This One Has Divine Power
We do not know the bride’s name. We do not know the groom’s name. We do not know if they were high school sweethearts or if it was love at first sight. We do not know how long they dated or how he popped the question. We haven’t a clue what she wore or where they went on their honeymoon. We don’t know if there were many guests, or only a few. We are unaware of their ages, their economic status, their places of birth, or anything that happened in their lives after the wedding. We do not know if the union produced any children, or if it lasted till death parted them.
But we do know that it is the world’s most famous wedding. It occurred in late February of the year A.D. 27, and to this day it has never been surpassed. Prince Charles and Lady Di’s royal wedding was impressive, but it did not best the simple one in a Galilean village. Brad and Angelina’s had star power, but this one had divine power.
History’s most famous anonymous wedding was the one in Cana that Jesus and His mother attended when Jesus turned water to wine.
What can we learn from this famous anonymous wedding?
Jesus endorsed marriage.
When Jesus accepted this invitation to a wedding, He implied that He agreed with the marriage. He never went to a service where Baal or Molech were worshipped, or a Roman gladiator show where bloodlust filled the arena. We could never picture Him accepting an invitation to a dance, a beer-drinking party, or a strip club. Yet He went to a wedding, which shows He gave His endorsement to marriage.
And this was not the first wedding He attended. He was there when God pronounced Adam and Eve husband and wife (Genesis 1:26-27; Genesis 2:22-24; John 1:3). In fact, Jesus ties every knot and signs every heavenly license (cf. Matthew 19:4-10). He believes that marriage is “honorable . . . and the bed undefiled” (Hebrews 13:4). He intends for marriage to last as long as the earth does. He said that the last days would by like the days of Noah, when people are marrying and giving in marriage (Matthew 24:28).
Our society as a whole does not have the same attitude toward marriage that Christ does. This is shown in several ways. Many choose to bypass marriage and just live together. In 2005, the U.S. Census Bureau reported 4.85 million cohabiting couples, up more than 1000 percent from 1960. A 2000 study found that more than half of newlyweds have lived together, at least briefly, before walking down the aisle1. Some marry but then neglect their spouse to pursue their jobs or recreation. Others divorce for irreconcilable differences and move on to the next one. (The U.S. has about one million divorces each calendar year.) Easy divorce laws, legislation allowing homosexual unions2, and tax laws that penalize married couples show a disdain for holy matrimony.
Why would Jesus endorse marriage? Marriage is in our best interest (Proverbs 31:12). A reporter was interviewing a grizzled old man, sitting with his hands folded in his lap, behind his farm house. “Sir, I’d like to know the secret of your long life,” said the reporter.
“Well, I drink whiskey every day, smoke cigarettes all the time, dance wildly every night, and I’ve lived with many different women.”
The reporter was astonished and exclaimed, “That’s remarkable. And exactly how old are you?”
The man replied, “Twenty-seven.”3
The Bible was right when it said “the way of transgressors is hard” (Proverbs 13:15). Governments may debate whether to charge “sin taxes,” but there can be no debate that sin taxes. Sin always takes us further than we want to go, costs us more than we want to pay, and keeps us longer than we want to stay (Romans 6:23).
Conversely, “In the way of righteousness is life; and in the pathway thereof there is no death” (Proverbs 12:28). Marriage is righteous (1 Timothy 5:14; cf. 1 Timothy 4:3). So one could say that, to borrow a favorite phrase of Solomon, marriage “tendeth to life” (Proverbs 11:19). How?
* Socially, marriage provides companionship and rejoicing (Proverbs 5:18).
* Emotionally, marriage provides security (Proverbs 31:11) and encouragement (Proverbs 31:28).
* Physically, marriage provides honorable sexual satisfaction and enjoyment (Proverbs 5:19; 1 Corinthians 7:1-4).
* Spiritually, marriage provides the occasion of God’s blessing (Proverbs 18:22) and the atmosphere conducive to spiritual growth (Luke 1:6).
* Intellectually, marriage provides the stimulation of mutual discovery and conversation (Proverbs 31:26).
In times of grief, marriage supplies comfort (Genesis 24:67). In times of difficulty, marriage lightens life’s heavy burdens (Genesis 29:20-21). In good times, marriage increases the joy (Ecclesiastes 9:9). It is little wonder, then, that the Bible says, “whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing” (Proverbs 18:22). Or that it describes a woman as “a crown to her husband” (Proverbs 12:4) and estimates her price as “far above rubies” (Proverbs 31:10). Women can appreciate marriage because man was incomplete without her (Genesis 2:18). Men can appreciate marriage because woman was made for him (Genesis 2:21-22). Paul said, “The woman is the glory of the man” (1 Corinthians 11:7).
Modern research has confirmed health, happiness, and money as benefits of marriage. Married men—regardless of age, race, income, or education—consistently have been found to be healthier than men who are single, divorced, or widowed. This “marriage benefit” kicks in right after the wedding, then builds. Husbands ages 18 to 44 are strikingly healthier than bachelors of the same age. At every age, in fact, marriage not only protects men’s health but also prolongs their lives.4
Min. Johnathan Hester
