These quarantined days of motherhood are not for the faint of heart. Mothers everywhere are now faced with one more hat to juggle, that of the teacher. Certainly the hats of productive employee, domestic goddess, dutiful wife, and mother of the year were quite enough to juggle before but now... teacher? It's enough to drive a woman to drink a good glass of wine (or two or three) for all the wrong reasons.
In John chapter 2, Jesus finds himself at a wedding celebration with his mother and his disciples when the wine reserved for the wedding festivities runs out. Wine at a Jewish wedding is symbolic. It represents sanctity, separation, blessing, joy, and celebration. To run out of it is indeed a bad thing. Mary, Jesus' mother, comes to him and tells him, "They have no wine." (vs 3). Go with me a moment as I imagine the beginning of this miracle from a mother's point of view.
As a mother, I look at my children and I see all that is possible for them. I see into their hearts and eyes and I know exactly what they are capable of. Wanting to be a good mother, I feel it is my job to push them to their full potential, to encourage them to try the very thing that they think they cannot or should not do. I feel this gravity of responsibility on me all the time to guide them into the best version of themselves. (I believe this is part of why this extra hat of teacher in these times of quarantine is driving all of us to the brink of our sanity. Teachers have always helped us with this task we find so important. Teachers are our partner for growing our child's potential- for motivating them to do big things, helping them stay focused, and encouraging them to give their best effort. They share our burden.) I imagine this is what Mary was feeling as the wine ran out and she relayed the problem to Jesus. I imagine that in the depth of her being, from the moment of his birth, Mary believed in Jesus as Lord. She knew in her bones that he was capable of so much, she was ready to push him to his potential. His response? "Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not come." (vs. 4) Not to be disrespectful to the miracle, but to a degree this makes me chuckle. It reminds me of my own teenagers when I ask them to do a task that they either do not want to do or don't see themselves as ready for. Still Mary did not lose her focus. She told the servants "Do whatever he tells you." (vs. 5) In my mind, her statement to the servants, spoken where I am sure Jesus could overhear her, was her good momma statement of encouragement to her child. It was also her faith statement to him..."You may not think your time is here, but I see you, I know you can do this, I trust in your, I believe in who you are and that you are sent from God to do great things." The rest of the chapter details how Jesus did indeed tell the servants to take 6 stone water jars and fill them with water. When the servants took the water to the master, instead of water, he tasted a very good quality of wine, one that was impressive, one that was better than the wine served first. The result of performing this first miracle of his ministry was that Jesus manifested his glory and his disciples believed in him.
For myself as a believer reading this miracle in today's world, it stirs in my heart that a relationship with Jesus is like the new wine in the jars. Relationship with him is richer, more full, and overflowing with good. By giving us Jesus, God has saved his best for us. We can spend a lot of our life tasting wines that we think are good for us (titles, money, relationship with the wrong people) but those wines always run out and leaves us disappointed. Those wines loose their sanctity, blessing, and joy. However, when we taste this new wine, this full relationship with Jesus, we are satisfied in ways that we did not know possible. We have sanctity, we recognize our blessings, and we feel so much real joy. So mothers of the world, let's not lose faith in our new role as teachers. Let's press on with seeing our children's potential, in encouraging them, in being there to support them, in loving them with grace during this difficult time. And when all the hats feel like too much and we feel like we have "run out" of our own ability, let's turn to the wine that truly satisfies before we pour that second or third glass of Moscato. Let's run to Jesus and allow him to pour himself into us. Let's worship him, give him thanks, speak to him with our prayers and read his word to fill our cup. Then we will find ourselves refreshed and ready to face another day of hat wearing. :)
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