Tribute to Moms

The world would be a rather dull place without moms. They clean up messes. They fight away scary monsters in the closet. They heal boo-boos with their kisses. They love, bring laughter, and give life. What would we do without you?!

Being a mother must be the hardest yet most rewarding job in the entire world. I don't know how my mom does it-- raises three kids, works a job, cleans, keeps on us about homework, goes to all our extracurricular events, stays involved in the community, I could go on. She's amazing; a God-fearing woman I hope to become and model one day when I have children of my own. If only there were words to sum up my thankfulness and deep appreciation for all that she does. Shout out to you, Mom, for being awesome :)

Moms are important people, and God most certainly agrees. In the second chapter of John we see an interesting although subtle interaction between Jesus and his mother when Jesus performs His very first miracle: turning water into wine.

Jesus Changes Water into Wine
On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee.  Jesus' mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine was gone, Jesus' mother said to him, "They have no more wine." 
"Dear woman, why do you involve me?" Jesus replied. "My time has not yet come."    John 2:1-4

When the wine ran out at the wedding, Jesus' mother noticed and pointed it out to her son. She did not ask Jesus to do something about it or inform the others there that her son had the ability to do something about it. She simply took Her concern to Jesus with a "...but you do what you want" sort of standpoint. Jesus' response exemplifies His teaching that we are to love, respect and obey our parents.

Mary's behavior depicts a beautiful image of role reversal. In this scene she, as the parent, runs to her child to share a concern, hoping that Jesus can give her peace or be able to fix the problem. When Mary speaks to Jesus, perhaps she expected Him to do something about the shortage of wine. After all, she knew full well that her son was capable of performing miracles. Yet, she didn't press Him to do anything; she simply said, "They have no more wine."

Jesus, too, knew full well of what He had in His power to do. He was aware that the guests ran out of wine but He did not jump onto the scene. He stood back, keeping out of the way until Mary approached Him. Evident by His response, Jesus did not care to do anything right then and there about the shortage of wine because His time had not yet come. He was not ready. It was not His moment. He wanted to wait. But His mother needed Him...

So He acted.

As this famous story goes, Jesus ended up turning the 30 gallons of water inside the six stone jars into wine. John the apostle describes the miracle as "miraculous." While Mary's reaction to Jesus' miracle was not recorded, I imagine that she was full of gratitude for her son's help. As Jesus amazed all the guests, Mary probably stood back and welled up with motherly pride watching her son save the day.

There is a great lesson to learn here. Jesus, the Son of God, recognized the responsibilities of his role as a son to his mother, Mary. He therefore did what He should have done to please His mother and bring her peace. In other words, His mother's concern took precedence over His willingness to wait longer before performing any miracle. The Message translation says that Jesus responded to His mother saying, "This isn't my time. Don't push me." What we see here in this passage, though, is Jesus deliberately choosing to do something for His mother even though He didn't feel ready.

I am convinced that Jesus did not want to miss this precious opportunity to publicly express and demonstrate His love for His mother.  He recognized in that moment a need and He filled it; however, this miracle is not a case of Mary saying to Jesus, "The wedding guests need more wine" as much as it is her saying to her son, "I need you."

God designed the relationship between mother and child to be one of mutual dependency and satisfaction. In our fallen, sinful world this sort of relationship sometimes feels--or seems--impossible to come by. Children often neglect to respectfully honor their mothers with the love they deserve; likewise, mothers often struggle to patiently serve their children in ways that model and extend God's sufficient grace. Even Jesus lived this out for us to relate to: His first reaction when His mother approached Him about the shortage of wine was more or less, "And?!? ....What's that got to do with me, Mom?!?"

I can attest, what I want and what my mom wants does not always match up. But as her daughter, I am to love, respect, and obey her. Upholding this may call me to set aside my own selfish wants or be bold like Jesus was and do things for her even though I may not feel ready. In the end, mom is happy and so is God.

To all the moms out there- you are loved more than you know.

Happy Mother's Day.

Rachel