Tuesday, September 3, 2019

Underneath Miracles


This Sunday in the church I serve, we are starting a study of the miracles of Jesus. His miracles were wonderful in and of themselves, of course. To give sight to the blind and feed 5000 with 5 loaves and 2 fish were quite the feat for those effected. 

But what is special for me about the miracles of Jesus are not the miracles themselves, but what is going on underneath. It's the underneath that matters, and it's there that Jesus seems to do his best work.

Take for example the first miracle of Jesus, turning water into wine at the wedding in Cana in John 2. Much has been said of the symbolism of this act; how Jesus turns simple things into glorious things, how this wedding banquet was a foreshadowing of the heavenly wedding banquet yet to come between Christ and his "bride", the Church. It also shows how even adult sons should listen to their mothers. :)

But underneath this miracle is really a simple desire--that the bride and groom wouldn't be humiliated. Remember that in Jesus' day, people tended to live in the same town their entire lives, for generations. This young couple probably met when they were kids, fell in love, and their union was a connection and reflection of their two families. 

And the wedding feast was their chance to celebrate and treat their community, the community that raised them. 

And so to run out of wine, to have to kill the party before it was over--there was almost nothing more shameful. The humiliation would have haunted them for the rest of their lives.

But Jesus cared about their humiliation. The last thing he and his mother (where he learned it from, according to John 2) wanted was for this young couple to suffer such a fate. And so, Jesus turned water into wine--the best wine--turning their potential humiliation into a place of wonder and pride. 

One of the mandates of Jesus is that we follow him (Matthew 4:19), and that together we will do "even greater things" than the things we see him do (John 14:12). 

Now, that may not include turning water into wine (although, let's face it, the fact that humans can do this is incredible, a small miracle in fact). But it most definitely will include turning people's potential humiliation into security, comfort, and joy. Whenever we get a chance to do this--to lift someone up instead of tear them down, to come alongside them so that they don't fail (or don't fail alone)--whenever we work for the dignity of others, we are performing a water-to-wine-type miracle. 

I can raise a glass and toast to that. 

Cheers,


Jeff