5. His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” 6. Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons. 7. Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim. 8. Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet. They did so, 9. and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside 10. and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.” 11. What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.
Jesus was informed by Mary that the hosts were running out of wine at the wedding of Cana. Jesus determined it was the will of His Father to grant Mary’s request. I don’t believe Mary had a clue what Jesus was going to do. She simply turned to the servants and instructed them, "Whatever He tells you, do it." By her words, it seems that she leaves her request in His hands to deal with as He sees fit. He may not tell the servants to do anything. Yet, if He does tell them to do something - anything - they should obey, for then it is His good pleasure and done in His good time.
A devoutly Jewish wedding ceremony might have required ceremonial cleansing. To facilitate these washings, a lot of water was kept on hand. Nearby were six large stone water jars. Each jar has a capacity of between 20 and 30 gallons of water, a total of around 150 gallons. Jesus instructed the servants to fill each of the six water jars to the brim. Then He told them to draw out some of the water from one of the jars and to serve it to the master of the feast. Here is where Mary's words to the servants are put to the test.
Who would ever think of someone drinking this "water" used for ceremonial cleansing? You don't drink water where folks wash hands. In absolute unbelief they must have thought, "I know Mary said to do whatever Jesus said, but surely He can't be serious! We are to serve this water to the head steward. When he finds out it is only water and not wine, he'll have our jobs. And if he finds out where this water came from, we're really in big trouble."
Jesus does not wave his arms over the water commanding the water to become wine. It appears that He never even touched the water or the jars. Jesus does not even tell them that the water has become wine. Jesus was instructing them to serve water, probably ceremonial cleansing water, to the head steward! The head steward drinks and announces that this is the best wine he has ever tasted. The bridegroom has saved the very best until last.
Those today who are overly eager to see God perform miracles (some almost insist upon them) should consider this fact carefully. Jesus is not as eager to perform miracles as others want Him to do. We cannot interpret this as teaching God will make sure Christians will not be inconvenience or embarrassed, but we can tell anything to the Lord and let our requests be known then do whatever He says. Obey Him. This is not to work out a deal to get our will accomplished, but it teaches us two important lessons for all of life. Trust Him and His wisdom and do whatever He tells us. The results are His. Certainly, Mary’s faith in Jesus would not have changed if her request was unanswered. He was still the Son of God.
Application: Pray - let your request be know unto him and give thanks in your praying
Prayer: Thank You God that I can tell you anything that you want me to let my requests be known. As I do that, Lord, build in my strong obedience, trust and wisdom in all that is before me.
Dale
