See Jesus In The Simple Things Of Life

1.20.19 John 2:1-11

1 Three days later, there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there. 2 Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding. 3 When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no wine.” 4 Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does that have to do with you and me? My time has not come yet.” 5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” 6 Six stone water jars, which the Jews used for ceremonial cleansing, were standing there, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. 7 Jesus told them, “Fill the jars with water.” So they filled them to the brim. 8 Then he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.” And they did. 9 When the master of the banquet tasted the water that had now become wine, he did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew). The master of the banquet called the bridegroom 10 and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when the guests have had plenty to drink, then the cheaper wine. You saved the good wine until now!” 11 This, the beginning of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed in Cana of Galilee. He revealed his glory, and his disciples believed in him.

See Jesus in the Simple Things of Life

When a television series is first started, the creators want to make sure that the first episode grabs people’s attention, otherwise people will tune out and not watch anymore. When you are interviewing for a job, the first impression is very important. You would think that if Jesus were to plan His first miracle, He’d want to start with the resurrection of Lazarus perhaps. But instead, He turns water into wine at a wedding, in a small little rinky dink town, and most of the people at the wedding don’t even realize what He did! But isn’t that how God still works yet today? His miracles are often times hidden under things that seem to be chance or coincidence or everyday occurrences that we take for granted. Most of the time people don’t even realize what He has done. Maybe that’s the problem with so many people’s “faith” today, is that they seek God in the big and flashy miracles, while failing to see the hidden ones that happen every day.

Things were changing for Mary. She had to realize it. I can’t help but think they talked about it - who Jesus was and what He had come to do. Her personal time with Jesus was over. She didn’t get to have Jesus to herself anymore. He had just gathered His disciples right prior to this text. And that’s an interesting thing to think about in and of itself. Imagine if your son came home from college and brought 12 young men with him, and they all claimed to be his disciples. This would seem odd, unless you were the mother of Jesus. She would have known Jesus was baptized and that the Holy Spirit had come down on Him. The Father had spoken from above. This is what Jesus was born for. Things were changing quickly. It was time for His public ministry to begin. But Mary wasn’t ready to let go.

Mary was at the wedding before Jesus got there. Perhaps they were personal family friends of the bride or groom. Cana wasn’t too far from Nazareth, only about 4 miles. They run into a problem, the wine had run out. Now, it’s not a major problem. It’s not like someone was dying. But it would have been an embarrassment to the bride and groom. Hospitality is very important in eastern countries. You want your guests to feel welcome and well fed. Maybe they weren’t very well to do. Maybe they invited too many people. Maybe some people had too much to drink? Who knows? But the problem was there.

So Mary tells Jesus about it. She knows who He is. She knows what He is capable of doing. But Mary is overstepping her bounds a little bit. It would be like my mom coming here to church and telling me how to preach or what Bible classes to teach. I love her dearly, but she would be overstepping her bounds a bit. Mary, bless her heart, was seemingly asking Jesus to perform a miracle for this young couple. And Jesus somewhat rebukes her for overstepping her bounds. He says to her, “Woman, what does that have to do with you and me? My time has not come yet.” Doesn’t that address, “Woman,” kind of strike you? I’m not sure that it’s meant to be harsh, but it is a correction I would say. She was trying to use her influence as mother to try and get Him to do something as the Messiah. Jesus has to put some distance between Himself and her, difficult for her as it may be. He has to address her this way as a reminder that she won’t get any preferential treatment in His kingdom when it comes to His office as Christ.