Do Whatever He Tells You!
On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.”
“Dear woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My time has not yet come.”
His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”
(John 2:1-5)
In our verses for today Jesus brings honor to the institution of marriage–first by gracing it with His presence and second by performing His first miracle. Christ begins His miracles in an obscure little corner of the world, Cana in Galilee, at the celebration of a marriage. How desirable for Jesus to be present at this celebration!
Mary goes straight to Jesus, the source of all power and strength, when she discovers the problem of the empty wine glasses. It would do us all well to follow Mary’s example of humbly presenting our case to Jesus as a first, rather than last, resort. His response to His dear mother was that the fullness of time had not yet arrived. Jesus was in the center of God’s will and about His Father’s business in His Father’s time–always. He was not in the business of randomly performing miracles for miracles sake. There was purpose behind each miracle as well as purpose behind everything He said and everything He did.
Mary’s response is one of simple trust: “Do whatever he tells you.” She herself modeled this trust when told by the angel Gabriel that she would be the mother of the Messiah:
The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God.” “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it be to me as you have said.” (Luke 1:35-38)
-Oswald Chambers
“Do whatever he tells you” … modern day believers are in great need of hearing and applying these five words, are we not? Unfortunately, the god of tolerance coupled with gross Biblical illiteracy has blinded our eyes to the truth, leaving us ignorant of what we are even to be obedient to. We have bought into the relativism of our day. Statistics prove this out: there is very little difference between the behavior of those who claim to be Christians and the actions of the world. This should not be! We are to be different–cities on a hill that cannot be hidden, showing forth good fruit, pointing others to Jesus, bringing God much glory.
-F. F. Bruce
Take It to Heart
Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him. (John 14:21)
What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that–and shudder.” (James 2:14-19)
“Whenever there is a true faith, it must fix on Jesus Christ alone for salvation; that is its principal act. This same faith unites to Christ; and where there is union, there must be love; and where there is love, there must be obedience; and where there is obedience, there will be a reward of grace; and when the reward is acknowledged to be of grace, and not of merit, God will have all the glory in time and eternity.” (K. H. Von Bogatzky)