Obedience

John 2:1-11ESV
On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 2 Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples. 3 When the wine ran out, 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.” 5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”

6 Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. 7 Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. 8 And he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” So they took it. 9 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 10 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.” 11 This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.

There are two verses I would like to focus on in this story: verse 5 and verse 9. This is concerning the servants in the story.

In short, they were told to obey Jesus and when they did they witnessed a miracle.

But lets look at it a little more. Did these servants have to obey Jesus? I am not totally sure one way or the other - these were not Mary's or Jesus' servants (Jesus, Mary and the disciples were guests). I personally doubt that Mary was some sort of wedding planner where she was calling the shots (the master of ceremonies would be praising her instead of the bridegroom). Just imagine being invited to a wedding and you address the caterers: "Whatever cousin Joe-Bob Buford says, you do." Do you think they would comply?

Okay, lets move on and say that Mary had enough influence to where she could direct the servants. They were in the know, there was no wine. Now there is this guy telling us to go fill up these bathing jugs with 30 gallons of water each. Can't you just see it? A beautiful waterfront wedding and reception and cousin Joe-Bob Buford telling the waitstaff to go fill up six bathtubs with river water. "Go fill up your own bathtub buddy!"

The point is that the servants decided to obey Jesus. It was an action of free will. Even if it looked ridiculous they obeyed. And the reward for their obedience: they witnessed a miracle. They got to be part of something that could not be explained other than the mighty power of God.

No pat on the back for their obedience. No cash reward. They didn't even get their individual names put down in the account - they were just "the servants." I think many of us are looking for this when we obey and because we do we lose out out on the greater reward.

Our obedience could put us in a position where we see God work in a mighty way that is totally unrelated to our own lives. Our obedience can lead to someone else's physical blessing, but our blessing may be of a totally different nature. Obedience can lead us to see God at work, a chance for our faith to grow and our hope to be established.