I just got a call from the car repair dude who works on my car, and he told me a list of things my car “needs” with a very disconcerting price tag. This conversation reminds me that “needs” can be very disturbing, and they often force us to figure out ways to resolve these needs. In contrast, needs don’t seem to be disconcerting for Jesus. For example, when I look at the conversation between Jesus and His mom, in John 2, at the wedding feast in Cana, Jesus seems to be pretty relaxed about the “need” for more wine. In contrast, Jesus’ mom seems to be more uptight about this need than Him.
Jesus resolves the need by turning the water into wine, which is Jesus’ first recorded miracle. In this miracle, Jesus stepped into a need and gave a miracle provision, a seemingly straightforward resolution to a human quandary. From my perspective, humans continually have needs, and we would be wise to turn to Jesus for these needs rather than try to solve them without Jesus’ help. Jesus’ mom invited Jesus into the need when the wedding feast ran short of wine. She brought this need to Jesus.
Upon reading John 2:1-12, we see that Jesus miraculously provided for this urgent need. We can also see some helpful applications that we could learn for Jesus participating in the needs we have in our lives.
For starters, I would suggest that it’s important to bring to Jesus the needs that we have in our lives. I’m fully convinced that it’s better to bring our needs to Jesus rather than trying to resolve or supply these needs with only our human efforts, intelligence, experience, networking, resilience, talents, or personality strengths. Mary, Jesus’ mom, brought a need to Jesus, and she let this need be an invitation for Jesus to step in and participate with His provision and abundance.
It’s important to let Jesus answer and resolve the needs in our lives with His methods and strategies instead of demanding that He conform to our solutions. I say this because of Mary’s behavior. In her exchange with Jesus, she let Him know about the need. After making Him aware, she left the resolution of the need in Jesus’ hands and told the servants at the wedding to do whatever Jesus told them to do.
Finally, it’s important to do what Jesus tells us to do, regardless of how senseless or perplexing His instructions might seem. In the wedding feast story, Jesus tells the servants to fill the six waterpots with water and then bring some of that “water” to the master of ceremonies. A servant follows Jesus’ instructions, and upon drinking the “water” turned into wine, the master of the wedding feast is shocked! This “new” wine is far superior to what was served at the beginning.
It’s noteworthy to consider that this first miracle of Jesus is a provision miracle and significant not only for the quantity of the wine (six waterpots) but also for the quality of the wine. I say this because the master of ceremonies comments that Jesus’ wine is far superior to what was served at the beginning of the feast.
So when we think about the needs in our lives, be that finances, time, wisdom, strength, relationships, endurance, or whatever we need, let’s come to Jesus first with these needs. When we let Jesus be our provision, regardless of the need, we invite Jesus to participate in the entirety of our lives. By doing this, we can increase the opportunity to have more intimacy and connection with Jesus.
Let’s allow the needs that we have to be opportunities to connect more deeply with Jesus and cultivate a deeper intimacy with Him!
