Jesus’ Ministry
January 19, 2019
Scripture Reading: John 2:1-11
On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, ‘They have no wine.’ And Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come.’ His mother said to the servants, ‘Do whatever he tells you.’
–John 2:1-5
I understand that mother birds feed their hatch-lings at first near the center of the nest gradually drawing them closer to the edge as they bring food holding it in their beaks until the baby comes to get it. Eventually the fledgling reaches the edge of the nest and takes its first flight. Some may even require a gentle push from the mother to make the leap from walking to flying. And so, it also goes with humans. The job of parenting is to prepare children for adulthood.
John never calls Mary by name. Even Jesus addresses her as “woman”. Is that to protect her privacy or to draw attention to the universal mother’s role, perhaps a little of both. John is traditionally recognized as Mary’s caretaker following the crucifixion.
There is something else occurring in this scripture, Mary serves as a reference to her neighbors and friends that her son is one to trust. A good reference goes along way in helping one get his or her first job. My mother’s reputation got me my first job. One of her coworkers was having difficulty finding child care for her children over the summer and my Mom said I have a 16-year-old daughter that could do that, and I was hired. Gaining that experience and a good reference from the co-worker helped me get my second job the next summer as a nurse’s aide in a nursing home.
Isn’t that how we still spread the good news about Jesus today by word of mouth and being trustworthy ourselves, so others will be more apt to seek their own relationship with God?
Prayer: Lord, help me to be the light of the world and the salt of the earth you have called me to be. Amen.