It is one of my favorite stories in the Bible – not because of the miracle – although, turning water into wine is pretty cool. It isn’t because it was the first miracle of Jesus Christ – although the first of most things is always memorable. It is my favorite because of the lesson intertwined within the story about prayer and His love for us.
The story comes from John, Chapter 2. There was a wedding in Cana, some 2000 years ago, and Jesus was on the guest list. Possibly they were friends of the family. Mary, the mother of Jesus, was at the wedding as well. In my lifetime I’ve been to many weddings, as a bridesmaid, as a friend, as a bride myself (twice), as the mother of the bride, and the list goes on. I know how it feels to want the best for the bride and groom – to want everything to turn out perfectly.
Like most weddings, something inevitably will happen which could potentially make the wedding less than perfect for the bride. In this story, the parents of the bride ran out of wine.
I wish we knew more of Mary’s wisdom. Realistically, she was Jesus’ mother and knew Him better than any other human being. I’d love to talk with her about being His mother and what He was like but we rarely get but mere glimpses of her wisdom.
So, the wedding party runs out of wine, and Mary goes to Jesus. John 2:3, “The mother of Jesus said to Him, ‘They have no wine.'”
How many times do we approach God with whines. “Why did this happen?” In our prayer time we bring our problems to God with questions has to why such should occur to us in the first place.
Or we present the problem to God with our best solutions. This is what I’m going through God so this is what you need to do.
There are times we go to God angry. What kind of a God are you that this should happen to me, or to my family, or to my friend.
And other times we come to God accusing Him because it is our punishment for some failure or sin which God is responding in a negative way.
But Mary brought the problem to Jesus simply, “They have no wine.”
She didn’t have to tell Him the consequences of having no wine, the implications of running out of wine, or the embarrassment for the wedding family.
There was no whining about the wine. Mary gave God the problem and followed up by instructing the servants, “Do whatever He tells you to do.”
Jesus responded to His mother because He loved her. It wasn’t the right time or place for Him to reveal His miracles; yet, He did it anyway. He responded to His mother because He wanted us to know, His love is genuine. His concern is real. The weight of every need on our hearts is valid to Him. And He will deliver an answer for us.
