this, as he had the servants fill several containers of water, that Jesus proceeded to turn into wine. As this wine that was once water was served to the wedding guests it was exclaimed that this was the best wine, and that the best wine was saved for last, contrary to the custom of the day.

There are many things to learn from this first miracle of our Lord, but only one of which will draw our attention on this occasion. And that is, that the way of Jesus, is to save the best for last. In the beginning of the Holy Scriptures, the Old Testament, Yahweh God revealed that animal blood sacrifices were to be made for sins. However, just like the beginning wine at the wedding of Cana, the blood of those sacrifices ran out. It was cheap wine. But God was not done. He saved the best for last. It was Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who was the final sacrifice for sins, because his blood was potent enough to cover them. At the Last Supper, Jesus raised the cup of the fruit of the vine, saying that this cup is the New Covenant in my blood, drink in remembrance of me. And thus from the same cup we drink, partaking of Christ and his blood-wine, by faith, for the forgiveness of sins, never running out of Christ’s wine.

So to Dan and Kayla, the great ideal and genuine possibility of marriage is that the best can be saved for last. Indeed it is the goal to which both of you commit to here today. Through hard work, faithfulness, forgiveness, and the grace of God, your later years can truly be your sweetest years. It is not easy, but nothing worthwhile is. Like a fine wine, your marriage can truly get better with age. Which is why we celebrate weddings with wine. The wine reminds us that weddings are just the beginning of something that is meant to last a lifetime. And that something, is not something cheap. It costs much, because it is worth much.