Mary’s One-Line Sermon

It has been said that behind every great man there is a great wife; it should also be said that before every great man, there was a great mom. I have entitled this message, “Mary’s One-Line Sermon,” and I’m going to let some of you down now and tell you that, although Mary’s sermon was only one line, my sermon today is several lines longer.

Now, my mom, who was also named Mary, preached some great one-line sermons to me as I was growing up. She had a one-line sermon from Revelation 19, about the coming judgment: “Wait till your father comes home!” She had a one-line sermon from Luke 2, about the nativity: Every time I left the front door open she would ask, “Were you born in a barn?” She had a one-line sermon from Matthew 28, on international missions: “There are children starving in India!” She had a one-line sermon from Isaiah 53:5, about the substitutionary atonement: “This is going to hurt me more than it hurts you.” She had a one-line sermon from Luke 16, about Lazarus and the rich man: “You want your allowance, and people in Hell want ice water.”

But no mother ever preached a more meaningful one-line sermon this one. Do you realize that John 2:5 is the last words of Mary that are recorded in the Gospels? And do you realize that John 2:5 is the only commandment given by Mary in the entire Bible?

I want to break down this one-line sermon into three pieces, and draw a parallel between what she told the servants at that wedding, and how we can extrapolate her words and apply them in our spiritual lives. Let’s look into this mother’s heart.

Note first of all that she and her Son Jesus and His disciples were at a wedding in Cana, and a problem arose: The wine was finished, and wine was culturally important for the wedding celebration. Once she had appealed to Jesus, her Son, for a solution, “His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.”

Let’s look at the first point in Mary’s one-line sermon: “Whatsoever…” Now, remember, Jesus wasn’t just her Son, Jesus was also her Lord. And once this mother had appealed to her Lord to help the servants, her first word of instruction to the servants was, “Whatsoever…” Now, she had no idea what He might do. Up to this point, he had not performed a single recorded miracle. But even without seeing a miraculous manifestation of His power, Mary was well aware of who He was because she had been told by Gabriel in Luke 1:32, “He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest…” She had heard Simeon cry out to God when he beheld baby Jesus at the temple, in Luke 2:30-32, “For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.” She knew He was the Son of God and God the Son and the fulfillment of all the messianic prophecies her people had been waiting for centuries to be fulfilled.

Despite not having ever personally witnessed His miracle-working power before, she had a faith in Jesus that was so deep, she said to servants, without reservation, no matter what he commands, “Whatsoever…” It doesn’t matter what’s coming up, if it’s His will, it’s going to be right and good and just. In using that word, she was expressing her complete confidence that whatsoever Jesus does, it righteous and perfect because He is perfectly righteous. She places no caveats or qualifiers on it – whatsoever is the will of Christ will the need of the moment, the future, and of eternity.

Is that your heart, as a believer? As the servant of Jesus, do you give Him a blank check, assuming that whatsoever is of Him and from Him is ideal? If you want to be a servant of Jesus Christ, then Mary’s “whatsoever” must be the default response to Him that echoes into your Christian walk today. You can trust what 2nd Corinthians 1:20 tell us about Jesus; His mother already knew that “For all the promises of God in him – in Jesus - [are] yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.” What caveat or qualifier can we put on his righteousness? None. None whatsoever. Mary the believer knew her Lord. Mary the mother knew her child.

Now, what was the second point in Mary’s one-line sermon? She said, “…he saith unto you…” Having appealed to her Son, who was also her Lord, Mary prepared his servants for something mighty that was about to come forth – His word.