THE KING’S BUSINESS
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it is good for us when the earthly wine fails for then we feel our need of and seek to get the wine of the kingdom. It was Jesus’ mother who thought of going to Him in this emergency. She knew Him better than any one else, and it is those who know Him best who are quickest to go to Him. She had never seen Him perform a mir acle; indeed, he had never performed one; but she knew that He could help out of any difficulty and do whatever it might be necessary to do. Any way how could she possibly go to any one else when He was at hand. She was a woman of great faith. All Mary did was simply to make her want known. She simply said, “They have no wine.” She took it for granted that if Jesus knew that anybody was in trouble, He would help them out. She knew Him well. The unexpected arrival of Jesus and His group of disciples may have led to the supply of the wine proving insufficient and that would have made it all the more natural to apply to Him for removal of the difficulty. Mary’s simply stating the need without any definite request for help, suggests what the other Mary and her sister Martha did when they were in dire distress over the sickness of their brother (ch. 11:3). It has been suggested by many com mentators that Mary, by her words, was suggesting to Jesus that the time had come for Him to perform a mir acle and thus manifest His glory, and that she thus took an authority upon herself to which she had no claim, but this does not appear in what John says; and is hardly likely as Jesus never had performed a miracle up to this time. But there is a suggestion in our Lord’s reply that Mary had gone beyond her. rights and needed to be brought to a realization of her true relation to Him and His relation to her. Quite likely she had heard of the manifestations that took place in
connection with His baptism, and of John’s testimony to Him, and realized that He was about entering upon His public ministry and she may have ex pected that there would be a fuller manifestation of His glory, and there is a possible suggestion to Him that now the time has come to manifest i t ; but even this is not clear. All that is certain is that she realized that there was a need and she also realized that Jesus was the One, and the Only One, who could supply every need, and in the extremity she turned to Him. V 4. "(And) Jesus saith unto- her, Woman what have I to do with thee. Mine hour is not yet come.” Mary seemed to get but little present satis faction. The time had come when the Lord Jesus must bring Mary to see their true relations to one another and in doing this, He seemingly gave her a rebuff. We too do not always get immediate satisfaction when we make our needs known to Him. There may be in our case, as there was in Mary’s, some mistake in our way of approach, which He would have us learn and lay to heart, or there may be some other loving reason why it is not wise for Him to grant our re quest at once. This does not by any means prove that it is not His will to grant the thing asked. There was none of that harshness in our Lord’s words to Mary that there seems to be in our English ren dering of it. According to Greek us age there is not the slightest sugges tion of reproof or severity in the use of the word “woman.” This mode of address Was one of courteous re spect. It was used in addressing fe males of the highest rank—queens were thus addressed.. There is not only courteous respect in the use of this term but also tenderness. Our Lord used this same term in speaking to His mother in one of the tenderest moments of His life, when on the
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