Water into Wine
John 2:3-6 At the wedding there was not enough wine, so Jesus' mother said to him, "They have no more wine." Jesus answered, "Dear woman, why are you telling me this? It is not yet time for me to begin my work." His mother said to the servants, "Do what he tells you."
“You can always tell when you’re in a developing country. It’s where the children obey their parents.” When I heard that a few years back, the sad truth of it struck me right between the eyes.
It seems that the more affluent we become, the less emphasis we place on teaching our children the importance of honouring their father and their mother, when in fact it’s one of the most important things we can ever teach them.
If a son doesn’t learn to honour his mother, if his father doesn’t invest the emotional energy to teach him that, he will never honour his wife when he grows up. That may sound a bit old-fashioned, but it’s true.
One of the things you may not have thought too much about, is that Jesus, even as an adult, honoured his mother. Let’s take a look. According to John’s Gospel, the first miracle that He performed, was to turn water into wine.
At the wedding there was not enough wine, so Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.” Jesus answered, “Dear woman, why are you telling me this? It is not yet time for me to begin my work.” His mother said to the servants, “Do what he tells you.” (John 2:3-6)
So despite His misgivings, in His heart, he listens to His mother and Mary prevails. In fact, so confident is she that her Son will honour her, that without even referring to Jesus again, she turns to the servants and tells them to do as He says. So Jesus takes some water – rather a lot of it actually, about 180 gallons or over 800 litres – and zap, He turns the water into wine. That’s despite the fact that the wedding guests had, we’re told, already had more than enough to drink.
So, question: what sort of a Saviour turns water into wine at a wedding where people really don’t need any more to drink? Answer: the sort that obeys His mother, even at age thirty.
In a world where there’s less and less respect for our elders, there’s a powerful lesson in that. A lesson that we need to teach our children and our grandchildren.
Honour your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
That’s God’s Word. Fresh … for you … today.
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