History of the Old Testament Volume 5, Part 19
The marriage in Cana.
WAS this then thy firſt miracle, ô Sauiour, that thou wroughts in Cana of Galile? And could there be a greater miracle then this, that hauing bene thirty yeares vponupon earth, thou didſt no miracle till now? That thy diuinity did hide it ſelfe thus long in fleſh; that ſo long thou wouldſt lye obſcure in a corner of Galile, vnknowne to that world thou cameſt to redeeme? That ſo long thou wouldſt ſtrayne the patient expectation of thoſe, who euer ſince thy Star, waited vponupon the reuelation of a Meſſias? Wee ſilly wretches, if wee hauehave but a dram of vertue, are ready to ſet it out to the beſt ſhow, thou who receiuedſt not the Spirit by meaſure, wouldſt content thy ſelfe with a willing obſcurity, and concealedſt that power that made the world, in the roofe of an humane breſt, in a cottage of Nazareth. O Sauiour, none of thy miracles is more worthy of aſtoniſhment, then thy not doing of miracles. What thou didſt in priuate, thy wiſdome thought fit for ſecrecy; but if thy bleſſed mother had not beene acquainted with ſome domeſticall wonders, ſhe had not now expected a miracle abroad; The ſtarres are not ſeene by day; the Sun it ſelfe is not ſeene by night: As it is no ſmall art to hide Art, ſo is it no ſmall glory, to conceale glory; Thy firſt publique miracle graceth a marriage; It is an ancient and laudable inſtitution, that the rites of matrimony ſhould not want a ſolemne celebration; When are feaſts in ſeaſon, if not at the recouery of our loſt ribbe? If not at this maine change of our eſtate, wherein the ioy of obtaining, meets with the hope of further comforts? The Son of the Virgin, and the Mother of that Son are both at a wedding; It was in all likelyhood ſome of their kindred, to whoſe nuptiall feaſt, they were inuited ſo farre; yet was it more the honor of the act, then of the perſon, that Chriſt intended; He that made the firſt marriage in Paradiſe, beſtowes his firſt miracle vponupon a Galilean marriage; Hee that was the author of matrimony and ſanctified it, doth by his holy preſence, honeſt the reſemblance of his eternall vnion with his Church: How boldly may we ſpit in the faces of all the impure aduerſaries of wedlocke, when the Sonne of God pleaſes to honor it?
The glorious bride-groome of the Church, knew well how ready men would bee to place ſhame, euen in the moſt lawfull coniunctions; and therfore his firſt worke ſhall be, to countenance his own ordinance. Happy is that wedding, where Chriſt is a gueſt; O Sauiour, thoſe that marry in thee, cannot marry without thee; There is no holy marriage whereat thou art not (how euer inuiſible) yet truely preſent, by thy Spirit, by thy gracious benediction. Thou makeſt marriages in heauen, thou bleſſeſt them from heauen. Oh thou, that haſt betrothed vsus to thy ſelfe in truth and righteouſneſſe, doe thou conſummate that happy marriage of ours in the higheſt heauens.
It was no rich or ſumptuous Bridall, to which Chriſt with his Mother, & Diſciples vouchſafed to come, from the further parts of Galile; I finde him not at the magnificent feaſts or triumphs of the great; the proud pompe of the world, did not agree with the ſtate of a ſeruant; This poore needy bride-groom wants drinke for his gueſts. The bleſſed virgin (though a ſtranger, to the houſe) out of a charitable compaſſion, and a frendly deſire, to maintaine the decency of an hoſpital intertainment, inquires into the wants of her hoſt; pittyes them, bemones them, where there was power of redreſſe; (When the wine failed, the the mother of Ieſus ſaid vntounto him, They hauehave no wine.) How well doth it beſeeme the eyes of piety, and chriſtian louelove to looke into the neceſſities of others? She that conceiued the God of mercies, both in her heart, and in her wombe, doth not fixe her eyes vponupon her owne trencher, but ſearcheth into the penury of a poore Iſraelite, and feeles thoſe wants, whereof he complaines not; They are made for themſelues, whoſe thoughts are only taken vp with their owne ſtore, or indigence.
There was wine enough for a meale, though not for a feaſt: and if there were not wine enough, there was enough water; yet the holy virgin complaines of the want of wine; and is troubled with the very lacke of ſuperfluity; The bounty of our God reaches not to our life only, but to our contentment; neither hath hee thought good to allow vsus only the bread of ſufficiency, but ſomtimes of pleaſure. One while that is but neceſſary, which ſome other time were ſuperfluous. It is a ſcrupulous iniuſtice to ſcant our ſelues, where God hath bene liberall.
To whom ſhould wee complaine of any want, but to the maker and giuer of all things? The bleſſed virgin knew to whom ſhe ſued; She had good reaſon to know the diuine nature and power of her Sonne: Perhaps the Bride-groome was not ſo needy, but if not by his purſe, yet by his credit, he might hauehave ſupplyed that want; or, it were hard if ſome of the neighbour-gueſts (had they bene duly ſolicited) might not hauehave furniſhed him with ſo much wine, as might ſuffice for the laſt ſeruice of a dinner; but bleſſed Mary knew a nearer way; ſhe did not thinke beſt to lade at the ſhallow channell, but runs rather to the well-head, where ſhe may dip, and fill the firkins at once, with eaſe. It may bee ſhee ſaw that the traine of Chriſt (which vnbidden followed vntounto that feaſt, and vnexpectedly added to the number of the gueſts) might help forward that defect, and therefore ſhe iuſtly ſolicites her Son Ieſus for a ſupply: Whether wee want bread, or water, or wine; neceſſaries or comforts, whither ſhould we runne, ô Sauiour, but to that infinite munificence of thine, which neither denieth, nor vpbraideth any thing? We cannot want, wee cannot abound, but from thee, GiueGive vsus what thou wilt, ſo thou giuegive vsus contentment with what thou giueſt.
But what is this I heare? A ſharp anſwer to the ſuit of a mother? (Oh woman what hauehave I to do with thee?) He whoſe ſweet mildneſſe and mercy, neuer ſent away any ſuppliant diſcontented, doth he only frowne vponupon her that bare him? He that commands vsus to honor father and mother, doth hee diſdaine her whoſe fleſh he tooke? God forbid: LoueLove and duty doth not exempt parents from due admonition. She ſolicited Chriſt as a mother, he anſwers her as a woman: If ſhe were the mother of his fleſh, his deity was eternall; She might not ſo remember her ſelfe to be a mother, that ſhe ſhould forget ſhe was a woman; nor ſo looke vponupon him as a Son, that ſhee ſhould not regard him, as God; Hee was ſo obedient to her as a mother, that withall ſhe muſt obey him as her God; That part which he tooke from her ſhall obſerue her; She muſt obſerue that nature, which came from aboue; and made her both a woman, and a mother. Matter of miracle concerned the Godhead only; Supernaturall things, were aboue the ſphere of fleſhly relation; If now the bleſſed virgin will be preſcribing, either time, or forme vntounto diuine acts, O woman, what hauehave I to doe with thee, my houre is not come. In all bodily actions his ſtile was, O mother; in ſpirituall and heauenly, O woman. Neither is it for vsus in the holy affaires of God, to know any faces, yea, if we hauehave known Chriſt heretofore according to the fleſh, henceforth know wee him ſo no more.
O bleſſed virgin, if in that heauenly glory wherin thou art, thou canſt take notice of theſe earthly things, with what indignation, Doſt thou looke vponupon the preſumptuous ſuperſtition of vaine men, whoſe ſuits make thee more then a ſolicitor of diuine fauours? Thine humanity is not loſt in thy mother-hood, nor in thy glory: The reſpects of nature reach not ſo high as heauen; It is far from thee to abide that honour, which is ſtolne from thy Redeemer.
There is a marriage, whereto we are inuited, yea, wherein we are already intereſſed, not as the gueſts only, but as the Bride; in which there ſhall be no want of the wine of gladneſſe: It is maruell, if in theſe earthly banquets there be not ſome lacke; In thy preſence, ô Sauiour, there is fulneſſe of ioy, and at thy right hand are pleaſures for euermore. Bleſſed are they, that are called to the marriage-ſupper of the Lamb.
Euen in that rough anſwer, doth the bleſſed Virgin deſcry cauſe of hope. If his houre were not yet comne, it was therfore comming; when the expectation of the gueſts, and the neceſſity of the occaſion had made fit roome for the miracle, it ſhall come forth, & challenge their wonder. Faithfully therefore, and obſeruantly, doth ſhee turne her ſpeech from her Son to the Wayters (Whatſoeuer hee ſaith vntounto you, doe it.) How well doth it beſeeme the mother of Chriſt to agree with his Father in Heauen, whoſe voyce from Heauen ſayd, This is my welbeloned Son, heare him; She that ſayd of her ſelfe, Be it vntounto mee according to thy word, ſaies vntounto others, Whatſoeuer hee ſaith to you, doe it. This is the way to hauehave miracles wrought in vsus, obedience to his Word. The power of Chriſt did not ſtand vponupon their officiouſneſſe; he could hauehave wrought wonders in ſpite of them; but their peruerſe refuſall of his commands, might hauehave made them vncapable of the fauour of a miraculous action: Hee that can (when hee will) conuince the obſtinate, will not grace the diſobedient. Hee that could worke without vsus, or againſt vsus, will not worke for vsus, but by vsus.
This very poore houſe, was furniſhed with many and large veſſels, for outward purifications; As if ſin had dwelt vponupon the skin, that ſuperſtitious people ſought holineſſe in frequent waſhings; Euen this rinſing fouled them, with the vncleanneſſe of a traditionall will-worſhip. It is the ſoule which needs ſcouring; and nothing can waſh that, but the bloud, which they deſperately wiſhed vponupon themſelues, and their children; for guilt, not for expiation. Purge thou vsus, ô Lord, with hyſſop, and we ſhall bee cleane, waſh vsus and we ſhall be whiter then ſnow.
The wayters could not but thinke ſtrange of ſo vnſeaſonable a command; (Fill the waterpots.) It is wine that wee want, what doe we go to fetch water; Doth this holy man mean thus to quench our feaſt, and coole our ſtomachs? If there bee no remedy, wee could hauehave ſought this ſupply vnbidden; yet ſo far hath the charge of Chriſts mother preuailed, that in ſteede of carrying flagons of wine to the table, they goe to fetch pailesfull of water from the ciſternes. It is no pleading of vnlikelyhoods againſt the command of an Almighty power.
Hee that could hauehave created wine immediately in thoſe veſſels, will rather turne water into wine; In all the courſe of his mitacles, I doe neuer finde him making out of nothing; all his great workes are grounded vponupon former exiſtences; he multiplyed the bread, hee changed the water, he reſtored the withered lims, hee rayſed the dead; and ſtill wrought vponupon that which was, and did not make that which was not: What doth he in the ordinary way of nature, but turne the watery iuyce that ariſes vp from the root, into wine; he will onelyonly doe this now ſuddenly, and at once, which he doth vſually by inſenſible degrees. It is euer duly obſerued by the Son of God, not to doe more miracle then hee needes.
How liberall are the prouiſions of Chriſt? If he had turned but one of thoſe veſſels, it had beene a iuſt proofe of his power, and perhaps that quantity had ſerued the preſent neceſſity; now hee furniſheth them with ſo much wine, as would hauehave ſerued an hundred and fifty gueſts for an intire ſeaſt; Euen the meaſure magnifies at once, both his power and mercy. The munificent hand of God, regards not our neede onelyonly, but our honeſt affluence: It is our ſin and our ſhame, if wee turne his fauour into wantonneſſe. There muſt be firſt a filling, ere there be a drawing out: Thus, in our veſſels, the firſt care muſt be of our receit; the next, of our expence: God would hauehave vsus ciſternes, not channels.
Our Sauiour would not bee his owne taſter, but he ſends the firſt draught to the Gouernour of the feaſt. He knew his own power, they did not; Neither would he beare witnes of himſelfe, but fetch it out of others mouthes; They that knew not the originall of that wine, yet prayſed the taſte; (EueryEvery man at the beginning, doth ſet forth good wine, and when men hauehave well drunk, then that which is worſe, but thou haſt kept the good wine vntill now;) The ſame bounty that expreſſed it ſelfe in the quantity of the wine, ſhewes it ſelfe no leſſe in the excellence: Nothing can fall from that diuine hand not exquiſite: That liberality hated to prouide crab-wine for his gueſts. It was fit, that the miraculous effects of Chriſt, (which came from his immediate hand) ſhould be more perfect, then the naturall. O bleſſed Sauiour, how delicate is that new wine, which we ſhall one day drinke with thee, in thy Fathers Kingdome. Thou ſhalt turne this water of our earthly affliction, into that wine of gladneſſe, wherewith our ſoules ſhall bee ſatiate for euer. Make haſte, ô my Beloued, and bee thou like to a Roe, or to a young Hart, vponupon the mountaine of ſpices.