“Now on the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding. When the wine ran out, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no wine left.”
Jesus replied, “Woman, why are you saying this to me? My time has not yet come.”
His mother told the servants, “Whatever he tells you, do it.” —John 2:1-5
In our verses for today Jesus brings honor to the institution of marriage–first by gracing it with His presence and second by performing His first miracle. Christ begins His miracles in an obscure little corner of the world, Cana in Galilee, at the celebration of a marriage. How desirable for Jesus to be present at this celebration!
All marriages should be so blessed to have the acknowledgment and attendance of Jesus–an honor indeed. His presence elevates the covenant of marriage to its rightful height as two become one flesh–an example of Christ and His bride, the Church.
Mary goes straight to Jesus, the source of all power and strength, when she discovers the problem of the empty wine glasses. It would do us all well to follow Mary’s example of humbly presenting our case to Jesus as a first, rather than last, resort. His response to His dear mother was that the fullness of time had not yet arrived. Jesus was in the center of God’s will and about His Father’s business in His Father’s time–always. He was not in the business of randomly performing miracles for miracles sake. There was purpose behind each miracle as well as purpose behind everything He said and everything He did.
Mary’s response is one of simple trust: “Do whatever he tells you.” She herself modeled this trust when told by the angel Gabriel that she would be the mother of the Messiah:
“The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called the Son of God.”
“And look, your relative Elizabeth has also become pregnant with a son in her old age – although she was called barren, she is now in her sixth month! For nothing will be impossible with God.” So Mary said, “Yes, I am a servant of the Lord; let this happen to me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.” —Luke 1:35-38
“Do whatever he tells you” … modern day believers are in great need of hearing and applying these five words, are we not? Unfortunately, the god of tolerance coupled with gross Biblical illiteracy has blinded our eyes to the truth, leaving us ignorant of what we are even to be obedient to. We have bought into the relativism of our day. Statistics prove this out: there is very little difference between the behavior of those who claim to be Christians and the actions of the world. This should not be! We are to be different–cities on a hill that cannot be hidden, showing forth good fruit, pointing others to Jesus, bringing God much glory.“Love for God and obedience to God are so completely involved in each other that either one of them implies the other too.” —F. F. Bruce
Take It to Heart
“The person who has my commandments and obeys them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and will reveal myself to him.” —John 14:21
“What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but does not have works? Can this kind of faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, keep warm and eat well,” but you do not give them what the body needs, what good is it? So also faith, if it does not have works, is dead being by itself. But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith without works and I will show you faith by my works. You believe that God is one; well and good. Even the demons believe that – and tremble with fear.” —James 2:14-19
“Faith, as Paul saw it, was a living, flaming thing leading to surrender and obedience to the commandments of Christ.” —A.W. Tozer
“Whenever there is a true faith, it must fix on Jesus Christ alone for salvation; that is its principal act. This same faith unites to Christ; and where there is union, there must be love; and where there is love, there must be obedience; and where there is obedience, there will be a reward of grace; and when the reward is acknowledged to be of grace, and not of merit, God will have all the glory in time and eternity.” —K. H. Von Bogatzky
“If you love me, you will obey my commandments.” —John 14:15
“Beware of reasoning about God’s Word–obey it.” —Oswald Chambers
Further Reflections
“Every time we resist the slightest temptation, we honor God. Every time we overcome even the smallest problem by trusting and obeying our Lord Jesus, God is glorified in our lives. Whenever we choose character over convenience, faithfulness over ease, or honesty over deceit, we bring honor to the Lord Himself.” —Robert J. Morgan