The heart of Mary was made glad by this assurance that the cherished hope of long years of anxious waiting was indeed true. It would have been strange enough if, mingled with this deep and holy joy, there had not been a trace of the fond mother’s natural pride. But the guests assembled and time passed on. At length an incident occurred that caused much perplexity and regret. It was discovered that from some cause the wine had failed. The wine used was the pure juice of the grape, and it was impossible to provide it at that late hour. It was unusual to dispense with it on these occasions; so the mother of Christ, who, in her capacity of relative had a prominent part to perform at the feast, spoke to her son, saying, “They have no wine.” In this communication was a hidden request, or rather, suggestion, that He to whom all things were possible would relieve their wants. But Jesus answered, “Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come.” {2SP 100.2}

Maria blev glad ved denne forsikring om, at det håb, hun havde næret i så mange år og med længsel forventet virkelig var sandt. Og vi (101) kan ikke undres over, om der med den kærlige moders dybe og hellige glæde blandede sig lidt naturlig stolthed. Imidlertid samledes gæsterne, og tiden gik hen. Til sidst opdagede man, at der af en eller anden grund ikke var mere vin, og dette satte dem i stor forlegenhed. Den vin, som man brugte, var ren druesaft, og det var umuligt at skaffe den nu så sent. Det var almindelig skik at benytte den ved sådanne lejligheder. Derfor talte Jesu moder, som på grund af sit slægtskab måtte udføre en vigtig tjeneste ved festen, til sin søn og sagde: "De har ikke vin." Denne meddelelse indeholdt et skjult forlangende eller rettere sagt et forslag, at den, for hvem alle ting var mulige, måtte afhjælpe deres mangel. Men Jesus svarer: "Kvinde, hvad vil du mig? Min time er ikke endnu kommet."