[Springfield Reformer]

So, if I understand what you posted correctly, what Jesus said to her was essentially.....

*Woman. What are you up to?*

Would that be a fair assessment of the context and intent?

Well, it's closer than "how can I help you?"  But I'm not sure it captures the fact that he is telling her there's a gap between what she thinks is important and what He thinks is important.  But even the Louw-Nida (LN) suggested rendering doesn't make that point explicitly, though I think it does imply it:

"for what reason are you saying or doing this to me?"

See how it positions Mary to have to justify her request.  Jesus had good reason to not go full public with His ministry at that time, and He wasn't going to do something contrary to His planned mission. That I suspect is why He did it in such a way that only the servant who filled the jars with water even knew a miracle had occurred.  

I can imagine a subplot here, BTW, that I never thought of before.  What would it have been like to be the servant doing the pouring for the guests?  You know you just put water in there, and now you walk up to an important guest and start pouring.  You're probably thinking, I'm going to get in real trouble once they see I'm giving them water.  And then wine comes out!  Your eyes get big, and you can hardly contain your excitement as you start to pour for the other guests.  And then the compliments start coming.  But only you, the servant, and Mary and Jesus, have any idea there was a near catastrophe, and a miracle.  Interesting to think about.  It tells me we can petition the Lord for things that are of interest to us, and He will hear us, but He will not go off mission either.  He is brilliant in all that he does, and can handle the big picture without losing track of the little things that are important only to us.  Yet only as His will permits.

Peace,

SR

[metmom]

I love to think through some of the accounts in Scripture that we so take for granted.

When you stop and visualize the situation and what must have been going on, it can really come alive.

I did that once with the clearing of the Temple, where Jesus got there and saw what was going on and then left and went out and made a whip of cords and came back.

I can see the disciples now, in a huddle, kind of agape at the look on Jesus’ face. And then He strides away.

Did they follow Him or just wait? Did they see Him making the whip and whisper to each other, *Look at that. What’s He doing? He’s making a WHIP!!!! Hoo boy... What next? This could be good.*

And then watching as He enters the Temple.

Cause I’m pretty sure of one thing, it wasn’t gentle. I’m sure to be heard over all the commotion, He had to raise His voice some, throwing tables around, chasing out people and animals as they objected, USING the whip.

And yet, in all that, He did not sin.

Amazing.......

[af_vet_1981]

I can imagine a subplot here, BTW, that I never thought of before. What would it have been like to be the servant doing the pouring for the guests? You know you just put water in there, and now you walk up to an important guest and start pouring. You're probably thinking, I'm going to get in real trouble once they see I'm giving them water. And then wine comes out! Your eyes get big, and you can hardly contain your excitement as you start to pour for the other guests. And then the compliments start coming. But only you, the servant, and Mary and Jesus, have any idea there was a near catastrophe, and a miracle.

Except when one reads the text.
1. There were servants (attendants or waiters) as in plural, not one servant.
2. Jesus gave multiple instructions to the servants.
3. The servants took the jars of water to the wedding director and he publicly pronounced that the wine was excellent.
4. The disciples also knew Jesus had performed the miracle, manifested his glory, and they believed on him.
5. Then Jesus, Mary, his brethren, and his disciples went to Kfar Nahum to stay for a while. There are extensive archeological ruins of a synagogue, likely built on top of an earlier synagogue where Jesus taught on Shabbat.

Of course, the secret things are whose wedding it was, and in what capacity Mary and Jesus were there.