“When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, ‘They have no wine.’…His mother said to the servants, ‘Do whatever he tells you.’” (John 2:3-5)
Sometimes we can be our own greatest impediment. We can be overly self-critical, or our biases cause life blinders. Perhaps we allow the vision we have of ourselves to prevent us from seeing the true self. This is natural. Yet, whatever the impact of the isolated self, the outcome is that we miss out on important feedback or insight from others that can enrich our lives. The story of the wedding at Cana demonstrates this reality. In this story, we encounter Jesus’s first miracle. When the hosts of what is, likely, a joyous celebration face the awkward social faux pas of running out of wine, Mary demonstrates her faith and calls on her Son. Interestingly, Jesus and his disciples who were guests at this wedding seem unconcerned about the lack of wine until Mary says to Jesus, “They have no wine” (John 2:3). After some discussion, Jesus performs the infamous “water into wine” miracle (John 2:7-9). Everyone was astonished; but, most notably, John tells us that it was only after this miracle that Jesus’s “disciples believed in him” (2:11). By encouraging Jesus to help with the wedding wine, Mary created an opportunity for the disciples to believe that the “hour” about which Jesus spoke would come (2:4). Mary was, therefore, the first full believer in Jesus and the disciples’ avenue to having faith in him as the Son of God. This story reveals to us that both Jesus and his disciples needed a third person to identify something they could not see. Mary was this person. As humans, we’re all susceptible to isolating ourselves from others’ observations and worldviews. It’s in our survival DNA to be our own number one supporter. Yet, when we ignore the trusted third parties in our lives, we fail to see when there is no wine in the stone jars or forego an opportunity to believe. This week, take a moment to identify the Mary in your life. If you don’t have one, then find yourself a Mary – someone on whom can you rely to identify your areas of growth that you may not notice and in whom can you trust to open your heart to a stronger life of faith. You as you are unique; and you as you with a community are unstoppable. |