Mary walked with her son through the crowds of people at the wedding in Cana. She had watched and waited, wondering when the moment would come when Jesus would begin His ministry. In her heart, she knew that great sorrow would follow yet still she longed for a beginning.
We might be a bit confused at Jesus’ response to her intimation that the wine needed to be replenished. “My time has not yet come,” He explained to her. But Mary was not to be discouraged…
I think one of my favorite stories in the Old Testament is that of the healing of Naaman. This mighty warrior, second in power only to the King of Syria, had one weakness. He had leprosy. Guided to the prophet Elisha by a young Hebrew servant, Naaman expected his healing to come with great fanfare. Instead, he was told to dip in the Jordon River seven times. Naaman almost walked away from his miracle. And it is implied in the account in the book of II Kings that the healing did not take place until the seventh time he slipped into the water. But on that time, he rose up completely healed.
Sometimes we pray for a miracle and we receive it. But what about the times we pray and no miracle happens – when we dip into the water four, five, six times and we are still a leper? When we pray for healing, for security, for salvation for a loved one, for peace and no miracle takes place?
…Mary told the servants, “Do whatever He tells you.” And on His word, they filled the jars with water, poured a cup from the jars, and took it to the master of the wedding. And it was wine.
As Christ followers, we must live in the expectation of a miracle. Guided by Mary’s words, we “do whatever He tells us,” knowing that our true miracle is in the asking.
For the next few weeks we will be looking at some of the miracles of Christ and the message they speak to us today, remembering that when nothing points the way to the miraculous, when life seems burdensome and hard, it is then that we must expect a miracle.