The years between 12 and 30 or so aren't recorded for us in the bible. I love how Mel Gibson's The Passion brought some life, humanity and humor to the relationship between Mary and Jesus. I don't think he used the wedding scene in his movie, but it would have been cool to see.
So days before the wedding, Jesus is baptized by John the Baptist and starts gathering disciples. His first 30 years have passed. The last 3, his main mission, are about to begin.
Jesus and Mary were invited to a wedding in Cana. Much like my own wedding reception, they ran out of wine. Not good.
We really don't know whether Jesus performed any miracles at home during the unrecorded years, but my hunch is that he did not. He used them to point to who he was, and as he says in John 2:4, his hour to show the world who He is hasn't come yet.
But Mary knew somehow. She knew what He was capable of. When I absorb the dialogue between Mary and Jesus in this scene, it makes me laugh for some reason. It's really quite amusing.
John 2:1 On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 2 Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples. 3 When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” 4 And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” 5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”
Imagine seeing Mary say to her son. "Jesus, they have no wine." It makes you wonder if they talked for years about his plans, his powers, etc.
Imagine his eye contact and facial expressions: "What does this have to do with me?"
Then the part I think is funny. She didn't respond to his question. She turned to the servants. Something in his eyes must have shown her that he was about to make some wine. She said to the servants: Do whatever he tells you. I think her heart was racing as she said this.
John 2:6 Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. 7 Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. 8 And he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” So they took it. 9 When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom 10 and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.” 11 This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.
An observation regarding creation (made at liberty, maybe not what I'm supposed to learn):
In a lab, I wonder how old scientists would have estimated this "good wine" to be? I'm guessing they would have estimated that it was more than minutes old. God has the power to create things that appear older than they really are. I don't know how old the Earth really is, but I guess my point is that it might have been created a few thousand years ago, yet with an apparent age in billions. Who really knows.
