Day 6 - Friday - Connect the Testaments: A 365-Day Daily Devotions with Bible Reading Plan - Logos

 February 4: What Type of Savior?

Exodus 9:1–10:29; John 2:1–12; Song of Solomon 1:15–17

It’s tempting to operate life on our own terms and only call on God when we hit a crisis. If we’re not busy studying how God has worked in the past and relying on the work of the Spirit in our lives, we can easily fall into the pattern of calling on Him to meet our desires rather than realizing that He is the first to deliver what we need.

In John 2, we get a sense of what this was like for Mary and the disciples at the wedding in Cana. While Mary wants Jesus to save the day and the bridegroom from certain ruin and humiliation—Jesus shows her that He is no magician. His soft rebuke reminds her that His plan of salvation exceeds what she can perceive: “What does your concern have to do with me, woman? My hour has not yet come” (John 2:4). (This phrase seems derogatory to our modern ears, but it actually would have been ordinary language between a son and mother in the first-century ad.) However, after doing so, He willingly and liberally grants her request.

This miracle, the first in a series in the Gospel of John, helped Jesus’ disciples believe in Him (John 2:11). But even throughout His ministry and witnessing other miracles, they would struggle to fully understand why He came. Those closest to Jesus didn’t yet understand the role He came to fulfill. He constantly needed to remind and correct them.

God knows our needs, and He made a plan to meet those needs. His glory was displayed at Cana, but His purpose for coming—for redeeming both them and us—would be revealed at another event that would confound human understanding: the shame and glory of the cross. He fulfilled that need. And today, we can go to Him for all of our needs. If it is in His will, He will grant it.

How do you rely on Jesus to fulfill your most profound need?

Rebecca Van Noord

 Barry, John D., and Rebecca Kruyswijk. Connect the Testaments: A One-Year Daily Devotional with Bible Reading Plan. Print. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012.