But I went to John 2 and began to read the story of Jesus' first miracle.
John 2:1-11 On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, "They have no wine."
Jesus said to her, "Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come."
His mother said to the servants, "Whatever He says to you, do it."
Now there were set there six waterpots of stone, according to the manner of purification of the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece. Jesus said to them, "Fill the waterpots with water." And they filled them up to the brim. And He said to them, "Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the feast." And they took it. When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom. And he said to him, "Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!" This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him. (NKJV)
When I read these verses the first thing that struck me was what Mary said to the servants...'whatever He says to you, do it'. I knew I was to touch this person as the Lord showed me and pray for them. But it doesn't end there, we are to do whatever Jesus says. Jesus tells us so much in the scriptures. In Matthew 7:7 Jesus tells us to ask, to seek and to knock. Mary in this story was asking Jesus to do something. When I first read this story I thought it was a trivial thing, running out of wine at the wedding feast but according to the notes in the 'Life Application Bible', wedding feasts were week long celebrations and it was considered a law of hospitality to provide wine throughout the feast, it would have been an embarrassment to run out. So to Mary there was cause for concern. In the grand scheme of things it was probably as I had first labeled it, trivial.
How often do we fail to ask Jesus for something because we consider our concern too trivial?
Regardless of the size or weight of the request, look at Jesus' response to her, a question..."What does your concern have to do with me?" What would your response be if Jesus asked you this question? Would you turn it into a statement, "Your concern has nothing to do with me." But to believe Jesus would respond that way is to not know the nature of Jesus. He is concerned about our concerns, no matter how trivial they may seem.
So why did Jesus say this to Mary? I believe He was looking for faith. Isn't this what Jesus is always looking for? Jesus responds to faith. In fact Jesus Himself proclaimed those He touched and were healed, that their faith healed them. See Matt 9:2, Matt 9:22, Matt 15:28 for a few examples.
Matthew 21:21 So Jesus answered and said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' it will be done."
I love Mary's response to Jesus, she doesn't even address Him, she turns to the servants and says do whatever He says. She doesn't say to Jesus, "oh come on Jesus, please do something, I know you can if it is your will to do something." No, she responds with action, sure that He will do something. She knows He can and she knows He will. How does she know this? Because she has a personal relationship with the Father and the Son. Now you may be thinking, of course she has a personal relationship with Jesus, she gave birth to Him and raised Him, but she first had to have a personal relationship with God the Father before she was trusted to give birth to the Son. How great Mary's faith was from a very young age.
What if Mary had she responded with doubt. They would have run out of wine, people would have been embarrassed and others been disappointed and after not much time at all no one would remember, it would have been no big deal really.
But look at what Mary's faith produced, a miracle that was recorded in the gospels that we are reading and learning from 2,000 years later. And it caused the disciples to believe.
How many miracles do we pass up with doubt? How many times do we think our concerns are trivial? That Jesus is too busy, has more important things to take care of? Why do we limit God? He is limitless. Don't be naive, God does not put a cap on miracles. It's as if we think God has one phone line and because we're talking to Him about a bill we can't pay, the person calling about a loved one dying will get a busy signal! That's not the way it works. He is everywhere, all the time, and is probably offended when we don't bring our cares to Him.
1 Peter 5:6-7 Therefore humble yourselves under the might hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your cares upon Him, for He cares for you.
And there it is...humble yourselves. Check your pride when you believe your cares are trivial. Sometimes we don't ask because we are too proud to ask. We are self sufficient, or we want to be. Our flesh makes us believe we have to be strong and take care of ourselves. But the truth is, it takes strength to admit weakness, it takes strength to humble ourselves.
But when we put our faith in Jesus and do whatever He says, miracles happen, Jesus is glorified and people believe.
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| Painted by Louaine Jordahl |
