Summary
Calling on Him as Savior and Lord
In the culture of the first century, women were often treated as possessions—not addressed in public, not taught by the rabbis, not even permitted to testify in a court because they were considered unreliable. Against that backdrop, the Lord Jesus stood out radically. He spoke openly with women, healed them, taught them, allowed them to travel with the disciples, and entrusted to Mary Magdalene the very first witness of His resurrection. He restored to women the dignity their Creator had given them.
That makes His words at the wedding in Cana startle the modern ear. When the wine ran out—a serious crisis in a culture where weddings stretched on for days and a host's failure could even invite a lawsuit—Mary came to Jesus with the problem: "They have no wine." His reply, "Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come" John 2:4, sounds harsh in English, but the Greek term carried respect. It is closer to "lady" or "ma'am." There was no insult here; there was, however, a deliberate shift in relationship.
The shift is everything. Mary approached Jesus as her son; Jesus answered her as her Messiah. His public ministry had begun, and with it a new order: He was no longer merely her child but her Lord. The phrase "my hour has not yet come" is unmistakably Messianic language—language He uses again in John 7:6, John 7:30, John 13:1, and John 17:1, always pointing toward the cross. Even at Cana, the wedding miracle is set in the shadow of Calvary.
Mary understood. Her response is one of the most beautiful confessions of faith in Scripture: "Do whatever he tells you" John 2:5. She submitted to the Lordship of her own Son. And at the cross, when Jesus again addresses her as "Woman" John 19:26, the same dynamic holds—He speaks to her as her Savior, redeeming the world, including the sin of His own mother, and providing for her in love.
This raises the searching question of how we ourselves address the Lord Jesus. If we come to Him expecting His will to bend to ours, we are addressing Him as a servant. If our prayers are an unbroken stream of petitions with little praise, we are not honoring Him rightly. If we presume to direct Him, we treat Him as a child; if we treat Him as merely a buddy, we forget the throne on which He sits. The pattern Mary gives us is the pattern of faith: "Do whatever he tells you."
Philippians the second chapter holds the answer Philippians 2:7-11. The One who emptied Himself, took the form of a servant, and humbled Himself to death on a cross has been given the name above every name—so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. To call on Him rightly is to call on Him as both Savior and Lord, bending the knee and entrusting the whole of life to His Word. For more, see Calling on Him as Savior and Lord: 10-1-23.
Video citations
- Calling on Him as Savior and Lord: 10-1-23 — Would you open your Bible's please with me to the gospel of John the second chapter for our study this morning? If you're using a Pew edition of Holy Scripture, you're going to find that on page 80…