Friday, September 20 2019; Do Whatever He Tells You

DO WHATEVER HE TELLS YOU

Woman, why do you involve me?’ Jesus replied. ‘My hour has not yet come.’ His mother said to the servants, ‘Do whatever he tells you.’ (John 2:4-5 NIV) 

At first glance, we would think that Jesus is quite rude to his mother. Why does Jesus call Mary his mother, “Woman”? In our culture, if we were to call our mothers, “Woman”, it would be a term of disrespect. However, if you do further study of the Grecian New Testament, you will find that this expression is not as disrespectful as we would think it to be in our own culture. 

Yet, there is a bit of tension between Jesus and his mother Mary. Why do you involve me? My hour has not yet come. If you remember when Jesus was 12 years old, Jesus was lost for 2 days. Mary finds Jesus in the temple in Jerusalem. ‘Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.’ ‘Why were you searching for me?’ he asked. ‘Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?’ (Luke 2:49 NIV) This shows that like in any family, Jesus and his mother had to work on communicating with each other.

Why do you involve me? My hour has not yet come. This conversation shows that there is tension between Jesus and Mary. Mary knows a little about Jesus’ calling to be Messiah. Despite the hesitation from Jesus, she tells the servants of the feast. ‘Do whatever he tells you.’ Is Mary being overbearing when she tells the servants to do whatever Jesus tells them to do? Is Mary committing Jesus to something pre-mature?

The Bible is a very human book. The Bible does not shy away from showing us human struggles. We must work on communication to get along with one another. The conversation between Jesus and Mary confirms this. 

Every morning when I set out to jog on the treadmill, I do not feel like doing it. I tell myself to carry on until the time I have scheduled to end at. I keep telling my body to keep doing this. Then at the end of the jogging session, there is a feeling of elation as I had completed what I set out to do. I am thankful that I persevered on. I told my body to keep on jogging.

The tension between Jesus and his mother resulted in Mary saying to the servants of wedding feast, “Do whatever he tells you”. They followed Jesus’ instructions. They filled the 6 stone jars with water. The water turns to wine. They serve the master of the banquet with the wine. The master of the banquet confirms that it is choice wine and he wonders why this choice wine is served last when it is customary to serve the choice wine first. 

There is tension in our lives like the tension between Jesus and Mary. Whatever results is Mary statement, “Do whatever he tells you”. We persevere with whatever Jesus tells us. The water turns to wine.

Pastor Pye