A Mother's Bond Series

A Mother’s Bond

Mother’s Day 2012

Scriptures: John 2:1-10

Introduction:

I want to say to every mother present or who might read this message, “Happy Mother’s Day!” There will be very little that I will say in this message that will be new to you but I hope you leave here today knowing this fact: the relationship (bond) between a mother and child is different and stronger than that of a father and child. This is true on an emotional and physical level. I will share more about this shortly. To the men I want you to know up front that some of what I say you might not agree with and that is okay. I was blessed to have had a great relationship with my father so some of the things I will share with you are not based on my personal experience, but on fact and research. If it does not apply to you then please do not sweat it. However, if it does apply to you, please pray about making a change. Now that I have my disclaimers out of the way, turn with me to chapter two of the book of John and we will begin reading at verse one.

“On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there; and both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to Him, ‘They have no wine.’ And Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, what does that have to do with us? My hour has not come yet?” (Vss. 1-4)

This story is often referenced during wedding ceremonies and the book of John is the only book that records it. This is possibly due to the fact that what He did in this situation was so minuscule compared to the other miracles that the other authors did not think it was important enough to record. I am so blessed that John recorded it because it gives us insight into Jesus’ relationship with His mother. In this story Mary had been invited to a wedding along with Jesus and His disciples. During the wedding feast, the wine ran out which was a failure of hospitality on the part of the bridegroom and was an insult to the invited guests. This was more than a minor social embarrassment since the family had an obligation to provide a feast of the socially required standard. Also, there was no great variety of beverages as we have today as the people normally drank only water or wine. Mary came to Jesus and told Him the problem. Jesus looked at His mother and asked her “what did that have to do with us?” In other words, Jesus told His mother that it was not His problem that the wine ran out. He also told her that His time had not come yet. There are several interpretations of what this meant, but suffice it to say that until this moment, all everyone knew of Jesus was that He had just begun His teaching ministry. He had yet to perform any healings or other miracles when Mary came to Him so there was not a history from which she could base her request.

Here is what I want you to consider: Jesus had recently begun His ministry but He had not done any miracle at this point. The Bible says that this was His first miracle. If this was His first miracle, how did His mother know that He could even do it? Why did she come to Jesus when by all acknowledgements He was just “another” teacher? How did she know that He could do something about this situation when He had not done anything like this before? She knew because He was her son. She knew Him as she had a bond with Him unlike that of any other. He was her Son. I will explain more of this story later, but first let me share some facts with you about a mother’s bond with her child and how it is different from the father’s bond.

I. A Mother’s Bond

I was talking with a friend of mine last week and I asked him what he was getting for his wife for Mother’s Day. He told me that his wife was not his mother. So I repeated the question and he said again that his wife was not his mother. When I realized that he was serious, I asked him how long he had been married and how old was his oldest child. He had been married almost thirty years and his oldest child was twenty-five. I asked him if he was telling me that in twenty-five years he has never acknowledge his wife on Mother’s Day and he said no; but that he helped his kids provide gifts for her. I shook my head and then I explained to him my perspective (cause I know that is what he really wanted to hear.)  I asked him was his wife the mother of his children and he answered in the affirmative. I asked him if she was a good mother, taking care of things while he was away at work. Again, he answered in the affirmative. I summarized his answer by saying that he had made his wife a mother; that she was a mother because of him; that she was a good mother who took care of the kids when he was away at work; and yet through all of this she did not warrant recognition from him on Mother’s Day! He looked in my eyes and knew that I was serious; that this was something that I personally found offensive. He told me that he never thought about it that way and that he would definitely go out and gets something for her.