Did Mary change God's will?

  • Thread starter Thread starter amarshall98
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
A

amarshall98

Guest
I know she couldn’t have defied God since she is sinless but in the wedding feast at Cana when she tells Jesus that they had no more wine He said that His hour had not yet come. Yet she still tells the servants to do what He says anyways. How could she have gotten Him to do this if it wasn’t His time?
 
This is a prize example of Mary acting in her role as Queen Mother of the Messianic king of Israel and interceding for the needy.

So then we do indeed see her prevailing upon Jesus to begin his miraculous ministry at that time.

I don’t know that she changed God’s will…more likely He knew what would happen.

God’s will is always for His glory, so this makes sense to me.
 
Church_Militant said:
This is a prize example of Mary acting in her role as Queen Mother of the Messianic king of Israel and interceding for the needy.

So then we do indeed see her prevailing upon Jesus to begin his miraculous ministry at that time.

I don’t know that she changed God’s will…more likely He knew what would happen.

God’s will is always for His glory, so this makes sense to me.
Click to expand...
But if He knew what would happen then why did He say it wasn’t His time yet?
 
Mary was Jesus’ mother. A good son obeys his mother according to the fourth commandment.

Mary was given the singular privilege of initiating the chain of events which would lead to the redemption of all creation.

-Tim-
 
No, God does not change his mind. If he did, he would not be God.

As to why our Lord said “Woman, what have I to do with you?”, St. Augustine comments:

it was because our Lord as God had not a mother, though as man He had, and the miracle He was about to work was the act of His Divinity, not of human infirmity. When therefore His mother demanded a miracle, He, as though not acknowledging a human birth, when about to perform a divine work, said, Woman, what have I to do with you? As if He said, You did not beget that in Me, which works the miracle, My Divinity. … But because you brought forth My infirmity, I will acknowledge you then, when that very infirmity shall hang on the cross. And therefore He adds, Mine hour is not yet come: as if to say, I will acknowledge you when the infirmity, of which you are the mother, shall hang from the cross. … (qtd. in , John II, Lectio 1Catena Aurea)
 
amarshall98 said:
But if He knew what would happen then why did He say it wasn’t His time yet?
Click to expand...
I thought this was an interesting reflection on it:

"In the Sacred Scripture God has His day, the devil has his hour. In the Gospel of St. John, the word “hour” is used seven times, and in every single instance it refers to evil, the sinfulness of men, the deceit of the devil; so that at the end of the tragic hour of our Blessed Lord, He can say to Judas, “This is your hour. All you can do is just turn out the Light of the world.” So the word “hour” refers always to evil.The first time our Lord used the word “hour” was at the marriage feast of Cana, when the Blessed Mother asked Him to work a miracle…And our Blessed Lord said to His Mother, “My hour has not yet come.” “My hour.” What He is saying to her is, “My dear Mother, are you asking me to proclaim my divinity, to go before men as the Messiah and the Son of God? Do you realize that the moment I do that your relationship with me changes? You will then no longer be my Mother, you will be the Mother of everyone that I will redeem; so I call you the beautiful name of ‘Woman,’ the universal Mother of the world.”
-Abp Fulton Sheen

In other words, the “hour” (or in your translation “time”) refers to the Cross. By beginning his public ministry with a miracle, it would begin the countdown to the Passion. Mary already had an idea about the passion to be because of the prophecy of Simeon. In fact, she would undergo her own passion, as it was said “And thy own soul a sword shall pierce”. So I don’t believe Mary was any more eager than her Son was in Gethsemane to get the ball rolling. She was rather perfectly obedient like her Son was perfectly obedient. And like any True Man, you listen to the pleas of your mother.
 
amarshall98 said:
I know she couldn’t have defied God since she is sinless but in the wedding feast at Cana when she tells Jesus that they had no more wine He said that His hour had not yet come. Yet she still tells the servants to do what He says anyways. How could she have gotten Him to do this if it wasn’t His time?
Click to expand...
To me, Our Lady presented Jesus with the problem at the wedding feast and heard the response of Jesus and simply told the servants to follow His Will, or whatever He said (which to my mind would have been fine with Mary, no matter what Jesus had said).
Though Jesus replies that His Hour has not yet come, He decides to change the water into wine anyway and mark the beginning of His public ministry in partnership with His mother. That tells me something!
 
amarshall98 said:
I know she couldn’t have defied God since she is sinless but in the wedding feast at Cana when she tells Jesus that they had no more wine He said that His hour had not yet come. Yet she still tells the servants to do what He says anyways. How could she have gotten Him to do this if it wasn’t His time?
Click to expand...
This is the perfect example of the classic Jewish Mother.

Jesus and his apostles arrived at the wedding and were having a good time. (perhaps the reason they were running out of wine)

Mary noticed this and was compelled to do something about it.

Follow along in a modern sense …

Mary: “Son, They have no more wine” (insinuating that maybe his buddies were the reason…)

Jesus: "Mom…My hour has not yet come.” (I’m not ready for this right now)

Mary: said to the servants, (Not to Jesus) “Do whatever he tells you.”

This puts Jesus on the spot…but it is typical of a perfect Jewish Mother. Today a Jewish Mom would say: “this is my son the Doctor ( or lawyer) do what he tells you to do.” Mary just left out the “Redeemer” title.

Was it His “time”? Or was it not…? We don’t know.

What I see is nothing more than a loving ADULT son still respecting his Mom and reluctantly doing what she wants.
 
Thanks for all the responses they really helped. God bless all 🙂
 
amarshall98 said:
I know she couldn’t have defied God since she is sinless but in the wedding feast at Cana when she tells Jesus that they had no more wine He said that His hour had not yet come. Yet she still tells the servants to do what He says anyways. How could she have gotten Him to do this if it wasn’t His time?
Click to expand...
He made a request of her, so it would not be defying God’s will, it was her free will choice.

At Cana, Mary informed Jesus of the issue and knew that He would take care of it.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top