A Quick Nod in My Direction?

   Now this could be touchy this morning. I read the Scripture passage, and then I tried to recreate the scene and give the words a little different translation. Tricky and a little dangerous, I know, and I do not want to pollute Scripture, but this is what I felt like it was saying to me.

   In John chapter 2, there is the story of Jesus turning the water into wine at the wedding in Cana. There is also the discourse between Mary, His mother, and Jesus about the problem the bridegroom was facing as the wine ran out in the middle of the party. The ESV Bible translates these words like this:

   "the mother of Jesus said to him, "They have no wine." 4 And Jesus said to her, "Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come."

   On the surface, the translated words seem a little bit harsh as if He told her not to bother Him, it was not His thing to do to take care of any physical problem at the feast. It just was not His time to begin doing all of that kind of stuff.

   But how would that stack up with the Jesus that we see in the rest of Scripture? Jesus would have treated His mother with respect and probably deferred to her in all of this, trying to please her and relieve a problem for the people there, especially those who would stand to be embarrassed by the outage.

   So could these words be translated like this; "Mother, do you want me to really do something about all of this? Do you think that I should show these people who I am at this time?"

   If that is a possibility, then I see Mary just giving Him a quick nod, and then telling the servants to do whatever he said.

   Now Jesus knew all things, He knew what would happen and when it would happen, He knew the times and the seasons, so He was not taken by surprise when all of this happened. This situation was preordained, and He knew the part He was to play. He was there "for such a time as this". Could He have been hearing the voice of His Heavenly Father through His earthly mother?

   As I struggle through some situation, some crisis or opportunity, do I want a bolt from heaven to let me know what to do (that would be nice sometimes, but a little scary too)? Or do I listen for God's instruction through the voice of someone else?

   God is not limited and He can "speak" in many ways, but I can limit, on my own, how this can happen if I do not listen to what others tell me. Discernment is a big part of this, but God can use others in my life, just as He used Mordecai in the life of Queen Esther.

   Back a few blogs ago, as I struggled with a role that God was calling me to take on, I got a comment from one of my friends, who said, "So, continue to serve God, as He has, through men, chosen you to lead other men".

   Was that "my quick nod"?