Water into Wine....Who is this Jesus?

If you are familiar with the story of the Wedding at Cana in the Gospel of John, you have probably noticed the unusual conversation between Jesus and his mother (who BTW is not named).

Mary notices that the host has run out of wine.  More than an inconvenience, this would prove a major embarrassment to the entire family, and believe me, in the small towns of those days would be talked about not for months but for generations!

Mary tells Jesus who has tagged along to the wedding with her.  He has the strangest response, "Woman, what is that to me?" ...the first century equivalent of "none of my business" or the less polite "whatever."

We don't want Jesus to sound like this.  None of us and I am more than willing to think that his tone of voice would give it a different inflection, and possibly this phrase doesn't translate well across time and culture, but really....doesn't it sound a bit harsh to you?  Impolite?  Disrespectful?

Now Jesus follows this up by saying "My hour has not yet come" which in the gospel of John is shorthand for "I'm not on duty yet as the Messiah"  It is, in fact, a very important phrase; when Jesus was about to be arrested he announced that now his hour was upon him.

But it all gets even stranger because Mary does not argue with him.  Rather she tells the servants to do whatever he commands.  This whole episode feels like a text message sent in all those three letter abbreviations...a little cryptic to outsiders.

But that does it.  Jesus commands the jars be filled with water.  When it is drawn out again it is fine wine, better than anything the bride and groom planned on.  And no one knew where it had come from ......although the servants knew.  And thus completes the first miracle of Jesus according to the gospel of John.

Thus begins Jesus' public ministry, a revealing of who he is and whose he is.  John gives us a wonderful metaphor for the life of faith and the reality of a human being God incarnate and eventually the resurrection where death becomes the fine wine of new life.

Why did Jesus had to talk that way?  I'm not sure [and I've read any number of explanations]. Why did Mary simply ignore his response and prepare the servants for what was coming?  I don't know.  How did Mary know what was coming?  I don't know.

These things I do know.  In the gospel of John, these were Jesus' first steps as the bringer of life to those around him.  Mary chose to focus on the moment and to do her part in Jesus' work rather than dwell on an awkward exchange between mother and son. Those servants who followed Jesus' command were given unique insight into who he was. From Mary (who doesn't even get the honor of being named)  to those who were working the kitchen, it was the anonymous ones who receive the first invitation to faith.

That funny dialogue between Mary and Jesus trips me up every time. But if Mary could ignore it and simply support the work that God was about to do in Jesus, then I guess I can too.