Preparing for Worship - January 18, 2026

The Epiphany season continues this week, with the light of Christ Jesus shining forth with His first great “sign,” or miracle, turning water into wine at the wedding at Cana, in the Gospel lesson, John 2:1-11. There are two choices for the Old Testament lesson, for the psalm, and for the Epistle lesson that relate to the Gospel. I can’t go into all those readings in detail and don’t know which reading you will hear in your particular church, but I’ll try to focus mostly on one of them in each case. I encourage you to look at both readings, if you have the time.

The first choice for the Old Testament lesson is Exodus 33:12-23. The children of Israel had rebelled and built a golden calf to worship, instead of the One True God. Moses had pleaded for God’s mercy and forgiveness for them. There is some judgment, but God shows mercy, too. Moses prays that God would give him a glimpse of His glory to sustain him in dealing with the difficult people of Israel. God gives him a glimpse, but only a glimpse, for sinful man cannot see the face of God in all His glory, in this life.

The other Old Testament reading is Amos 9:11-15. The Lord had predicted through Amos the fall of the Northern Kingdom of Israel because of its great sinfulness. There is still hope, though, for a remnant of God’s people, from the line of King David. There will be abundant crops and grapes and sweet wine and vineyards and wine to drink. This is a picture of the New Israel, with people of “all the nations who are called by the Lord’s Name,” with God doing His rescuing work through our Lord Jesus. This will be a true everlasting kingdom.

The psalm could be Psalm 111, which we heard on December 20th, where the focus is on the great works of our faithful Lord, as He remembers His covenant promises and sends redemption to His people through the coming of our Lord Jesus. The psalm could also be Psalm 67, where the Lord promises to be gracious to us and bless and let His face shine upon us in the Person of His own Son, Jesus. There would be increased blessings on earth, through the saving power of Jesus, for all nations, as the Savior who died and rose again for all. People on all the ends of the earth could fear and trust in Him. For He is the way to eternal life for all who are brought to faith in Him. (John 3:16 and 14:6). (See also Acts 9:2, 18:25, 19:9,23, 24:22, and 28:26-28.)

The Gospel lesson is John 2:1-11, when Jesus goes to a wedding at Cana. When the wine runs out, sooner than expected, His mother is there, too, and tells Him about this problem. Jesus does not identify her by name and seems to speak strangely and says, "Woman, what does this have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come.” Jesus knew that He had to speak and act according to His heavenly Father’s way and plan and will. His mother trusts him, at this point, and tells the servants, “Do whatever He tells you.” When the time was right, Jesus had the servants fill to the brim six stone water jars with water. He tells them then to take some of the liquid, now turned into wine, and take it to the master of the wedding feast. The master is amazed and calls the bridegroom and says, “Everyone serves the good wine first… but you have kept the good wine until now.” Then we hear the closing statement, “This was the first of the signs, the miracles, of Jesus, and manifested His glory” as the promised Savior. And what a sign it was - as much as 180 gallons of water turned into wine! The goal of all that Jesus did was that his disciples would believe in Him and that as many others as possible would believe in Him, too.

People might say, though, “Why didn’t Jesus do something much more spectacular, as the first of His signs, His miracles?” This was exactly what was predicted in the Amos nine passage when the promised Savior would come. There would be good, sweet wine in abundance. This same picture of great abundance is used in other places in prophecy in the Old Testament, too. See Isaiah 25:6-9, where the Lord is promised to save His people and swallow up death forever, and provide well-aged wine and rich food in eternal life for His people. See the words of Joel 3:18-19, 24, 26, too. The Lord Jesus would do many more dramatic signs and miracles, through His ministry and sacrificial death and resurrection, to forgive our sins and count us acceptable to Him for salvation. But this miracle also affirmed our Lord’s care for us in our daily lives with marriage and family and joys together.

The Scriptures also affirm the importance of love and care in marriage and families, in one of the possible Epistle lessons for today, Ephesians 5:22-33. Christ’s sacrifice on the cross for us and His cleansing us through baptism, the washing of water with Word, and His counting us holy and without blemish through what He has done for us are all demonstrations of His amazing grace and love for us. In the same way, husbands and wives are to live in love and commitment to each other and be willing to live sacrificially for each other and their families.

This is true also for us as we seek to live together in the body of Christ, the church, as Paul describes in Romans 12:6-16, the other possible Epistle lesson. We have the same faith in Christ, but we have different gifts and abilities, as God has blessed us, and we are called to use what we have, not just for ourselves, but for each other and others around us. “Let love be genuine,” Paul says. “Abhor what is evil and hold fast to what is good.” Paul then provides a long list of what qualities might be shown in that love. “Be fervent in Spirit, rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer; show hospitality to strangers. Rejoice with those who rejoice. Weep with those who weep. Don’t be haughty, but associate with the lowly” … and on and on. Of course, the church is not perfect, and neither are we. So we live by the grace and mercy of God and Christ’s perfect love and forgiveness for us, and seek to show that love with one another, too, as best we can.