Obedient Son

Lesson #24

Our lesson today will cover the text from John 2:3 - 5 and begin to understand what is going on behind the comment Jesus made. Jesus, his disciples and his mother, Mary, are at a wedding in Cana when it becomes known that the supply of wine was not sufficient to meet demands of the guest. It is possible that this wedding was for a relative of the family, which is what may have prompted Mary to inform Jesus about the need of more wine. It is only conjecture as to what Mary might have been thinking that prompted her to ask. She probably had been a witness to the events of the past few days and suspected that Jesus was entering a new period of life. She may have thought of the supernatural events surrounding his birth and the prophetic words of the angle to her and also to Simeon and Anna in the temple at Jesus’ dedication. But let’s not leave God out of the picture. I suspect that on God’s calendar this wedding at this time was the event he was going use to draw attention to Jesus as a unique kind of person.

When Mary said to Jesus, “They have no wine left.” that seemed to turn on a switch inside Jesus that clearly brought to mind the suffering he would have to endure to complete the work his Father sent him to do. Out of anguish over this resting on his shoulders Jesus replied, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come” (v 4). Mary makes no comment about the harshness of his response but says to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you” (v 5). She just gave the responsibility to Jesus to complete what was lacking on the part of the bridegroom. She expected Jesus to somehow provide and that it would involve the servants. Wouldn't you like to know what both Mary and Jesus were thinking at this time?

Jesus, the son of Mary, has been given the responsibility by her to provide enough wine to satisfy the wedding guest. Jesus, the son of God, has been given the responsibility by his Father to become the perfect sacrifice to purchase the salvation of those who are to be saved. I believe that both Mary and Jesus knew that this was the beginning of that work. To begin this visible work here on earth, Jesus must be obedient to Mary. Obedience to the Father had already begun by Jesus coming to earth through his virgin birth. The Father testified to this obedience when John baptized Jesus by saying, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17 ESV).

Jesus has a mother here on earth and a Father in heaven. The mother identifies Jesus with an earthly family. The Father in heaven identifies Jesus with a spiritual family. This gives us the man/God identify of Jesus. When Jesus responded to Mary as “Woman” and not “Mother” he was beginning to push back from his physical family to establish the needed relationship, in the minds of people, with his heavenly family. Later Jesus will push back even harder.

Prayer

Father, I find such richness in the Bible when one stops and takes time to research and think. It stimulates my faith to learn about Him who after creating a universe was willing to enter into it as a human and become the sacrifice required to redeem a people for you to love and share the kindness of your grace with forever. The Bible is truly a living book with such depth that no one is able to grasp all of it. Thank you for setting this book apart from all others and protecting it against all evil powers.