In John 2, after Mary (Jesus’ mother) tells Him that there is no more wine at a wedding they are attending (which I imagine her saying in a “mom voice”), Jesus replies to her (see verse 4), and then Mary tells the servants to follow His instructions.
His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”
John 2:5 NIV
I can picture Mary – knowing her son – hearing what Jesus said and still preparing for Him to act, as she gives the heads-up to the servants. (As I recall, the first episode of the series, “The Chosen”, is about this event, and portrays Mary as a friend of the family. I don’t know if this is accurate, or if she was a wedding planner, or if she was just someone who the servants respected.)
Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.
Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim.
John 2:6-7 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/jhn.2.6-7.NIV
Now (with apologies to readers who use the metric system), 120 gallons of water weighs about 1000 pounds (half a ton!). For perspective, a 120-gallon aquarium is about 1½ feet deep by 5 feet wide by 2 feet high (from a web page called, “120 Gallon Aquarium – is it right for you?”). If the jars held 30 gallons each, the volume increases by another 50%.
Let’s imagine that a typical servant at the wedding can carry 5 gallons of water in a bucket (or maybe two buckets each weighing 2½ gallons, to balance the weight on each arm). This is 60 or more trips to the well or reservoir to fill up these jars. I don’t think that verse 7 happened in a few minutes’ time, which further fits with the idea that this wedding feast wasn’t just a quick event.
What I’d like you to notice, though, is that there is no argument, no protest, no backtalk, and no resistance from the servants reported here. Jesus tells them what to do, and whether out of respect for Him as a rabbi, Mary’s earlier instructions, or just their role at the wedding, they do it. Maybe they didn’t like it, and maybe they didn’t understand it (or perhaps they thought that something else was going on, like a ceremonial washing), but they did it. And, it appears that they didn’t merely get by with the minimum requirements, but they filled the jars “to the brim”.
Can we say the same? If we were serving food at a banquet (which I’ve done, and perhaps you have, too), and the person in charge asked us to carry 120 five-gallon buckets of water, would we say, “Yes, ma’am. Right away!”, or would we push back and want to know why?
Or, when Jesus says to not worry (see Matthew 6:25-34, Luke 12:22-34), to love our enemies (see Matthew 5:43-48, Luke 6:27-36), and to obey Him (see John 14:15-24), do we say, “Right away, Jesus! I’m on my way.”, or do we say, “Do I have to?” or “Is that really required all the time?” or “How little can I get away with and still check the box?”
You might know how things turned out (see John 2:8-10): Jesus then told the servants to bring some of the water to the banquet master, and it had been turned to wine – not just what we might consider “cheap wine from a box”, but good stuff: the “best”, per the NIV.
In return for their obedience, what did the servants gain? For one thing, they were uniquely qualified to testify to the fact that they had filled the jars with water, before it had become wine. This is true even if some people wouldn’t have believed the servants. Even the banquet master goes to the bridegroom, apparently, rather than asking the servants about where the wine came from. However, the servants were part of God’s plan, and they knew what had actually happened. Even this early in Jesus’ ministry, the last were first (see Matthew 19:30 and elsewhere): the last people that many would expect to take part in a miracle were among the first to know the truth.
So, in addition to bringing people to Jesus (as described in some previous articles on John 1:29-51), we must do what Jesus tells us to do. This isn’t a surprise or a big revelation, but if you and I think through the past week, did we actually follow Jesus’ commandments every time? Or, did we sometimes drag our feet, ask Him to explain Himself first, or just cross our arms and not do what we were told?
We may say that we trust Jesus to know the best plan for our lives, but when it comes time to follow that plan, our actions don’t always match our words. (Or, maybe you don’t have that problem, but I know that I do.)
In return for trusting and obeying Jesus, though, we will be able to testify to the blessings and faithfulness that result from these choices. Not everyone will believe us, but we will know the truth, and we will be able to share it with those who will listen.
From Sunday School lesson prepared for February 4, 2024
References:
- The Lookout, February 4, 2024, © 2024 Christian Standard Media.
- Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
- The College Press NIV Commentary – John, by Beauford H. Bryant and Mark S. Krause. © 1998 College Press Publishing Co.
Those Who Sin Differently 