Happy Mother's Day!

For Sunday, May 11, 2025:

John 2:5 ESV: “Jesus’ mother said to the servants, ‘Do whatever he tells you.’”

Mary, Jesus and his disciples were all invited to a wedding in Cana. Back then, a wedding was a multi-day celebration. The reception could last for a week! But this festivity was embarrassingly about to end prematurely. They had run out of wine. Because water wasn’t purified like it is nowadays, wine was the standard beverage served with meals, so without wine, the gala would come to an abrupt halt.

Mary commented to her son, “They have run out of wine,” to which Jesus replied, “What does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” Mary ignored his protest and told the servers, “Do whatever Jesus tells you!”

So Jesus stepped up and did the right thing. He honored his mother! Jesus had the servers bring big stone water jars to the Maitre’d. While being transported, the water changed into wine, and the Maitre’d asked why they had saved the best wine for last?

So examining Jesus’ behavior, even though it was not yet his time to go public with his ministry, it was a good decision to honor mom. Following his example, today we celebrate Mother’s Day in the US. It’s a good day to figuratively put mom up on a pedestal. My own mother has passed, so I can only remember her. But I honor my wife, the mother of my children. I honor my two daughters and my son’s wife, who are mothers to my grandchildren.

As Christians, we should honor all women, whether or not they are actually mothers. God saw that it was not good for man to be alone, so he gave us partners. Honoring women honors God’s decision! We should follow in Jesus’ footsteps and honor our mothers and all women – especially today!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship