Jesus and his newly gathered disciples were invited for a wedding ceremony.
Not only is the following incident uniquely recorded in the gospel of John, but it also raises some curious questions.
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 yet come." His mother said to the servants, "Whatever He says to you, do it."
John 2: 1- 5 (NASB)
Wine running out at a party can hardly be considered an ?incident worthy of divine intervention?. Yet Mary considers this an appropriate opportunity to call upon the ?yet un-manifested powers of Jesus? to intervene.
If I were Jesus I would have simply told Mary to pop down to the local market and get those greedy drinkers some of the cheapest wine available. Here I am ?trying to plan the salvation of the world? with my team of ?yet to be known world evangelists? and you are bothering me with wine!
And here I would have missed the point. Jesus meets us where we are. He embraces our weaknesses and selfish ambitions and works through them for His glory. The fact that He overlooks our flaws does not mean He approves of them.
Let?s face it: Mary?s desire for Jesus to act was probably prompted by her yearning to ?appear good? among her peers, friends and relatives who were drinking the wine. I doubt if she had God?s plan for salvation in mind as she called upon her son for a favour.
We must however give Mary the credit for believing that her son could help despite never having seen Him do a miracle before. Her familiarity with her son did not diminish her respect for Him. A noteworthy point.
What might have started out as a selfish request by Mary became a ministry opportunity for Jesus. God uses people (and Christian organisations) despite their weaknesses, not because of their little strength.
Jesus turned water into wine and the Bible makes it very clear why he did it.
This beginning of His signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in Him. John 2:11 (NASB)
Jesus had the bigger picture in mind. While many would have left the wedding feast impressed with the excellent wine that was served; the disciples of Jesus had observed a very important step in their spiritual journey. Jesus, the Son of God had manifested himself to them.
How often have we as Christian missed the giver of the gift and got excited about the gift. We can get so carried away with the status and benefits of being around Jesus and miss the chance of working with him.
It is only when our hearts grasp the essence of Jesus, and we bring our motives into line with His, that we stop being ?merely around Him? and start working with Him.
The ultimate experience that any encounter with the power of God should leave us with is a deeper understanding of who He is. This is the effect it had on His disciples (John 2:11).
Jesus chose a wedding feast - the celebration of two individuals coming together as one, to perform His first sign - how appropriate!
Jesus became the focus of the wedding, but many of the participants missed this truth.
May God help us to realise the prime place that Jesus should occupy. May He grant us the grace not to get carried away with the status, noise and attention that working around Jesus can generate.
We need to work with Him not around Him.
Dele Oke
Living Word Library
15 September 2007