John 2:3-4 – And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come.”
I was sitting in Sunday School this morning when we were discussing the miracle of the water being turned into wine. During the discussion, different opinions were being given about why did Jesus say it wasn’t His hour and yet Mary told them to do whatever He said? As we were sitting there I heard the Spirit of God share something with me.
Jesus was at the wedding feast with His family and disciples. The wine runs out and Mary, His mother, comes to Him and makes Him aware of the situation. Mary knows that she is talking to the Son of God, One who is capable of doing miracles. We can surmise all day long about maybe God gave her a dream, maybe He had already done a miracle, or it really was His time and she knew it; but scripture tells us that Jesus said it was not yet His time.
So how did Mary get her son to perform a miracle when it wasn’t His time? Her faith! Mary very confidently and filled with faith looked to the servants and said, “Whatever He says to you, do it.” And at that moment, Jesus recognized her faith filled words and responded, because He always responds to faith.
We see this happen when the Syro-Phoenician woman goes to Jesus on behalf of her daughter who had an unclean spirit. In Mark 7, starting at verse 24 we can read the account of what happened. She was a Gentile and she wanted healing for her daughter because she had heard about Jesus. Jesus tells the woman that the children must be fed first, meaning this was the time for the Jewish people, not the Gentile people. He even called the Gentiles dogs. But this woman was not to be deterred by the fact that she was a Gentile and it wasn’t her time. She responded in faith that even the dogs eat the crumbs from the children’s table. In other words, she wasn’t looking to be denied!
I hadn’t seen this before, but I saw it today just as clearly as if Jesus Himself had explained it to me. Her faith caused Jesus to respond even though it wasn’t His time to heal the Gentile girl. That was Paul’s assignment!
The Bible establishes a truth on the grounds of two or three witnesses, so I will add an Old Testament witness.
Look at the life of David. He was an Old Covenant man with a New Covenant experience. He had the Spirit of God with Him while others experienced the Spirit of God when God needed them to do something. He initiated worship to the King, while others waited for those who served in the temple to lead them into worship. He had a personal relationship with God when it had’t even be thought to be possible. David’s faith pulled the God of the New Testament into his Old Testament life. God loved David and David lived as if he knew it!
You may be saying at this point, okay, that’s fine, but what is the relevance? The point is simple, Jesus is greatly moved by faith and not by timing. A lot of the time, we place Jesus within the confines of time and say it’s not my time, it’s not your season, or whatever! But Jesus, while working within the timeframe given Him, can be moved upon by faith to grant you what you need now even if it is scheduled for a later time in life.
I know that there are some fixed times in the Spirit realm and in Scriptures, but faith causes God to shift the calendar of events on our behalf. I thought that was news worth sharing! Don’t let time pass you by waiting on the right time when scriptures say, “Now faith is!” Believe He’ll do it today! Wonderful Jesus!
Wonderful Jesus! 