Let Jesus Do You a Favor

Please complete the following sentence.

Seeing is . . . (Believing). Excellent!

Seeing empirically constitutes believing. An empirical constitution and verification of faith is good enough. However, it is not a kind of faith Jesus Christ wants his disciples to have.
 Let us read the following passage.

29 "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." 30 . . . But these [miraculous signs] are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. (John 20:29-31)

Jesus clearly recognizes believing after seeing, but he praises believing without seeing. Despise of its lesser desirability, “seeing is believing” seems a very ancient axiom. As such, the beloved disciple of Jesus was compelled to compose the Gospel according to John, which collected the miraculous sings of Jesus so that his audience “may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.” John’s presupposition is that signs invoke faith. In John, we encounter faith without signs, faith invoked by signs (signs-faith) and no faith at all. According John, the nameless disciple, Andrew, Peter, Philip, and Nathaniel are the only persons who identified Jesus the “Messiah” before they saw any miraculous signs. Some followers of Jesus came to faith after seeing the signs. The Jewish leaders, with some exemption, were repeated cast as people with not faith at all. Whenever Jesus performs a sign, the audience responds either by putting their faith in him or by rejecting his identity. The more signs Jesus performs the larger the circle of faith and the stronger the opposition. In any case, these signs serve the triple functions of (1) revealing Jesus’ identity, (2) exposing the stubbornness of the unbelieving hearts, and (3) showing the failure of Jesus’ mission to the unwilling-to-believe persons. These signs invoke the faith.

Let us study the first sign Jesus performed at the wedding ceremony in Cana of Galilee (John 2:1-11).

The date, the problem, and the location indicate the historical setting as well as the symbolic meaning of the sign. The ceremony took place on the third day. According to the Babylonian Tulmud, "A virgin is to be married on the fourth day of the week and a widow on the fifth day." Thus, the “third day” is not the day of the wedding. Historically, the “third day” refers to the day after Jesus met Nathaniel. Symbolically, it is Jesus’ time. The problem was: No Wine! The solution: Jesus turned water into wine. Historically, Jesus saved the groom’s honor. Had Jesus not intervened, the groom’s family would face extremely damaging social disaster. Symbolically, the changing of water into wine shows an internal transformation. The location, Cana of Galilee, stands for the reception Jesus received in that region in contrast to the rejection he endured in Jerusalem and Judea.

The central lesson seems to me to let Jesus do us a favor in his own time, by in own way, and for his glory.

In His Own Time (1-5)

When the wine ran out, his mother tells Jesus, “They have no more wine.” (1) Some think that Mary rebukes Jesus for bringing his disciples. Jesus and his band caused the shortage of wine, the essential material and symbol of joyous ceremony. This interpretation reminds the reader of Christian setting their tithes and offerings apart from their monthly income. This practice definitely reduces family’s budget. (2) Mary requests Jesus to do something. Mary’s action is a kind of intercessory prayer in behalf of persons facing social dilemma. Jesus validated the second interpretation when he says, “Dear woman, why do you involve me? My time has not yet come.” Let us have a closer look at Jesus’ response.

Dear Woman. The NIV translation is very polite in supplementing “dear.” In some cultures, addressing one’s mother by “woman” is rude and unacceptable. In the Jewish and Roman world, it was rather polite and respectful to address one’s mother in public. By using “woman” instead of “my mother,” Jesus is distancing himself from the mother-son relation. Jesus’ role as the savior of the world is more important than his role as her obedient son and the supplier of physical needs. When the time comes on the cross, Jesus would perform his duty as a son when he put his mother in the care of his beloved disciple.

Why do you involve me? The literal translation of the question is “What to me and to you?” The speaker uses this idiom to disassociate himself with the hearer. It is used by the demons in attempt to avoid confrontation with Jesus (Mark 5:7; Luke 8:28). At this point, Jesus intentionally and purposively distances himself from his mother and her concerns. “[His mother] approached him not as her son but as a miracle worker; he replied not as her son but as her lord” (Keener, Gospel of John, 505). If Jesus do something, he will do it by his initiative and in own time. No one can force or withhold Jesus’ hands. He will do us a favor in his own time.

My hour has not yet come. Jesus repeatedly says, “My hour has not yet come.” The “hour” is the appointed time. Jesus acts and moves according to the time appointed by the Father. The climax of the “hour” about is the crucifixion, when pronounces, “It is finished.” Our urgency cannot force or hasten Jesus’ actions and mission; our faith can anticipate them.

Even with this seemingly initial rejection, Jesus’ mother was not discouraged. She knew that Jesus has supernatural power. Jesus is able to save his host, the groom, from loosing face. Thus, she promptly told the servants to do whatever Jesus would ask them to do. In doing this, she becomes a model of faithful Christian who intercedes in other’s behalf, persists in faith, and acts promptly on that faith. When the time comes, Jesus never disappoints such a person. Jesus always desires to do us a favor in his own time. Let Jesus do us a favor in his own time.

In His Own Way (6-10)

In no time, Jesus began granting his mother request. He told the servants to fill the six stone jars with water. The passage tells us the function and capacity of these jars. They were “the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons” (John 2:6). The stone water jars functions as containers form ritual cleaning. The changing of water into wine symbolizes the transformation of the old systems or things into new meaningful uses. Water in the stone jars no longer serves a Jewish ritual purpose, but it has new function. The stone containers remained the same; but now they held wine.

What would happen if Jesus did not intervene? The groom would face a social disaster for his unfortunate inhospitality. People could even reclaim their wedding gifts in a lawsuit. The groom would lost his face and live in shame. The situation was serious socially and legally. Jesus intervened. He changed the shameful situation to a wonderful ceremony. Jesus prefers to save his friend’s face than to observe the ritual law. Jesus prefers to do a favor in secret than in public. Whether done in public or in secret, the result is the same for people who receive the favor: it brings changes, restoration, and reversal. Our shame, inability, poverty, and dilemma are subject to change when Jesus does us a favor in his own way.

For His Glory (11)

Signs are not ends in themselves. They point to something beyond in a way that is understandable. A sign contain the signifier and the signified. The linguistic symbol or phonetic sound “tree” is the signifier of the real tree (the signified). The sign, the miracle, points to the identity of Jesus. Signs invoke faith. The disciples put their faith in Jesus. More precisely, they re-affirm their faith because they, at least some of them, had believed Jesus as the Messiah before seeing the first sign. By seeing the sign, they reaffirmed their faith.

One question remained. In the previous verses, it was reported that only the servants who drew the water from the jars knew where the wine came from. In other words, only the servants knew about the changing of water into wine. It is possible that the servants could be Jesus’ disciples, who were helping to serve the guests. Although the wedding master ironically praised the groom’s unconventional hospitality, the disciples appropriately see Jesus’ glory. Although Jesus never seeks his own glory, the signs properly signify his glory.

Jesus desires to do us a favor. Let us allow him to do it in his own time, by his own glory, and for his own glory. Let us anticipate his favor faithfully. Let us experience his transforming grace.