I always find Mary’s response to the supply of wine puzzling. Why is it her business to make sure the problem is taken care of? We find no evidence that she has witnessed any miracle by Jesus prior to this event, although it certainly seems as though she must have. But while puzzled at Mary’s response, we also learn something from her request of Jesus; she just tells Him the problem. She offers no suggestion as to how to solve it. How often do we come to Jesus that openly, telling Him our problem without offering a suggestion as to how it should be solved and sometimes even demanding that it be solved a certain way. Is it any wonder we think that Jesus doesn’t answer our prayer when we have left Him no room to answer it as it may need to be answered?
Just a little historical and theological info here. The pots were stone pots, the type that could be kept ceremonially clean, that is why they are called “those used for ceremonial washing”. They have special water in them that is not to be used for anything other than holy cleansing. And while they appear to have been empty which makes me wonder why, they were most likely filled upon Jesus’ request with water suitable for cleansing as would be the custom with such vessels.
As we look at the first chapter of John being a thesis of John’s belief that Jesus is God, it is understandable that John would now describe a miracle right off the bat to prove his point. I hear John saying, “Only God could do something like turn water into wine so you must believe that Jesus is the very presence of God in the flesh.” And immediately after this retelling of the account at Cana, John describes an encounter with the people in the temple over Jesus’ authority there.
Chapter three contains the verse that may be the most known verse in the bible. John 3:16. Nicodemus, a Pharisee comes to Jesus in the darkness, the protection, of the night. I find that telling; not only that Nicodemus is scared to be seen with Jesus, but that Jesus uses this very situation to teach the truth about who He is and Why He came. The Greek meaning of Born again, is “Born from Above”, which is another way of saying Born of the Spirit. As He teaches Nicodemus, Jesus highlights how we tend to trust more in the things we can see, touch and feel (remember the people asking for a sign as proof of Jesus’ authority) rather than in the things of God. And since Jesus comes from God, His teaching comes from God as well, and we can only understand and accept it if we are born of God. Remember John 1:12-13.
Jesus gets very much to the point that we should all listen too. If we are unwilling to accept the things that Jesus teaches about this world, a world which make some sense to us, how are we going to accept the things which are of a realm we have never experienced?
What do you learn from Jesus in this passage? Have you ever connected the fact that Nicodemus comes to Jesus in the darkness and that Jesus teaches about evil being done in the darkness and the truth coming out in the light?
