John 2:1-12
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the
conviction of things not seen. (Hebrews
11:1, ESV)[i]
In John’s account of Jesus turning water into wine, we see
the practical side of this definition.
John 2:1 says:
On the third day there was a
wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there.
Three days before this wedding, Jesus called Nathanael to be
one of His disciples. Jesus demonstrated
supernatural knowledge to Nathanael by telling Nathanael what he had been thinking
about. This was early in Jesus’s
ministry and the disciples were still untested in their faith. They had shown enough faith to follow Him and
learn more, but they had no experience and knew very little about Jesus. Nathanael, for example, had three days of
exposure to Jesus at this point.
John 2:2 says:
Jesus also was invited to the
wedding with his disciples.
Jesus, His mother and His disciples were all invited to the
wedding. Apparently, this was a close
family friend or relative. In addition,
when they ran out of wine, Mary knew about it, and was concerned. The master of the feast apparently did not
know about the problem. When the wine
that Jesus made was brought out, the master of the feast’s only comment was
that the bridegroom had saved the best for last. This gives the impression that the master of
the feast had no idea of the disaster that had just been avoided. The fact that Mary was one of the few people
who knew seems to indicate a more intimate involvement in the happenings of the
wedding.
Mary approaches Jesus and says, “They have no wine.”
This is not a question or a request. It is a statement of fact. The request, if there is any, is
implied. Jesus responds with:
“Woman, what does this have to do
with me? My hour has not yet come.” (John 2:4, ESV)
It is worth noting that Jesus does not call her
“Mother.” His address to her is polite,
even friendly, but it is distant. He
then puts even more distance between her, the problem and Himself. He says, “What does this have to do with
me? My hour has not yet come.”
A lot can be learned at this point. It is crucial that we notice a few things.
Mary had as intimate a relationship with Jesus as
anyone. She was the only person on earth
who could call Him “son.” However, her
intimate and privileged position did not allow her to change God’s plan or
timetable. Jesus says clearly, “My hour
has not yet come.” In another place,
Jesus says:
“Truly, truly, I say to you, the
Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son
does likewise.” (John 5:19, ESV)
Then again, somewhere else:
For I have come down from heaven,
not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. (John 6:38, ESV)
Jesus is pointing to the fact that not even He acted
independently. If it was contrary to the
will of the Father, it did not matter who asked, Jesus was not going to do
it. Jesus has told us, “…ask whatever
you wish, and it will be done for you.”
(John 15:7, ESV) However, this is
not the whole statement. He begins with
“If you abide in me and my word abides in you.”
Therefore, just because we ask does not mean we will get what we want,
even though that seems to be the implication of this statement.
Mary’s response to Jesus shows us much about faith.
She turns to the servants and says:
“Do whatever he tells you.” (John 2:5, ESV)
Here again, as a side note, Mary giving instructions to the
servants seems to indicate a close relationship with the wedding party. Her faith is evident in the way she leaves it
to Jesus. She does not instruct Him in
what to do or how to fulfill the need.
She leaves it completely up to Him.
I have spent much time telling God how and when things need to happen
and explaining why it has to be this way.
How differently Mary approaches it!
She has done nothing more than state the problem.
I would state a principle here:
Faith asks audaciously.
The size of Mary’s request, if we can call it that, was
overwhelming. The text says there were
six stone water jars there and each held from twenty to thirty gallons. Therefore, when it was all said and done
Jesus made somewhere in the neighborhood of 150 gallons of wine. I am sure Jesus intended there to be
leftovers, but 150 gallons of wine can serve a lot of people. However, does it really matter how many
gallons or people? Producing wine with
no visible means is an audacious request whether it is a little wine or a lot
of wine.
How did Mary know that Jesus could do something about this
problem?
Of course, she, of all people, knew about Jesus’s miraculous
birth. And, she had been saved by the
angel’s warning when they fled to Egypt.
She had found Jesus in the Temple discussing theology with the doctors
at the age of 12. These are the only
things the Bible tells us about. John
says:
Now there are also many other
things that Jesus did. Were every one of
them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books
that would be written. (John 21:25, ESV)
We have no way of knowing what Mary had seen and experienced
up to this point. However, we do know
that the Scriptures say a few times “Mary treasured up all these things,
pondering them in her heart.” (Luke
2:19)
The Bible tells us:
So faith comes from hearing, and
hearing through the word of Christ.
(Romans 10:17, ESV)
Faith is built on the word of God. This is why Jesus says:
If you abide in me, and my words
abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. (John 15:7, ESV)
The faith to ask audaciously comes from the word of God and
abiding in Jesus. Mary lived with the
Word of God incarnate. Therefore, she
had faith to ask audaciously.
Faith also rests confidently.
I get this from the way Mary left it all up to the
Lord. She stated the problem. She did not even ask Him to do anything about
it. She did not say, “Can you give me
money to go buy more?” She did not say,
“Can you send your disciples out to get some?” She did not even make any suggestions. She left it totally in His hands and told the
servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”
Even Jesus, when He prayed, said, “Nevertheless, not my
will, but yours, be done.” (Luke 22:43,
ESV)
The Scriptures teach us about faith that prays this
way. In James 1:6, it says:
But let him ask in faith, with no
doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and
tossed by the wind.
This kind of praying requires a confidence that God knows
what is best, will do what is best, wants to bless us and loves us. Jesus repeatedly told His disciples what
great things they would see if they had even a little faith. In Matthew 21:21 Jesus says:
And Jesus answered them, “Truly, I
say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has
been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up
and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen.
Mary shows this kind of faith when she assumes the problem
is dealt with. She shows this kind of
faith when she says to the servants, “Do whatever He says.” She told Jesus about the problem and then rested
confidently.
One more thing this incident teaches us about faith is that:
Faith grows steadily.
Jesus’s disciples had not seen any miracles yet. At least, John 2:11 says:
This, the first of his signs, Jesus
did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.
If you follow the disciples through their journey with
Jesus, you will see them experience many miraculous signs. They saw 5,000 men plus women and children
fed from only five loaves and two fishes.
They saw blind people receive their sight, lepers healed and even the
dead raised. Peter walked on water with
Jesus. As they journeyed and walked with
Jesus, their faith was constantly challenged and it steadily grew. Their faith was far from perfect, but it was
growing. This is why one of these
disciples, James, says:
2Count it all joy, my
brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3for you know that
the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4And let steadfastness have its
full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. James 1:2-4, ESV
Another of these disciples, Peter, in speaking of trials we
suffer says:
…so that the tested genuineness of
your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by
fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of
Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 1:7
We all face trials of various kinds.
Running out of wine at a wedding is not life threatening,
but it was not too insignificant for Jesus to help with.
There were not any wine merchants available. Jesus used common water pots and water to
fill the need.
You may have a problem or challenge that does not seem
important enough to bother Jesus with, but He is concerned with every detail of
your life, even to the number of hairs on your head. You and I may not see any resources to deal
with the challenges, but remember Jesus can use even common water pots to
accomplish His work.
Whatever trial you are facing, can you trust that God is
good and is looking out for your best interest?
Bring your burden to Jesus and leave it with Him.
[i] Unless
otherwise noted Scripture quotations are from The ESV Bible (The Holy Bible,
English Standard Version) copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of
Good News Publishers. Used by
permission. All rights reserved.
Great message.
ReplyDelete