The woman looked at her Son, then said to the servants standing nearby, “Whatever He says to you, do it.”[i] Spying six very large stone purification jars, He said to the servants, “fill the water jars.” After the servants filled the six jars to the brim with water, He instructed them to draw some out and take it to the master of ceremonies. Although probably puzzled and not a little intimidated, the servants followed His instructions. When the master of ceremonies tasted the water that had now become wine, he called the bridegroom and said, “Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!”[ii]
[i] John 2: 5
[ii] Ibid. 2: 10
The situation spoke desperation. There was no more wine for the guests, the hosts were on the brink of embarrassment, obtaining a large quantity of wine on such short notice must have seemed impossible. Why would Mary tell the servants to do whatever Jesus instructed them to do? At this point, she hadn’t witnessed any of the many miracles that her Son would perform in the coming three years. So, what was behind her words to the servants? We might raise different speculations, but all I really know to say is that Mary simply believed in her Son.
BELIEF
His Identity
Jesus talked quite a bit about believing in Him, from many perspectives. John’s gospel records at least eighty-six instances of the word, believe. Most of these refer to believing in Jesus as the Son of God. This was a persistent theme of Jesus or more accurately, an urgent theme, as there was much dispute about who He was. He was sent by the Father as the Messiah who would save the entire world. This was His primary mission. It was thus critical for Him to address His identity in the face of widespread unbelief. Belief in Him was first and foremost as the Son of God. As Peter responded when Jesus asked, “Who do you say I am?,” “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”[i]
[i] Matthew 16: 15-16
Healings & Miracles
Jesus also taught that believing in Him releases the power of God. There are exceptions, but most of Jesus’ healings and miracles happened in response to belief. For example:
The crowds believed in His power and authority to heal and brought the sick, maimed and tormented to be healed.
The woman with the issue of blood believed touching the edge of Jesus’ garment could heal her and she put her reputation on the line by reaching out.
The synagogue leader, Jairus, believed in Jesus’ power to heal his daughter.
The nobleman from Capernaum believed in Jesus power to heal his dying son, begging him to come to his house.
The Roman centurion believed in Jesus’ authority to heal his tormented servant.
The guests at Peter’s house believed in Jesus’ ability to heal Peter’s mother-in-law’s fever.
The two blind men on the side of the road believed Jesus could restore their sight, calling out to Him—loudly, as He passed by.
Friends believed Jesus could heal their paralyzed friend, digging an opening in the roof of the house to lower him before Jesus.
The Syro-Phoenician woman believed Jesus could deliver her tormented daughter, persistently asking Jesus to set her free.
It is compelling to realize the role that belief played in Jesus’ ministry of healing and miracles. The people approached Jesus with expectation and belief in Him. The significance of coming with belief is evident in His comment to the woman healed of the issue of blood. He said to the trembling woman, “Daughter, be of good cheer; your faith has made you well. Go in peace.”[i]
[i] Luke 8:48
And when the Roman centurion, seeking healing for his dying servant declared his belief in Jesus’ authority over this sickness, Jesus made a point of saying to the watching crowd, “Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!”[i]
[i] Matthew 8:10
On the other hand, in His own hometown of Nazareth, Jesus marveled at the townspeople’s unbelief. Consequently, He could do no mighty miracles there.[i] If Jesus drew a contrast between the role of belief and unbelief in releasing His power to heal, we need to take note.
[i] Mark 6:1-6
BELIEF IN HIM
The people in Judea and Galilee traveled miles to reach Jesus because they believed in His power to heal. We similarly reach out to Jesus, not physically, but in prayer. We do so because we believe in His power and willingness to heal. Our belief must be in Him, not our prayers. Prayers do play a part in releasing His power but it is still Jesus who does the healing, not our prayers. It can be easy to slip into believing more in our prayers than Jesus, and not even realize it.
Jesus said to the woman healed of the issue of blood “your faith had healed you,” not. “your touch has healed you.” Similarly, Jesus might speak to us and say, “your faith has healed you,” not “your long prayers with just the right words have healed you.”
When we speak God’s word out loud over a situation, we are bearing witness to our belief in the unfailing truth of what He has spoken. Our faith is not in our speaking, but the power of His word. We are the means of bringing the truth and power of His word into contact with our situation.
EMOTION
Belief has times of strong emotion, but also times of dryness. Do we stop praying until we can feel His presence? Absolutely not! We may have changed but God has not.
We, of course, prefer the times when our emotions and our belief align, but it will not always happen that way. There are times when our emotions feed our belief, but on other occasions, we experience little or no emotional involvement. It helps to know that it is not our emotions which brings results, but it is our belief in God that counts.
Lord Jesus, belief is central to our relationship with You. When our experiences do not line up with what we see in Your word or Your life, we can become confused, discouraged. As much as we would rather have it some other way, perseverance is required. What should we do? How do we persevere?
From observing the the gospel accounts of those who came to You for healing, it seems that focusing on You does more to support belief than dwelling on our problems. The answer is not to deny our needs, but we need to avoid becoming so immersed in our needs that we lose sight of You. This can be hard because some of our needs are intense. You know that. But You are patient and will keep turning our attention back to You, over and over.
THE PAINTING
The twelve cocoon-like forms each contain a promise that is yet-to-be. At the right moment, the hidden promise will come forth. Our prayers and speaking God’s word are also cocoon-like forms containing His promises to be released.
I have read that if the moth or butterfly emerges too early, they will always be underdeveloped and if the struggle to release themselves from the cocoon does not take place, their wings will be too weak to fly.
Our attempts to release God’s promises has parallels with the struggle of moths and butterflies to free themselves from their cocoons. God wants to answer our prayers, but He has a bigger picture that we often lack. Our spiritual development is part of that bigger picture. He wants us to be strong enough to fly with Him. Contending to believe and trust Him develops our wings.
Believing in Him is a key goal of our spiritual development. As Jesus said, “Apart from me, you can do nothing.”[i] It often takes time and multiple experiences to come around to this truth. We must come to believe in Him as the “all in all,”[ii] utterly sovereign over all. As Charles Spurgeon observed, “All that is real in the Christian, all that is holy, heavenly, pure, abiding, and saving, is of the Lord Jesus.”[iii]
[i] John 15:5
[ii] Colossians 3:11
[iii] Spurgeon, C., 1871. Christ is all. The Spurgeon Library, https://www.spurgeon.org/resource-library/sermons/christ-is-all/#flipbook/. Accessed January 10, 2024.
BELIEVING IN JESUS
When we focus on the magnitude of who You are, it diminishes our problems.
When we focus on the depth of Your love for us, it raises our expectations.
When we focus on the extent of Your wisdom, it helps us breathe again, for we know that You have a perfect plan.
When we focus on the purity of Your integrity, it increases our confidence.
When we focus on the constancy of Your faithfulness, we rejoice.
Lord Jesus, could we not do as Your mother and simply believe in You?
Sydney Walker, January 10, 2024
To access older posts, click on “uncategorized” below