mary knew!

I was leading worship at a ladies' fellowship, and was blessed by quite a few nuggets of truth from the teaching.

I've been meditating one of the statements that stood out for me: Mary knew when it was time for Jesus to do his first miracle at the wedding.

How did Mary know?

Many of us focus on the birth of Jesus and assume that the Magnificat was the only time she heard from heaven, or perhaps not even aware that God is continuing to speak to her through various events and people in her life. Still, the Magnificat shows us clearly Jesus' destiny as Messiah. The glorious song of the angelic hosts, the visits from the magi and the shepherds, as well as Joseph's supernatural encounters God's hand, all clearly pointed to Jesus' divine purpose.

We see in Luke 2:19 that all these had a strong impact on her heart, and she continued to meditate on the Words she heard and the events that have taken place.

But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.

On the 8th day after Jesus was born, he was presented at the temple and circumcised. Moved by the Spirit, Simeon recognised Jesus as the Messiah, and prophesied over the baby and His mother things that will take place in their lives in the future. Luke 2:33 records Joseph's and Mary's reactions to the extraordinary prophecy:

The child's father and mother marveled at what was said about him.

Anna also knew in her spirit who Jesus was, and began to preach to all.

Fast forward to Jesus at 12 years of age: He remained behind and was discussing the Word of God with the teachers. People were amazed at His answers and understanding. Here, Jesus was beginning to understand His own role as Messiah and relationship with God as Father, as evidenced by his answer in Luke 2:49 to his parents who were anxiously seeking Him:

"Why were you searching for me?" he asked. "Didn't you know I had to be in my Father's house?"

<sup>Again, it is recorded that Mary treasured these things, and perhaps in the years to come, began to understand more, although not fully, what Jesus was supposed to do:

Luke 2:50-51
50</sup>But they did not understand what he was saying to them. ⁵¹Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart.

In those interim years, where nothing much was recorded of Jesus' life except that he grew in wisdom and stature and in favour with both God and man, Mary must have continued to observe and hear from the Holy Spirit so that in John 2:5, which was after Jesus' baptism by John the Baptist, she could state boldly and firmly:

His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you."

Did she know better than Jesus? Jesus did say just before she instructed the servants that his time had not yet come.

The answer could be found in the miracle of water being turned into wine, and that was the best wine the wedding guests had tasted at the wedding.

Jesus performed his first miracle, and Mary knew His time had come. I believe she heard from the Holy Spirit.