MAIN IDEA
When we obey Christ, He will deliver the blessings of God when all seems lost.

THROUGH A MOTHER’S CONCERN
Jesus’s family must have known the family of either the bride or groom, and Mary was there to help, along with Jesus and His disciples. God by His sovereign hand knew everything that was going to happen, and so He made sure that Jesus and His mother and His disciples and everyone else at the wedding was there. That wedding would forever be known as the wedding where the wine ran out. But more than that, the first miracle that Jesus performed was at a wedding, which, in the Bible is also a symbol of God’s love and God’s election of His people. In that wedding, they ran out of wine, the symbol of God’s blessing and abundance and joy that God desires for humanity. And in that wedding was Mary. Maybe her concern was just to save face—for the bride and groom and their families, and her own. But this is Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ, and so maybe she wanted them to know that God was still with them. And He was with them in Jesus Christ—and that there is no abundance, there is no blessing, there is no life without Him.

THROUGH A MOTHER’S INITIATIVE
Mary goes straight to Jesus. Because she knew that Jesus was their only hope. But Jesus says, “Woman, why do you involve me? My hour has not yet come” (verse 4). The “hour” is a reference to the cross where Jesus would experience the full wrath of God. For those of us who are saved, we will never have to experience it. But Jesus knew that hour was coming, and He didn’t want to go there (Mark 14:36). But then Jesus realized that that was why the Father had Him and His mother, and everyone else, at the wedding—so that by people seeing who He is, He would begin His journey to that “hour.” And so Jesus surrendered, as He always did. And He surrendered to meet the simple need of this bride and groom and their families, so that they would not have to deal with the shaming of insensitive people, but more than that, to begin His lonely journey to the cross. But even when Jesus brushed her off initially, Mary took the initiative by leading people to Christ and by leading people to obey Christ.

THROUGH A MOTHER’S WITNESS
Mary told the servants, “Do whatever He tells you.” And Jesus noticed that there were six large stone water jars that were normally used for ceremonial washing. And so not only did Jesus understand that the Father brought Him to that wedding to help this family and to begin His journey to the cross. Jesus also knew that the Father had sent Him there at that exact moment to show everyone what was missing in their religion. And what was missing was Him—Jesus Christ—and Him crucified, resurrected, and returning. Those jars represented religious rituals, and they meant absolutely nothing, except that Jesus was there. Not only that, those water jars would have meant nothing if the servants had not obeyed Jesus. On the surface, Jesus’s instruction to them made no sense at all. But they just obeyed. They obeyed the Word of Christ. They obeyed the Word of God. So then, Mary and the servants got to witness the fact that the Messiah, the Son of God had finally come, which meant that the kingdom of God had finally come in Him. This story is Mary’s testimony, and it has brought many to Christ. And it is our testimony too.

DISCUSSION QUESTION
In what ways have you witnessed a mother’s love? For believers: Are there time when your religion has felt empty? What can you do to fill that empty religion with Christ?