Monday, May 4, 2009
The exchange between Jesus and Mary in CH 2 has always puzzled me. It's not clear that she expects a miracle by informing him of the lack of wine, but he seems to understand that she is asking for one. His apparent rebuke seems harsh, but her response to simply instruct the servants to do what he says also seems to indicate it was not unexpected, and it certainly did not seem to affect her expectations. Maybe "What have I to do with thee" was a more common saying, (Like, "Get out of here!", or more recently, "Shut up!") and not interepreted the way we understand it? Any insight or comments would be appreciated.
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Marge...I had the same conversation with Jon this morning! I too thought the comment sounded harsh but Mary did not respond to it as harsh and simply told the servants to do as he told them. I think it must have been a common saying and not intended to be harsh as we interpret it.
ReplyDelete(As far as the removing of the poll: I was going to check, No, I promise to vote regularly...but I think you need one more choice: No, I will TRY to vote regularly; that is the one I would choose!! :)
A version I like to use when I'm looking for a more modern English sense of a KJV passage is the English Standard Version or ESV (available as a free download if you use e-Sword a free Bible study program listed under "Useful Links" below). The ESV passage reads:
ReplyDelete4 And Jesus said to her, "Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come."
Taken in this context this is a wonderful account of both:
Mary's faith because she asks in the first place and then told the servants to do whatever Jesus asks them to do.
and
God in Christ willing to change His plans to help those in need. I think it is a wonderful illustration of how prayer and faith can do miraculous things!