He seemed to resist becoming involved at first, so why did He change His mind?
John 2:1 - 11
YLT - 1 And the third day a marriage happened in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 2 And also Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage.
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Mary told Jesus that the hosts of the wedding feast had run out of wine, undoubtedly feeling sympathetic to the hosts' predicament. To me, the clear implication of her mentioning the situation to Jesus was that she expected Him to do something about it. (This was also shown by the fact that, even after Jesus had told Mary that His hour had not yet come, she still directed the servants to do whatever Jesus told them to do, without consulting Him further.) Under the circumstances of the situation, where Jesus had not yet given public evidence of supernatural powers or abilities, He owed as much of a duty of obedience to His earthly mother as to His heavenly Father. However, in telling her, "My hour has not yet come," He was wanting her to understand that His dealing with the situation would start an irrevocable path that would ultimately lead to the cross, from which there would be no turning back, and that would mark the beginning of a change in their relationship. (That was why, later, once His public ministry had begun, He put Mary on an equal footing with anyone who sought to do the will of His Father (Matthew 12:46-50).)
John 2 (The wedding in Cana) begins with these words: "On the third day." What does that mean, on the third day of what? Chapters in the bible can confuse the study. You have to go back to chapter one to acquaint yourself with "day one and two." In the beginning of this narrative John the Baptist was questioned by priests and Levites sent from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?" (Jn 1:19) He told them who he was, and they took issue with him baptizing since he was "neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet." (The Pharisees are looking for the Christ). (John 1:29) The next day (Day 1) he (John) saw Jesus coming toward him, and said "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!..." John explains that Jesus is the reason he was "baptizing with water, that He (Jesus) might be revealed to Israel"(vs 31).He tells how God commissioned him to bear witness that Jesus is the Son of God. Again the next day ("Again" means still Day 1) John was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked at Jesus as He walked and said, "Behold the Lamb of God." (John 1:35). The two disciples left John and followed Jesus. (Jesus is being revealed to the world). The next day (Day 2) He purposed to go into Galilee, and He found Phillip and Jesus said to him, "Follow Me." (Jn 1:43) He's calling disciples, putting His team together, getting ready for ministry. We were just told He had a "purpose" for going to Galilee. But He wasn't going alone. If you begin reading the story about the wedding in Cana without the benefit of the preceding scriptures, you might get the impression that He happened upon a wedding where He had to decide whether to "get involved" with their dilemma. As we just read, that wasn't the state of it. To recap: On day one Jesus' identity is told to the world. John says He's the Christ. On day two He calls His first disciples in preparation for the trip to Cana. Then day three. On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there; and both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding (Jn 2:1,2). They ran out of wine and He did His first miracle. His mother knew why He came. None of the aforementioned of Him being introduced to the world by John the Baptist as Christ the Son of God, was unknown to her. She knew He had, until now, kept His identity classified. When He answered Mary, 'My hour has not yet come,' He meant something different than how it sounds. He doesn't mean the time hasn't come to begin His ministry. He means He has to take it slow. He's referring to how the world is going to react to Him, and how when "His hour" does come, it'll be what we know it turned out to be. His mother knew what He meant. He wasn't threatening not to help. It's the reason He got His crew together and went there. He was ready to share Himself with His creation and creatures.
Jesus is love but that love never overides wisdom. The wisdom and knowledge in the word of God was clothed in flesh. Jesus was the word made flesh. Read John chapter one to confirm. Love prevailed although Jesus said his time had not yet come to Mary. Love motivated him to change his mind. Our Heavenly Father can change his mind just like us. Are we not made in his image? Our Father is a creator. So when we create, we may start out with a plan, revise it or just wing it as we go. Our Heavenly Father chooses to do what's best for us but a plan can have variance within it and still obtain the same end goal. Our God is a master chess player. He moves his servants from place to place and uses the vessels that he knows has the will to serve. All that matters is (that all things work together for good.) Romans 8:28 John the baptise said it this way. I must decrease so that Jesus may increase. John 3:30 Sometimes we have to bend in the wind so that we are not broken to peices by our self will, stubbornness or pride. Just some spiritual observations.
I think Jesus cares about our being embarrassed. I really do. This was a big day for Jesus. He was going to give us the first of 7 signs, I believe there is, in the book of John, about His mission and His identity. I love what my favorite Bible teacher, Dr. Warren Wiersbe, says about this joyous event. “Since Jewish wedding feasts lasted a week, it was necessary for the groom to have adequate provisions. For one thing, it would be embarrassing to run out of either food or wine, and a family guilty of such gaucherie [gau·che·rie [ˌɡōSHəˈrē] NOUN awkward, embarrassing, or unsophisticated ways] could actually be fined! So, to run out of wine could be costly both financially and socially. “But there is certainly more to this miracle than simply meeting a human need and saving a family from social embarrassment.” —Wiersbe I will let the other teachers on this website, Tim Maas, Danny Hickman, and Jay Saunders supply the answers about the meaning of this miracle. Be sure to read their answers, too. I love how this looming, possible embarrassment is dealt with by Jesus in the Chosen, Season 1. In this episode, Jesus’s disciple, Thomas, who was in charge of the wine not running out, attempted to "fix it," finding himself failing, and how Jesus dealt with it and him. It is exciting, to say the least. Watch it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vL_0N-dxR8&t=230s
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