I said, what can I offer?

You, who gave everything to me?

Shall I build you an altar?

Tell me, what do you give to a king?

Here’s my cup of cold, cold water

How I wish that it were wine

You deserve much better 

Than this feeble heart of mine

But it’s yours.

Take it and make it like the bread so long ago

That fed all those  people until they were full

Take it and break it and bless it and then

I will offer it up once again.

… And when they had run out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.” John 2:3

The wedding celebration was in Cana. The lanterns were hung, the music played, sumptuous fare adorned the tables, and the wine flowed freely. Until it didn’t. At some point, amid all the lights and the laughter and good cheer, Mary the Mother of Jesus, becomes aware that the wine is gone, and everything comes to a screeching halt for her.

Ever feel like that? Like the world around you continues on-all laughter and smiles and dancing to music that you can no longer hear because the wine of your joy is gone, the wine of your song is gone? Me too.

We can learn a lot from Mary. She goes straight to Jesus-none of this “I can fix it myself” stuff. She finds Him and tells Him the situation “They have no wine.” That’s it. That’s all she says. And yet her tone and facial expression must have implied that she expected Him to do something about it because His response is “Woman, what does your concern have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” Seems like a straightforward response, a little disappointing, but certainly clear, right? Maybe not. Like Mary previously, clearly something more was being conveyed by Jesus, and Mary got it. She tells the servants to do whatever Jesus tells them, knowing He is going to come through. What exactly was exchanged between them, we don’t know. Was it a look? A gesture? The tone of His voice? Maybe He winked when He said it, we don’t know. But what we do know is that whatever was exchanged between them, it was enough for Mary to know she had the greenlight to speak to the servants. 

That’s what you and I need, isn’t it? A true knowing of Jesus and his character so that when we go to Him with a problem, we already have a close enough relationship that we hear the tone of His voice and not just the words. We need to be able to hear His heart on the matter and sometimes that’s difficult to achieve. He’s not physically standing in front of us like He was with Mary, allowing us to take in certain voice inflections, mannerisms and body language. How, then are we to know? Jesus himself speaks to this in John chapter 16 when he teaches his disciples about the Holy Spirit. “However, when He, the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth; He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever he hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is mine and declare it to you.” It’s the Holy Spirt, the third Person of the Trinity, that gives us understanding of the scriptures and reveals the Person of Jesus Christ. It’s the Holy Spirit that whispers in our hearts and knows us better than we know ourselves. He is the still, small voice. He is Teacher, Comforter and Helper. He is  our “water into wine.” 

“Now there were set there six waterpots of stone, according to the manner of purification of the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons a piece”. John 2:6 (NKJV)

The New International Version renders it “Nearby stood six stone water jars…” Jesus liked to use what was near Him. He used a small lunch to feed a megachurch crowd, he used mud on the ground to heal a blind man, used a whip to drive out the con artists outside the temple, and here he uses these large stone jars. How I wish I were more like these clay pots! They were near Him. They were clean. They were ready for use.