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Chapter 6

Mary Models Discipleship 101 (John 2:1–11)

From Mary, we learn about discipleship. Mary’s relationship with Jesus was what prompted her actions. She had watched Jesus, learned from Jesus, grown in Jesus. We can be pretty brave and bold when we really grasp the possibilities of our faith! Mary’s advantage was a fully immersed daily relationship with Jesus. What Mary did impacts the world 2,000 years later! Too often we limit our perspective to what we understand and can see, without the benefit of God’s view.

During a school break one year, I took my two girls to see The Bee Movie. At the beginning of the movie a familiar television voice spoke over the text saying, “According to all known laws of aviation, there is no way a bee should be able to fly. The bees’ wings are far too short to support their fat little bodies. Bees, of course, fly anyway, because bees don’t care what humans think is possible.”

This was unquestionably the most profound statement of the movie. The news flash might be reiterated another way—God and his creation do not need to follow our rules.

A comparable message was reported in The Toronto Star and other news media when 21-year-old Zack Dunlap was declared dead after being involved in a crash.28 The results of the brain scan revealed no brain activity or blood flow at all. His family had even approved having his organs harvested, and they were paying their last respects when a pocket knife scratched the bottom of his foot and caused a reaction! The report added that Zack didn’t remember much of the accident or what happened afterwards; however, he did remember hearing the doctor declaring him dead. After being released 48 days later, the man said that he was feeling “pretty good.”

What remains fascinating is that by all human ability to assess him, he was dead—and maybe he was! So it raises the question, could it be possible that some of the things in which we put stake as humans are beyond us or our own abilities and assessments? Mary, the mother of Jesus, thought so. As we see in the following story, Mary never lost sight of what might be possible when Jesus is with you. She was not the only one aware of the circumstances being faced at this wedding, but she was the only one to react the way she did. She was the only one who made the decision to entrust the challenge to Jesus. Here is her story:

The next day there was a wedding celebration in the village of Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the celebration. The wine supply ran out during the festivities, so Jesus’ mother told him, “They have no more wine.”

“Dear woman, that’s not our problem,” Jesus replied. “My time has not yet come.”

But his mother told the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”

Standing nearby were six stone water jars, used for Jewish ceremonial washing. Each could hold twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus told the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” When the jars had been filled, he said, “Now dip some out, and take it to the master of ceremonies.” So the servants followed his instructions.

When the master of ceremonies tasted the water that was now wine, not knowing where it had come from (though, of course, the servants knew), he called the bridegroom over. “A host always serves the best wine first,” he said. “Then, when everyone has had a lot to drink, he brings out the less expensive wine. But you have kept the best until now!”

This miraculous sign at Cana in Galilee was the first time Jesus revealed his glory. And his disciples believed in him. (John 2:1–11)

Mary put stake in the son whose actions she had pondered in her heart (Luke 2:19).

She put stake in what was beyond herself and her own assessment. Mary put stake in Jesus. For Mary, a social community event seemed fitting to make her request.

Mary understood the dilemma faced by the wedding hosts. She understood the social ramifications of running out of wine and was moved to action. In fact, “Mary did not underestimate herself because of gender bias. Her action influenced Jesus to supply the need and the servants to obey Jesus.”29

As was the case then and is usually the case in even much of our contemporary culture, weddings are celebrations with family and friends being treated as special. We can’t necessarily relate to the social pressure or expectations in this story, but we can relate to the excitement—the fun of being with friends and family celebrating a couple’s love for each other. Wedding couples find pleasure in their guests’ enjoyment of their day.

Personally, I enjoy giving wedding couples that pleasure. I especially enjoy giving that pleasure to my Italian friends and family! Perhaps you have participated in the seven- to eight-course meal that is usually offered at such weddings. After the several hours of eating, you demonstrate your version of the bunny hop, flex with exaggeration to “YMCA,” and top it all off with a round of “Macarena.” Thankfully, after all that exercise you are usually offered pizza and pastries before the drive home!

Mary, the disciples, and Jesus were privy to that kind of party within a different context. Running out of wine within her social framework was probably comparable to running out of food at some Italian weddings. Mary felt compassion for her hosts, an emotion that drove her to resolve the problem. She didn’t know the answer herself, but she knew enough about Jesus to know that she could bring their concerns to him. Once she did, she could trust him with the outcome. She acted on what she knew.

One day my five-year-old was lying in bed with me, chatting about her life so far, when she reflected on her pre-birth and birth. Among her many questions and comments was one about being in my stomach. “I remember when I was in your stomach,” she said. “I believe that I had to reach up and take food as it went by me, and that’s how I ate.” Well, it made sense. Babies are in mommies’ tummies, and food passes through mommies’ tummies. By her assessment, a little baby in a mommy’s tummy must have to fend for herself!

What my daughter understood was based on the information she had. The stages of a baby’s development, protective embryo, breakdown of nutrition, and isolation from mom’s digestive track were not part of her equation, and therefore her full understanding was hindered. There is a risk in drawing firm conclusions on limited information. As a mom, I was impressed by her imagination, but what my five-year-old concluded was somewhat faulty.

Mary had a much greater pool of experience and certainty in her actions. She had known Jesus his whole lifetime on earth. She was confident that if she believed in Jesus and urged others to do the same, he could accomplish infinitely more than they might ask or think (Eph. 3:20). Her step of faith in her son would bring results beyond human assessment and ability.

Mary simply states the problem in verse 3: “They have no more wine.” Jesus replies, calling his mom “woman,” a fully acceptable form of address at the time.

His questioning why this should be her concern is intriguing. Jesus is drawn into her compassion for those hosting them, and he honours her faith. What is notable and encouraging to us is that by her faith came Jesus’ first recorded miracle, one that happened even after Jesus first responded with “My time has not yet come.”

The interaction exemplifies what Jesus says in Matthew 7:7: “Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.” It certainly makes us wonder about prayer. Would the same events have happened had Mary not asked? It demonstrates for us how the “asking” and Jesus’ response are somehow woven together to demonstrate our partnership in what he is actively doing. It also demonstrates how Mary’s faith allowed God’s intervention with Mary not fully knowing where that step would lead.

What is further noteworthy for us is that the actions of Jesus provide layers of depth—even foreshadowing his destiny and the symbolism of his death.

As we read the Gospels, we quickly discover that Jesus represents himself as the new wine. It is recorded in the Gospels of Mark and Matthew that he speaks of his blood, represented by wine, as being the mediating reality between God and people.

At the Last Supper, and as we remember each time we are given the opportunity for communion, Jesus said to his disciples when taking a cup of wine, “Drink from it, all of you; for this is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins” (Matt. 26:27–28 NRSV).

Imagine the questions asked by the disciples in this moment! What could Jesus mean by referring to his blood as a new deal? Why would Jesus want his disciples to think of their needed forgiveness from sin while drinking wine?

N. T. Wright asks us, “What’s your reaction to this extra-ordinary performance?”30 He then adds that 1,000 years of Jewish celebrations are drawn into one event. So we can ask ourselves, as we participate in communion or the Eucharist, are we giving ourselves full opportunity to “go back in heart and mind to the original setting,” to the wonder and the mystery and even the discomfort of this moment?31

Somehow, we can be immersed in its mystery. Followers of Jesus are invited to partake in the wine and bread, as they represent the forgiveness of sin and the gift of a new way of life. Wright explains, “Sin, a far greater slave master than Egypt had ever been, would be defeated in the way that God defeated not only Egypt but the Red Sea.”32 Creating wine for his first miracle was not by accident.

When Mary called on Jesus at this wedding, whether she understood the full gamut of her actions or not, she gave her friends and family a preview of things to come. Mary’s request ended up working in perfect harmony with God’s plan for a new covenant—a new hope for the whole world!

Not coincidently, Jesus takes the water jars normally used for purification rites—the vessels used for cleansing and giving freedom from dirt or filth—and transforms the cleansing water into new wine, just as Jesus is the new wine that brings freedom from the dirt and filth we carry in our lives, called sin. It may be of interest that Jesus’ first miracle involves water.

Sherri Brown develops her case for the imagery of water from Jewish tradition through to the life of Jesus. As we’ll later see in the story of the Samaritan woman,

The water imagery in the Gospel of John reveals the power and presence of God uniquely embodied in Jesus as the Christ and Son of God, from incarnation to crucifixion and beyond into the lives of disciples across the ages.33

We have to wonder whether Mary was thinking back to her Jewish traditions of how water represented deliverance when God parted the waters for his chosen people and how the prophets and psalmists carried that theme of praise in prose. Or how our spiritual quest is satisfied: “My soul thirsts for God, for the living God” (Ps. 42:2 NRSV; see also Ps. 63:1, 143:6).

It’s impossible to know how much Mary was piecing together from her traditions. Mary’s attentiveness to Jesus, her quiet reflection through observation, and her memories of shepherds being led by angels to Jesus as a newborn, of Simeon declaring him the Saviour at 10 days old, and of wise men coming with gifts and worshipping him as a baby (Luke 2:8–15; Luke 2:25–28; Matt. 2:9) must have all been stored in her heart in preparation for this moment. Because what we store up in our hearts is what drives our actions (Luke 6:45). Mary models for us a very basic Christian discipline and practice.

While Mary is still required to perform the rearing functions of a mother responsible for her children’s welfare, she yields to Jesus. She affirms her confidence in him by her statement “Do whatever he tells you.”

As we are called to be leaders, we remain followers of the greatest leader of all time. So it was with Mary.

Jesus showed compassion to Mary’s role as his mother even at the end as she stood by the cross. “When Jesus saw his mother standing there beside the disciple he loved, he said to her, ‘Dear woman, here is your son.’ And he said to this disciple, ‘Here is your mother.’ And from then on this disciple took her into his home” (John 19:26–28). Kanagaraj sees this scene as highly significant in establishing the emerging “Christian community (represented by one male—the beloved disciple; and one female—Mary) that will derive its life from the cross.”34 He concludes that this final act before saying “it is finished” on the cross envisions a “community of new disciples in which men and women have equal roles to play.”

Mary’s ongoing ponderings culminated at the cross. She accepted her changing role and the tremendous challenges of her emerging calling. Mary accepted the fate of her son, remaining with Jesus even while she grieved his physical pain, torture, ridicule, and abandonment. She endured with him beside the cross.

Even following the death of Jesus, Mary gathered with the disciples, praying and participating in his call and mission. Mary served her call in faith by her giftedness. She experienced a deeply rooted and growing relationship with Jesus.

Just as he does with us, Jesus showed an interest in Mary’s life—in the things that mattered to her. We are limited in what we know about how Mary adapted to life changes, but we do know that as she remained with Jesus, Jesus remained with her (John 15). That’s a promise and an encouragement we gain from Mary’s life!

Mary’s source for perseverance—Jesus—offers comfort to women feeling pressed by the many activities of life. This can certainly happen throughout the journey of different life seasons.

Writer and speaker John Ortberg talks about a young mom of toddlers who confessed that her life of prayer and Bible reading was much more regimented prior to parenthood. Ortberg explains that caring for two young children, offering daily expressions of gratitude and prayers for help and patient acceptance of trials, can become a kind of school for transformation.

No question, many moms would agree that the constant exercising of putting others before yourself is a developed discipline that helps define character. When we bring God’s Spirit in conversation with those daily challenges, we develop endurance. Paul explains in Romans that endurance comes from facing trials, which develops strength of character and ultimately hope (Rom. 5).

So our season of life is no barrier to having Christ formed in us or allowing our story to merge with his. In fact, it is often in walking through the valleys that we grow. Every moment is a chance to learn from Jesus how to live in the kingdom of God. Paul writes in his letter to the Colossians, “Whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in…Jesus” (Col. 3:17 NRSV).

Mary demonstrates for us what discipleship can look like. In doing so, she shows us how discipleship enters into God’s story.

28 “‘Dead’ Man Revived Four Months Later,” The Toronto Star, March 24, 2008, accessed January 30, 2017, https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2008/03/24/dead_man_revived_four_months_later.html.

29 Jey J. Kanagaraj, “The Profiles of Women in John: House-Bound or Christ-Bound?,” Evangelical Review Theology 27, no. 1 (2003): 29.

30 Tom Wright, Matthew for Everyone 2 (Westminster: John Knox Press, 2004), 156.

31 Wright, Matthew for Everyone 2, 156.

32 Wright, Matthew for Everyone 2, 157. The story of the Israelites being freed from slavery is recorded in Exodus.

33 Sherri Brown, “Water Imagery and the Power and Presence of God in the Gospel of John,” Theology Today 72, no. 3 (2015): 289–98.

34 Kanagaraj, “The Profiles of Women in John,” 31.