At this wedding there is Mary, Jesus, and the disciples of Jesus. There is no mention of Joseph. Joseph was the earthy father of Jesus and historians have taught that he passed away during those 18 years of history that are not included in the Bible.
We encounter Jesus when he is born, when he is 12, and then when he is 30. Jesus took over the family business of being a carpenter but his life was radically changing and he knew it. He experienced the heavenly father when he was baptized in the Jordan River. In that account the Father says of Jesus, "You are my Son, with whom I love and with you I am well pleased."
Jesus is tempted in the desert for a long time but is able to overcome because of the assurance that he received in being the son of God. After this account, Jesus spends time with His Heavenly Father and asks him to show him his disciples.
Jesus picks his disciples and a few days later we find Jesus, His disciples, and His mother all at a wedding feast. Up to this point Jesus had performed no miracles (besides being born). He told his newest disciple, Nathaniel, that "Very truly I tell you, you will see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man."
In other words Jesus was telling him that “You don’t just have to believe my words, what I
am saying here. I am going to perform signs that will back up the truth of what
I’m saying and prove that I am who I claim to be.”
And three days later they are at this wedding. Nathaniel must have been waiting to see if Jesus was truly the Messiah. Jesus himself must have been a little nervous. This is a side of Jesus we generally don't think about. But Jesus was 100% God and 100% human. His humanity was in the fact that he had emotions just like you and me.
I wonder if Mary was nervous approaching Jesus. After all, He is now the man in the house. Mary found out the wine was all gone. Which was a huge embarrassment in the First Century. What words should I say to my son?
And then she speaks! "They have no more wine."
That's it???!?? She knew that he would know exactly what to do. She didn't fear but knew that her baby boy was also the GREAT I AM. But was he ready?
His response seemed incredibly hesitant. "Woman, why do you involve me. My hour has not yet come."
What does he mean that his time or hour has not yet come? He was baptized, He has overcome temptation, and he has picked his disciples for ministry. It was time. And he knew it.
It doesn't say in the text but I assume that either through words or by how Mary acted it encouraged Jesus to perform his first miracle. She doesn't argue with her son but simply says to the servants, "Do whatever he tell you."
Mary might have prompted this miracle but I don't think so. Instead I think we don't give Mary enough credit for her encouragement of her son, Jesus. She knew he was ready to begin the ministry, that is why she asked him.
The story tells of how they bring Jesus between 120 to 180 gallons of water and he turns it into wine. It is noted that this wine was better than the original wine! *Sidebar* Jesus was not encouraging people getting drunk but provided enough wine for the entire feast which could last many days depending on what has determined**
There is many spiritual applications that we can take from this story. But the focus that I wanted to take was on encouraging you to know that you are ready. What have you been waiting to do? What have you said you wanted to start doing but haven't yet?
I have heard this phrase that I think is important to read here: "Yesterday is history, Tomorrow is a mystery, Today is a gift that is why it's called the present."
Live today to the fullest with the boldness and assurance that the God who changes water into wine also will give you whatever you need to accomplish whatever you need to accomplish on this day.
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