Do Whatever He Tells You

Do you respond to God’s will promptly and wholeheartedly? Dr. Sri focuses on Mary’s powerful words to the servants at the Wedding Feast of Cana and explains how those words are rooted in old testament language about covenant obedience and how they can inspire us to respond boldly to Jesus in discipleship.

Snippet from the Show

“When Mary says, ‘Do whatever he tells you’ it’s as if she has on her lips the profession of faith that Israel made at Mount Sinai in Exodus when they responded ‘We will do everything the Lord has said.’ “

Shownotes

The Wedding Feast at Cana 

2 John: 1-10

On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.”

 “Woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.”

His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”

 Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.

 Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim.

Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.”

They did so,  and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.”

• We want to be men and women who grow in our response to God’s Will and are attentive to God’s Will with our whole heart.
  
  
• The biblical scene of the Wedding feast at Cana reveals that Mary can help us respond to Jesus in amazing ways.
  
  
•  The powerful words of Mary- “Do whatever he tells you”– point to the wholehearted trust and abandonment to the will of God that Mary possessed in her heart.
  
  
• Biblical scholars have pointed out that these words echo the language that was used in the old testament by the people of Israel in regards to covenant obedience. We see similar language being used when the Israelites sealed themselves to God’s covenant, renewed their covenant, and rebuilt the Temple.
  
  
  • The people all responded together, “We will do everything the Lord has said.” So Moses brought their answer back to the Lord.– Exodus 19:8
    
    
  • When Moses went and told the people all the Lord’s words and laws, they responded with one voice, “Everything the Lord has said we will do.”– Exodus 24:3
    
    
  • And the people said to Joshua, “The Lord our God we will serve, and his voice we will obey.”– Joshua 24:24
    
    
  • Then they said, “We will restore these and require nothing from them. We will do as you say.” And I called the priests, and took an oath of them to do as they had promised.- Nehemiah 5:12
    
    
• Mary’s words echo the profession of faith of the people of Israel.
  
  
• There are also parallels between Joseph in the old testament and Jesus in this scene. When Pharaoh tells the people to do whatever Joseph told them, Joseph at thirty years old provided for the people an abundance of grain in a time of great lack. At the Wedding Feast of Cana, Jesus at thirty years old also provided an abundance of wine at a time of great need. 
  
  
• At the Wedding Feast of Cana, Mary commands the servant to be obedient to Jesus and trust him completely. The Greek word to describe the servants in this passage is the same word that is used for “deacon”, which is also the word used for disciple in the gospels. 
  
  
• We are called to be disciples of Jesus who respond promptly to God’s Will and who trust God without hesitation. 
  
  
• Entrust everything to Mary and ask her to help you do whatever Jesus asks of you. 
  
  

Resources

• Visit Dr. Sri’s website at www.edwardsri.com and to book online events with Dr. Sri email events.edwardsri@gmail.com
• Find more of Dr. Sri’s episodes at www.ascensionpress.com/allthingscatholic 
• Ascension is pleased to offer our new and improved online bible study programs and sacramental preparation programs digitally to help you minister with flexibility. Go to www.ascensionpress.com to view all our offerings

Dr. Edward Sri is a theologian, well-known Catholic speaker, and author of several best-selling books. His work with Ascension includes study programs such as A Biblical Walk Through the Mass, No Greater Love: A Biblical Walk Through Christ’s Passion and Mary: A Biblical Walk with the Blessed Mother. Several of Dr. Sri’s programs were filmed on-site in the Holy Land, and feature immersive video explorations of the sacred sites where Jesus, Mary, and the Apostles lived and died.

Dr. Sri is the host of the acclaimed Ascension podcast All Things Catholic with Dr. Edward Sri.  Together with Curtis Martin, Dr. Sri is a founding leader of the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS), of which he serves as senior vice president of Apostolic Outreach.

Dr. Sri lives with his wife Beth and their children in Colorado.