Flashback Episode — Two Faith Foundations: John 2:1-12

As we continue moving through events in Jesus’ life, we come to an event that not only displays an incredible amount of faith, but this event also hints at what Jesus was like as a young man. While the Bible only includes one short event between Jesus’ birth and Jesus’ baptism, this event primarily shares Jesus’ focus, and it hints at Jesus’ knowledge, but in this event, we don’t yet see Jesus’ ability or Jesus’ mission.

However, our passage for this episode shares another key idea that teaches us about Jesus’ life as a young man. The event is called “The Wedding at Cana”, and in what happens, we discover some clues to what Jesus was like when He was younger.

Our passage and event are found in John’s gospel, chapter 2, we’ll be reading from the New International Version of the Bible. Starting in verse 1, John tells us that:

¹ On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, ² and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. ³ When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.”

⁴ “Woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.”

⁵ His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”

⁶ Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.

⁷ Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim.

⁸ Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.”

They did so, ⁹ and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside ¹⁰ and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.”

¹¹ What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.

As we read this passage, a number of things stood out to me.

First off, John clearly and directly states after this miracle that it was “the first of the signs through with he revealed his glory.” While this doesn’t seem too significant on the surface, this detail actually tells us something about Jesus’ childhood. This detail tells us that this was Jesus’ first miracle, so any speculation of Jesus performing miracles when He was younger can be discarded because they don’t match John’s description of Jesus.

However, if Jesus had not performed a miracle before this wedding, then Mary’s actions and her faith in this passage is almost unbelievable. After all, Jesus discounts His own mother’s request to help out in this tricky situation – and only then does she simply instruct the servants to do whatever Jesus tells them to do.

If Jesus had not ever done a miracle prior to this point, what might have been the reason Mary challenges Jesus to solve this social dilemma? Mary displayed a faith in Jesus that is incredible, especially with the description that Jesus had not performed any miracles before this point.

I don’t think that Jesus had ever performed a miracle while He was younger, but I wonder if He had displayed an unusual level of wisdom and skill for getting out of tricky social situations.

All through all four gospels, we see examples of Jesus’ Holy-Spirit directed wisdom for avoiding and/or countering all the intellectual traps set by the religious leaders. Also, during the one event when Jesus was young, we discover that He amazed those in the temple with His wisdom and insights – and this happened when Jesus was only 12 years old.

In my own mind, it is not a stretch to think that Mary’s faith, and her actions, were not rooted in expecting or demanding a miracle – or another miracle, since John clearly states that no miracles had happened up to that point. Instead, Mary is putting her faith in Jesus’ wisdom and who she knows Him to be. I imagine she may have told herself, “If Jesus cannot solve this problem, no one can.”

Mary’s faith was rooted in Jesus, and in His previous demonstrations of God-given wisdom.

Mary is a model for us as we move through the various stages of our belief in Jesus.

However, in this passage, Mary is not the only one who the passage says believed in Jesus following this event. While we might expect the passage to describe the servants, who were obedient to Jesus’ instructions, to have faith as well, the passage does not imply this to be the case. The servants do demonstrate faith in Jesus by obeying, but perhaps their amazement at the miracle never developed into faith. Or perhaps the servants did believe, but John wants to direct our attention elsewhere.

The passage closes by saying that the disciples believed in Jesus, but there is a clear difference between Mary and the disciples: Mary believed before the miracle, the disciples believed after.

For most of us, it is not natural to believe in Jesus – or to even consider Him as Someone special. Our first step on the path of spiritual growth is to believe in Him because of His miracles. Jesus is okay with us believing in Him because of His miracles, but He never wants us to stop there. Jesus’ miracles were given to be signs to help us take notice, and to move closer to Him as we see how He displays God’s love and God’s character to our world.

A cleaver magician can cause us to take notice, but when we do move closer and learn the secrets of what happened, we find the event was a hollow trick or a cleaver deception. If we stop short and simply believe in Jesus because He performed miracles, we will then be tempted to leave Jesus when someone else is able to do something even more spectacular.

Jesus’ miracles were God-given signs for us to take notice, but they should never form the foundation of our faith. We can start believing in Jesus by believing in His miracles, and this is clearly where many of the disciples started, but Jesus never wants us to build the foundation of our belief in Him on His miracles.

This is where Mary is a much better model for our faith: She believed in Jesus because of who He was, and not because she thought He would perform a miracle. Mary had faith in Jesus through the relationship she had with Him – a relationship that was built over having spent years with Him.

As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

As I always challenge you to do, intentionally seek God first and intentionally choose to have a “Mary-like” faith in Jesus.

Also, continue to pray and study the Bible for yourself. Discover who He is and what He did through reading the gospels, and focus on building a relationship with Jesus rather than simply spending time with Him because of what He can do for you! Build your faith in God on the foundation of who Jesus is – not on a handful of miracles He did.

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or walk away from where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!