Posted on 09/17/2022 5:35:17 PM PDT by metmom
“When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to Him, ‘They have no wine.’ And Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, what does that have to do with us? My hour has not yet come.’ His mother said to the servants, ‘Whatever He says to you, do it’” (John 2:3–5).
Returning to the wedding at Cana we come across a major crisis—the wine ran out because the supply was insufficient. This potential embarrassment for the couple and their families could have stigmatized them for the rest of their lives. Mary was apparently helping to oversee the catering of the celebration and became aware of this serious problem. She anxiously said to Jesus, “They have no wine.”
Jesus’ abrupt reply, “Woman, what does that have to do with us?” signaled a major change in their relationship. It was an idiomatic expression that asks rhetorically what the two parties in question have in common, and has the effect of distancing them. By calling Mary “Woman” (a polite, but not intimate, form of address) instead of “Mother,” Jesus politely but firmly informed her that their relationship was no longer to be what it had been while He was growing up. His public ministry had begun, and earthly relationships would not direct His actions. Mary was to relate to Him no longer as her son but as her Messiah, the Son of God, her Savior.
Undeterred by the mild rebuke, and aware that He was not saying no to the request, Mary said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.” Mary shows us how we should respond to the Lord.
Ask Yourself
Is your relationship with Jesus such that you can receive His rebuke without taking offense or crawling into a corner? Can you respond to His truth—even a hard truth—by adjusting your life to His right way of thinking and then continuing to serve Him as faithfully as before?
From Daily Readings from the Life of Christ, Vol. 1, John MacArthur. Copyright © 2008. Used by permission of Moody Publishers, Chicago, IL 60610, www.moodypublishers.com.
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Studying God’s Word ping
This passage has told me as much as any other. So powerful.
Oh?
I do NOT like it when words get added into Scripture!
Catholics claim Mary to be sinless; therefore she did not NEED a 'savior'.
Honestly, I think there was a lot lost in translation.
I always suspected that the wedding was within Jesus’ family. That would be why Mary even mentioned it to Jesus.
And I doubt she really had any idea of what Jesus was going to do to remedy it, aside from going out and buying more wine.
Jesus first miracle.
.
Interesting exchange but still
Confusing.
Thanks so much, Metmom!
Jesus’ abrupt reply, “Woman, what does that have to do with us?” signaled a major change in their relationship. It was an idiomatic expression that asks rhetorically what the two parties in question have in common, and has the effect of distancing them. By calling Mary “Woman” (a polite, but not intimate, form of address) instead of “Mother,” Jesus politely but firmly informed her that their relationship was no longer to be what it had been while He was growing up. His public ministry had begun, and earthly relationships would not direct His actions. Mary was to relate to Him no longer as her son but as her Messiah, the Son of God, her Savior.
Undeterred by the mild rebuke, and aware that He was not saying no to the request, Mary said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.” Mary shows us how we should respond to the Lord.
Not interested in starting a debate, but it should be respectfully pointed out there there is a huge amount of speculation and embellishment here on Dr. McArthur's part, almost none of which is supported by Scripture itself.
And I doubt she really had any idea of what Jesus was going to do to remedy it, aside from going out and buying more wine.
I would respectfully disagree. In addition to what was told about him to her in the angel's announcement to her, she was his mother and had lived with him for 30 years. She would have been exceptionally clueless to not know at least something of what he was capable of. Her open-ended command to the servants to "Do whatever he tells you" is an indication of this.
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That is entirely possible.
I think that would be accurate to say since the inspired accounts we have don’t say one way or the other.
While no doubt she did understand He was the Messiah, I doubt that she necessarily would have had any reason to anticipate His actions in resolving the situation as there really was no precedent for it.
There’s no indication in Scripture that miracles were being regularly done at that point. This was the very beginning of His ministry, which is why I think she was expecting a more normal way of resolving the situation, like going out and buying the wine.
Everyone has an opinion on motives and expectations of everyone involved in this incident that just cannot be supported by Scripture, but rather are usually used to support one’s particular theology.
This has to be one of the most speculated over passages of Scripture going.
Yup.
We know WHAT happened, but not much else besides that.
There’s no indication in Scripture that miracles were being regularly done at that point. This was the very beginning of His ministry, which is why I think she was expecting a more normal way of resolving the situation, like going out and buying the wine.
I agree that she had probably had no insight of how he would exactly resolve this particular situation, but it seems that she had an inkling that he would resolve it in an unconventional manner. Thus her open-ended command to the servants to “do whatever he tells you” rather than something like, “Jesus, please be a dear and run down to the corner and buy about 180 gallons of the best wine they have.”— which probably, under the circumstances, was not an option anyway. 🙂
Everyone has an opinion on motives and expectations of everyone involved in this incident that just cannot be supported by Scripture, but rather are usually used to support one’s particular theology. This has to be one of the most speculated over passages of Scripture going.
Agreed. Like most things we see in John’s Gospel, it is especially rich and multi-faceted.
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