John 2:1-5 Whatever He says to you, do it

On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there.  Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding.  And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, "They have no wine."  Jesus said to her, "Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me?  My hour has not yet come."  His mother said to the servants, "Whatever He says to you, do it."

On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee.  Chapter One featured three days in the ministry of John the Baptist in which the Messiah was revealed to Israel.  Chapter Two, however, is no longer focused on the Baptist, but is now centered on the life of Christ.  So the numbering of days has also been re-set.  The third day might best be measured by counting the first day as the first day of Jesus' ministry; that day when Jesus was introduced by John the Baptist as "the Lamb of God."  This would have also been the first day that Jesus began to draw His disciples, starting with Andrew and John.  Andrew would have then brought Simon to Jesus, either that same evening, or early the next morning.  This timing is based on the assumption that Peter was fishing near the mouth of the Jordan, on the southern shores of the lake.

The second day in this scenario would include the calling of Philip and Nathanael.  Now either these two had also traveled to the southern shores, or else Jesus would have needed to make the day's journey by land or by boat to the north end of the lake, which was home to all of the first disciples.  (The trek north to Bethsaida is the necessary route if Nathanael had been seen by Jesus while sitting under his own fig tree.)

And the mother of Jesus was there.  The fact that Mary was already there in Cana is important to fully understand the events of the third day.  Cana was one of the nearest towns to her hometown of Nazareth.  As can be surmised from the verses which follow, one of the members of the wedding party was likely either related to Mary, or had close ties to the family.  For this reason Mary had probably arrived at the wedding early in order to assist with the preparations.

Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding.  Here is perhaps the strongest evidence that the wedding involved close relatives.  Jesus had only just begun His ministry.  And we shall learn from John's narrative that no miracles had been performed by Him prior to the time of this wedding.  Therefore no fame or reputation had yet been associated with Jesus of Nazareth.  So the fact that Jesus' disciples were also invited provides further support that either the bride or the bridegroom of this wedding was closely related to Mary.  The inclusion of the disciples also adds credence to the theory that the Apostle John was himself a cousin of Jesus.

(See http://dailyreadercommentary.blogspot.com/2014/10/john-115-he-who-comes-after-me-is.html)

And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, "They have no wine."  The fact that Mary was attentive to the needs of the guests is one more indication that she had taken on some responsibility for the wedding arrangements.  The earlier mention of the third day helps set the stage for Jesus' response.  If Jesus had indeed traveled to Bethsaida, He would have needed to start out for Cana the evening of the second day, because Cana was twenty miles to the west of Bethsaida.  Jesus would have arrived at Cana quite late on that third day.  Alternatively, if He had traveled the western shore, avoiding the stop at Bethsaida, it would still have been difficult for Jesus and His disciples to arrive in Cana before late afternoon.






Marriage in Cana - Jacopo Tintoretto



Knowing the time and geography helps us to understand why Jesus did not notice the shortage of wine on His own.  The wine had already run low prior to His arrival at the wedding.  Whereas Mary was there already.

Jesus said to her, "Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come."  The sinless perfection of Jesus' obedience to the will of the Father should impart to us an appropriate sense of awe.  Jesus not only said and did those things which pleased the Father, but He also carefully observed the Father's will as to when the Son was to speak and to act.  We often only seek to know the Lord's will as to whether a thing is good or bad, taking entirely into our own hands the timing of our actions: when to work, when to rest, when to study, when to marry, when to retire, etc.

Even though Jesus had the ability to instruct Jerusalem's experts in religion at the age of twelve, the Son of God quietly submitted to the will of His mother and Joseph until the time of His official ministry as the Christ.  From Jesus' response, it would seem that He had not yet informed Mary of the public recognition of His Messianic ministry, which had already occurred at Bethabara two days earlier.  But the Spirit must have informed her that His hour had indeed come.  Mothers' intuition?  Yes; perhaps something so important could not go unnoticed in the midst of this - the most special of all earthly relationships.  But during the very act of their discussion, that hour had come; the hour when miracles and wonders would attest to the deity and authority of Christ.

His mother said to the servants, "Whatever He says to you, do it."  Now, in this moment, Mary became certain beyond all doubt that the time had come for her Son to take on His pre-ordained role as the Christ, the redeeming King of Israel.  This was not her decision, but was instead the manifestation of her firm conviction that Jesus' ministry had begun.  The servants were asked to perform whatever instruction might be given them, no matter how strange or irrelevant it might seem.  The expected and reasonable task would have been to go and buy, or borrow, more wine.  But instead they were asked to do something completely illogical.

How important it is to obey the One who has the plan and the power to execute His plan.  Yet, how often we try to out-reason the God who alone is wise.  May we humbly follow the advice given by Mary to the servants at the wedding in Cana; "Whatever He says to you, do it."