In John 2:4, they have run out of wine at a wedding. They come to Jesus with the problem: “They have no wine,” shares his mother.
Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come.”
Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come.”
Jesus distances himself from this earthly problem that does not seem to have much to do with him. To imagine a rephrasing, He asks, “What does this problem have to do with My purpose, My mission on earth, that I am here to fulfill?”
He then takes the opportunity to solve the problem—which may have been inconsequentially left unsolved or better suited to being solved by someone else—with a miracle. Not so that they could drink more wine, but so that through this miracle, or sign, His deity would be revealed and they would believe (John 2:11). As in his conversation with the Samaritan woman at the well, Jesus in this passage is not concerned about temporary quenching of thirst, He is concerned about saving faith that eternally satisfies and sustains life.
As professors, many problems are shared with us. Many problems that, at first glance, do not seem to have a lot to do with us. Many problems that seem to lie outside of our earthly wheelhouse of expertise or interests. But maybe they do have something to do with our heavenly wheelhouse.
This water-into-wine passage encouraged me to look for eternal opportunities when presented with such earthly problems by asking myself: “What does this problem have to do with My mission to love Jesus, love others, and show people Jesus is real and sovereign so that they may believe? How can I solve this in a way that points someone to Him?”
We may solve the problem with an earthly, temporal solution (e.g., provide more wine), but in the process, what could we be doing to reveal the Heavens and its Creator to have a lasting impact?
I echo Richard Rohr saying that we as humans on earth have a choice to either (a) see everything as a miracle, or (b) see nothing as a miracle. We may not be able to turn water into wine, but God does continue to be present in, and work miracles through, his creation today. We do have the power, with God in us, to show His glory to others. Hallelujah, what a miracle!
Next time someone brings us a problem to solve, may we “fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen” (2 Corinthians 4:18) to open ourselves to what this has to do with our mission as ambassadors for Christ. In doing so, may others see the Unseen, too. Maybe for the first time.
Laine Bradshaw
Educational Psychology
University of Georgia