The next major story that mentions Mary, the mother of Jesus, was at a wedding in Cana. The ultimate offense for the family of those being married was that the wine ran out before the end of the celebration. It is uncertain about the reason, but Mary felt responsible for the shortage. She may have been related to the bride or groom and had been given the responsibility of ordering the refreshments. On the third day of the wedding, there was no more wine.
Mary turned to Jesus, expecting him to rectify the situation. “Jesus said to her, “[Dear] woman, what is that to you and to Me? My time [to act and to be revealed] has not yet come.” John 2:4 (AMP). His response may seem harsh to us in 2025, yet in his time, he was actually speaking very respectfully to his mother. He was acknowledging that he heard her request, but that his Heavenly Father hadn’t told him to act yet.
What is amazing is that Mary believed in Jesus’ abilities and trusted that he would act! Her response, “His mother said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.” John 2:5 (AMP) Oh that we today had even just a portion of Mary’s faith in Jesus! She had the years of watching Jesus grow up – physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. How many of us have had years allotted to us to grow up – physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually, and yet we are still so limited in our trust and expressed faith in God?
God honored her faith and trust and God allowed Jesus to have the miracle of turning the water into wine at the wedding in Cana as Jesus’ first miracle. Jesus asked the servants to fill the six stone waterpots which were close by with water. Each of these waterpots would hold between 20 and 30 gallons. Mary had already told the servants to do whatever Jesus told them to do, so they filled the waterpots with water. Usually those waterpots would have been used for ceremonial purification cleansing, but God had a different purpose for them for this miracle.
After the waterpots were all filled to the brim, Jesus asked the servants to draw some out and take it to the headwaiter of the banquet. When the headwaiter tasted it, not being told about how it had been procured, declared that it was the best wine. He was amazed because the traditional pattern would have been to serve the best wine at the beginning of the wedding celebration, then serve lesser wines as those attending became intoxicated and less able to distinguish good wine. It may also be understood that at the beginning of the wedding the drink served would have been sweet grape juice, but then as days passed, the grape juice would become fermented because they did not have refrigeration as we experience today. Therefore, the headwaiter would have been surprised that the drink offered to him was sweet grape juice with no alcoholic aftertaste and therefore more desirable.
What can I learn from Mary’s explicit trust that Jesus would honor her request to provide wine for the people at the wedding? There may be times in my life when situations occur and I choose to trust God, even though the situation isn’t specifically a spiritual situation. I can still ask God to supply the needs and know that He hears and cares. His answer may be to fulfill my request, delay the answer to build my trust in him, or decline to answer my request the way I expect. Regardless of the response to my request, I can have full confidence that He hears my request and will answer according to what is best when looking at the bigger picture – that of eternal consequences.
Heavenly Father, thank you for always answering my requests, even when the answers don’t match up to my understanding. Help me to trust you even more, day by day and to remember how you have taken care of my needs in the past to build my trust in today’s needs.
Published on MyBibleRoom.com 6/6/25, 5:40pm