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Jesus Attends a Wedding
85
As the guests assembled, there was an atmosphere of suppressed
excitement. As Mary saw the many glances directed toward Jesus,
she longed to have Him prove that He was the Honored of God.
It was the custom for marriage festivities to continue several
days. On this occasion, before the feast ended, the supply of wine
ran out. As a relative, Mary had assisted in the feast, and she now
said to Jesus, “They have no wine.” These words were a suggestion
that He could supply their need. But Jesus answered, “Woman, what
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does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come.”
This form of addressing her expressed no coldness or discour-
tesy. In Oriental custom, it was used toward persons to whom one
desired to show respect. Christ Himself had given the command-
ment, “Honor your father and your mother.”
Exodus 20:12
. Both
at the marriage feast and on the cross in His last act of tenderness
toward His mother, the love He expressed in His tone, look, and
manner interpreted His words.
At His visit to the temple when He was a boy, Christ had said to
Mary, “Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?”
Luke 2:49
. Now He repeated the lesson. There was danger that Mary
would think that her relationship to Jesus gave her the right, in some
degree, to direct Him in His mission. For thirty years He had been a
loving, obedient Son, but now He must go about His Father’s work.
As Savior of the world, no earthly ties must hold Him from His
mission. This lesson is also for us. No earthly attraction, no ties of
human relationship, should turn our feet from the path in which God
calls us to walk.
Mary could find salvation only through the Lamb of God. Her
connection with Jesus did not give her a spiritual relationship to Him
that was different from that of any other human being. The Savior’s
words make clear the distinction between His relation to her as the
Son of man and as the Son of God. The family ties between them in
no way placed her on an equality with Him.
“My hour has not yet come.” As Christ walked among us, He was
guided step by step by the Father’s will. In saying to Mary that His
hour had not yet come, He was replying to her unspoken thought—
the expectation she cherished that He would reveal Himself as the
Messiah and take the throne of Israel. But the time had not come.