Calvary Road Baptist Church
“MARY’S INSIGHT”
John 2.5
I direct your attention to Mary, chosen by God, to give birth to His eternal and only begotten Son as a virgin.[1] A direct descendant of King David who lived and died a thousand years earlier, Mary would provide for the Lord Jesus Christ the blood right to sit on the throne of His father David,[2] with the man to whom she was betrothed providing her son the legal right to sit on the throne of David.[3]
Though Mary’s marriage to Joseph was consummated following the birth of the Christ child, and she bore no less than six more children, life for her was not easy.[4] Remember, Joseph’s initial reaction to her pregnancy was to surmise that she was guilty of fornication; his mind being changed only because of the intervention of an angel.[5] Therefore, it is likely others in Nazareth who had not been convinced by an angel in a dream were persuaded that Mary, despite her reputable conduct, was nevertheless guilty of sex sins, to which our Lord’s enemies referred during His earthly ministry.[6]
Living under a cloud of suspicion through the death of her husband and raising her large family to adulthood could not have been easy. In the best of circumstances, life for those who were not wealthy was backbreaking. Then came the day that her eldest child, the now about thirty years of age son named by the angel,[7] left home to begin His earthly ministry.
John chapter one records that He journeyed to the Jordan River opposite the ancient city of Jericho, was baptized by His cousin John, went into the desert to be tempted of the devil for forty days, and then returned to John, where He was publicly identified on two occasions by John as the Lamb of God.[8] From there, He returned to Galilee with two sets of brothers and began gathering disciples.[9]
Recognize that the Lord Jesus Christ had roughly thirty years’ awareness of the shade under which His mother lived, with both neighbors and relatives thinking she was an immoral hypocrite posing as a godly woman. Not only had He seen and heard the slights, the expressions, the knowing looks, and the wry grins, but He also knew the thoughts and the hearts of those who wrongly judged His mother. So, when word came to Him of the marriage in Cana, that His mother was attending, and that He was invited, He took the disciples He had gathered to that point and went.
May I, as a mother’s firstborn son, bring a message to you about Mary? Four things:
First, MARY’S HONOR
This occasion would be the Lord Jesus Christ’s first opportunity recorded for us in Scripture for Him to honor her publicly. I do not doubt that He honored her as a dutiful son growing up, obeying the fifth of the commands given through Moses.[10] But this was the first time since His public ministry had begun, and word had spread of His increasing notoriety.
Every mother craves honor from her children, especially (in my opinion) from their firstborn son. And it is a sad day, indeed, when any mom’s first child, a son, gives no thought to honoring her and has no regard for humiliating her. Therefore, at least a part of the reason the Lord Jesus Christ making an appearance at the wedding feast in Cana was to honor His mother. A portion of His honoring of her was accomplished by attending the wedding feast, so one and all could see her son. But there was a portion of His honoring her that was not made immediately public but served to gratify her heart and soul concerning all that she had endured with silence and dignity in service to God.
Next, MARY’S OBSERVATION
It was during the wedding feast that Mary became aware of a significant social gaff when the supply of wine for the wedding feast ran dry. Wedding feasts in that culture and of that day often lasted a week, and the supply of food and drink was expected to be immense even for families that were not wealthy. Running out of wine would tarnish the memory of the wedding and reflect poorly on the couple who married.
How did Mary come to know of the short supply? There are several possibilities: First, there is the likelihood that the quarters where the widows attending the feast would sleep was near where the large vessels of wine were stored. Second, it is likely that Mary, owing to her status as a widow and her age as the mother of grown children, would have been one of those responsible for preparing and serving the food. Finally, it is even possible that the Lord Jesus Christ and His men arrived sometime after the marriage feast had begun and, when He asked His mother for wine to drink, she then discovered and told Him, “They have no wine.”
Third, MARY’S INTERVENTION
At this point, Mary, no doubt an experienced problem solver (what mother of seven would not be a skilled problem solver), fetched several young men in attendance and brought them with her to her Son. Notice that it was Mary’s expectation that He could and would solve the problem that led to her intervention. She knew Him better than anyone else, better than any human being. She had seen Him grow in her womb, and grow to manhood after His birth. She observed, even if His siblings had been blind to it, that He had never sinned, and was always tender and gentle with His beloved mother.
Therefore, she was not insulting Him by bringing the issue to His attention. She was not pushing Him by understanding that He was certainly capable of addressing the problem this family of friends or relatives faced. She was showing her expectation. She was demonstrating her trust, her confidence in Him.
Recognize, also, that He was in no way dishonoring or disrespecting her by His answer:
“Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come.”
Mary’s sinless son would not travel to Cana, honor His mother by His appearance, and then dishonor her with a sharp rebuke after she expressed confidence in Him. That is not what John’s Gospel records here.
The Savior is not rebuking His mother, His beloved mother, His previous mother. He is informing her. Though she trusts her son, and certainly after all these years of Bible study, consideration, reflection, and prayer has a good idea of His agenda as Israel’s Messiah; she would be the first to admit that she does not know her son’s timetable.
Thus, though Mary’s intervention is mistimed, it is not due to any lack of faith, or any attempt by a mother to coerce her son into premature action. She just did not know what His timetable was, and He had begun His public ministry after all. At which point, her son pointed out to her that His hour was not yet come.
Finally, MARY’S RECOMMENDATION
It was at this point that Mary, whose entire life has been a display of discretion and discernment, for the most part, makes a recommendation. However, before we consider her recommendation, let us rehearse for a moment her past reactions.
Mary was a young teenage virgin living in Nazareth. One day an angel, Gabriel by name, appeared to her and said,
“Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.”[11]
Then Mary sought verification:
“Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?”
Verification was provided by the angel, in the form of her impending pregnancy, though she was a virgin, and in the form of her aged cousin Elizabeth, already six months pregnant with a miracle baby. As soon as Mary realized that she was pregnant, she went to see Elizabeth.
Almost a year later, when the Christ child was delivered by Mary in Bethlehem, the birth was announced by angels to shepherds. They came to visit the Babe, and told of all that had been told them,
“But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.”[12]
Now advance twelve years, and a trip to Jerusalem for Passover. On their way back to Nazareth with the large group they were traveling with, Joseph and Mary noticed that their predictably obedient son, Jesus, was nowhere to be found. So they turned back to Jerusalem and found Him three days later in the Temple. But when questioned about His actions, the young Savior said,
“How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?”[13]
Luke then records their reactions, especially Mary’s, in Luke 2.51:
“And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them: but his mother kept all these sayings in her heart.”
Mary’s entire life had been, by God’s grace, one of thoughtfulness, discernment, wisdom, and discretion. Let us not think less of her now, as she approaches fifty years of age, as if she will suddenly become proud and petulant. Not this woman, by God’s grace. She has known since her youth her sinfulness and her need of the salvation that only God can provide her.[14]
Therefore, when confronted with the information she had not before possessed, and gathering her storehouse of wisdom and knowledge from walking with God for three decades as she served as the mother of the eternal Son of the living God, she arrived at a most insightful conclusion. Faced with a complicated situation, she wisely discerned the simple solution that served so well. She recommended to the men who were with her,
“Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.”
If you have any familiarity with this episode in our Savior’s earthly ministry, you know how it turned out. The Lord Jesus Christ worked His first miracle at the wedding feast in Cana, turning the water into wine and demonstrating His awesome power over nature. Imagine, turning H2O into C2H5OH. That is altering the elements contained on those water pots, an astonishing miracle.
Let me add that I am not persuaded the Lord turned the water into alcoholic wine, but into grape juice. This is shown in Isaiah 5.2; 63.3; Jeremiah 48.33; Lamentations 1.15, and Hosea 9.2, where the device that squeezes grape juice from grapes is termed a winepress, and that which is pressed from grapes is termed wine.
But that is not the point of this message. The point of this message is related to the simple solution to a complex problem. For thirty-plus years Mary had served God as the human mother of God’s divine Son. And for thirty years, she, though a sinner saved by grace, had grown in grace and the knowledge of the Lord, displaying from time to time remarkable reserve, wisdom, insight, and discernment.
However, it is her conclusion that I want to point out to you. It is her summation of the proper response to a problem she encountered in an attempt to help others. “Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.”
Do you see it, beloved? That is the answer to all of life’s complex and profound spiritual problems and dilemmas.
“Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.”
Are you concerned about your soul’s salvation?
“Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.”
And what did He say to do concerning your soul’s welfare?
“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”[15]
Are you a believer and don’t know what to do as your next move?
“Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.”
What did He tell Christians to do?
“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”[16]
If I may be of any help to you to more specifically apply these Bible truths to your life situation, please reach out to me.
E-mail me at Pastor@CalvaryRoadBaptist.Church
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[1] Isaiah 7.14
[2] Luke 3.23-38
[3] Matthew 1.1-16
[4] Matthew 13.55-56
[5] Matthew 1.18-25
[6] John 8.41
[7] Matthew 1.21
[8] Matthew 3.13-17; 4.1-11; John 1.29-36
[9] John 1.37-51
[10] Exodus 20.12
[11] Luke 1.30-31
[12] Luke 2.19
[13] Luke 2.29
[14] Luke 1.46-47
[15] Matthew 11.28
[16] Matthew 6.33
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Pastor@CalvaryRoadBaptist.Church