JEWELS From The GOSPEL of JOHN - WISDOM from MARY - JOHN 2:3-5

The following is a series of short exhortations, brief commentary, and writings to convey thoughtful meditation on God's Word. I have chosen the Gospel of John as the subject. I pray that these will be a blessing and an edification for the saints.

JOHN 2:1-5

1 And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there: 2 And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage. 3 And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine. 4 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come. 5 His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.


In the last post, we saw the Messiah, the LORD Jesus invited, along with His disciples, to a marriage celebration. We are still there at Cana, and we see in vs. 3 that the party has run out of wine. In the midst of this crisis, Mary approached the one Person she knew that could help.

Life has a way of blind-siding us too often; it's during such times that we can learn quite a lot about ourselves. When crisis pounces on us, what is our initial response? Where do we turn for help? A bank? A doctor or lawyer? A counselor of some kind?

PSALM 18:6
6 In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears.

PSALM 107:1-6
O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. 2 Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy; 3 And gathered them out of the lands, from the east, and from the west, from the north, and from the south. 4 They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way; they found no city to dwell in. 5 Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them. 6 Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses.

Of course running out of wine at a wedding cannot even remotely be compared to the kinds of distresses that strike us with dizzying and dismaying effect - but the principle is the same. When such things occur, CALL UPON THE LORD!
This is precisely what Mary does; she approaches her Son, whose Father is Almighty God, Who Himself is God the Son - the Word Incarnate, and she tells Him of the need. Ever try to tell GOD your need? As if HE doesn't know. So why pray?
Because the LORD is into relationships, and He wants you to witness how the Deliverer delivers you in times of your distress.

PSALM 4:1

Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness: thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress; have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer.

There are some that try to say that His response to her was less than completely respectful, calling her "Woman" and "what have I to do with thee . . . " But the tone in the Greek clearly reveals that He refers to her with a title of honor, and simply and gently reminded her that the time of His ministry hadn't fully arrived.

Her response? She turns to some servants who attended the needs of the wedding and instructs them: "Whatever He tells you to do, do it!"

Though gently rebuffed, Mary persists and instructs the servants in a bit of wisdom. Her persistence reminds me of the Syrophenician woman that had a daughter plagued by demons...

MATTHEW 15:22-28
22 And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil. 23 But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us. 24 But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 25 Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. 26 But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs. 27 And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table. 28 Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.

A solid argument can be made that much of God's plan for our lives involves timing: specifically His timing, which is flawlessly impeccable. Consider God's timing in the revolving of galaxies, stars, and planets; in the changing of the seasons and in the rhythms of our own biological systems. Consider His timing when it comes to His revelation and fulfillment of biblical prophecy as well as His revelation of the Gospel in all of our personal lives. Then consider God's timing where answers to our prayers are concerned.

Or the prayers of Lazarus's sisters Martha and Mary. They sent a note to the LORD: "He whom You love is sick." And that's all they feel they needed to write. Just that, nothing more. They had such confidence in the LORD Jesus, they knew nothing other was needed. Of course He would come and heal the one that He loves!

But He intentionally waited... and waited... and waited until finally, Lazarus died - much to the disappointment of his sisters. Consider how their hopes were dashed, their understanding bewildered, their misunderstanding of their LORD's conduct - doesn't He care about us? Why didn't He answer our prayers??

JOHN 11:21

Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.

JOHN 11:32

Then when Mary was come where Jesus was, and saw him, she fell down at his feet, saying unto him, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.

Yet the LORD stated that He was glad that He was not there 'in time' for the sole purpose that the glory of GOD would be more greatly magnified (JOHN 11:4,40), and through the disappointment of Mary, Martha and even Lazarus himself while he yet lived - HE was able to restore their hope and faith by restoring Lazarus, not from illness, but from death itself - and that, after four days!

The LORD Jesus was careful about following the timing for His life and ministry in accordance with the Father's will. We as Christians should highly esteem the truth in this matter: God's timing is everything! This is why I often pray that the LORD will give me a divine sense of punctuality, that I walk in step with Him; not lagging behind or running ahead - or feel frustrated when His timing doesn't line up with my own! Such is a place of rest, free of self-imposed strife and tensions, where we can acknowledge His rest for us and understand that . . . 

ECCLESIASTES 3:11
11 He hath made every thing beautiful in His time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end. Consider the entire chapter here in Ecclesiastes.

When our fellow saints come to us with problems, questions and situations we do well to consult the Scriptures with them and review all of the possible answers found therein; and then we should direct them just as Mary had those servants:

What ever He tells you to do, do it! We must encourage our fellow saints to seek the LORD, because while our counsel may indeed be biblical, there may be a specific course of action within that biblical spectrum that the LORD would have them follow. As saints we know that His sheep hear His voice (JOHN 10:16, 27) and follow Him as the faithful Shepherd that He is.

Others will offer counsel for the inquiring saint: well meaning pastors and other Christians, counselors who hold degrees in Psychology, those who esteem philosophical wisdom - all sources both good (supposedly so) and bad will willingly offer their 'two cents'.

But we acquire no better counsel than from the "Wonderful" Who is the Word; from the "Counselor" that is Christ!

ISAIAH 9:6-7

6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.

The one that we've entrusted our lives to is the LORD, and since we belong to Him Who is our personal Manager, our problems are His 'problems' (not that He has any!). He Who governs your life will one day govern Israel as her King; in fact, He will govern the entire world - and as He now governs all of creation! I think He is quite capable, and knows what He's doing, don't you?

May we ever and always seek the LORD for His will, for His guidance and His empowerment to follow Him throughout our lives where ever we may find ourselves - either at a wedding celebration or a wilderness experience.

Next time we shall continue at the Wedding of Cana and witness the LORD's very first miracle, the changing of water into wine; the title for this upcoming post will be "Vessels of Glory" based on JOHN 2:6-11. Until then, the LORD bless and keep you in His grace and peace!