John 2:1 On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples. When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. And he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” So they took it. When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.” This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him. After this he went down to Capernaum, with his mother and his brothers and his disciples, and they stayed there for a few days.
Shortly after Jesus told Nathanael that he would see greater things they are at a wedding in the small town Cana. Cana was the home town of Nathanael. This first sign of Jesus was in an insignificant place. He did not go to a big flashy wedding but to a small village. We should note Jesus comes to the lowly not arrogant. His birth was proclaimed too lowly shepherds. His disciples were from lowly occupations. His mother was a virgin engaged to be married to Joseph a carpenter. Jesus was rejected by the teachers, rabbis, and rollers but was worshipped by the lowly.
It is hard to imagine what Mary was thinking when she told Him “They have no wine”. Did she expect Jesus and His disciples to go buy some from somewhere? Did she think He would do a miracle? Even after Jesus says “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.”, Mary tells the servants to do whatever He says. Whatever Mary was thinking one thing is for sure, she trusted Jesus and did not lay any expectation out on what Jesus should do other than leaving it into His hands to accomplish. There must have been some worry in Mary for the family of the bride and groom. I have read where running out of wine at the wedding feast would have been demeaning to the family. Mary could have been helping the bride’s family at this wedding and this could have been the reason for Jesus and His disciples being invited. This is nothing more than speculation and adds nothing to Mary’s trust and faith and Jesus’s power over creation. I am not sure why John laid out in detail the volume of the jars or to the fact they were filled to the brim with water. Possibly to point out there was no way to add anything to the jars. Mary’s trust and faith should be an example to us. When we have a problem give it to Jesus without trying to tell Jesus how to handle it. This reminds me of; “Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.” They trusted in God without laying out the expectations of what God should do. They had faith God could save them if He chose to and they were content if He chose not to.
We do well to grow our faith and trust in Jesus to the level of being willing to allow what He deems best in our lives. He alone is able to do more than we think and much more than we can imagine. Why do we presume we know what is best and for that matter, how to do it?