Thursday, March 3, 2011

Seeing Jesus On The Front-Side

There is a unique story in the gospels that tells about a particular miracle of Jesus, and it makes me smile every time. Jesus and His disciples are invited to a wedding, and they go. It's a festive occasion, and I can imagine them having a good time. Jesus isn't preaching or healing or being asked a lot of questions. In fact, most people aren't aware of who He is yet, because He hasn't begun His public ministry. He's just Mary's son who brought some new friends to the wedding. Jesus isn't the center of attention, the Bride and Groom are, even if their names aren't mentioned in John's narrative.

The story goes like this: Jesus is enjoying the party along with everyone else, and then His mother comes to Him and says, "They have no more wine." Apparently this was a big deal at a Jewish wedding, and His mother is concerned for the family. We don't really know if this was a result of poor-planning on the part of the bridegroom and his family, or if some of the guests were being a little too greedy. This may have been a poor family pulling together a wedding on a shoe-string budget, and the wine they had was all they could afford. But whatever the reason behind it, the wine was gone, and Mary asks Jesus to solve the problem.

"How does that concern you and me?" He asks her. She doesn't respond and simply turns to the servants and says, "Do whatever He tells you to do." She seems to have confidence in her Son to get some more wine from somewhere, and He gets it. But He doesn't make a trip to the wine shop to pick up a few more bottles. He just asks the servants to fill up some water jars and turns the water into wine. The best wine, and plenty of it.

I can imagine John sitting down to write about the man he called Jesus. He starts out with some grand, eloquent words...In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. (John 1:1-2) He continues on in this eloquent style for awhile, but eventually his description of the Messiah gets a little more personal. He talks about meeting Jesus for the first time, the little conversation they have, and then he tells how several of his fellow disciples first encountered Him and why. Each of their stories is a little different, but they're all intrigued by Him. And they follow Him when He says, "Come, and follow Me."

They end up following Him to this wedding. How they interacted with Him that day, we don't know. We just know they were all there together, having a nice time most-likely. And then these ordinary men witness their new Friend do something truly miraculous. I can picture them rubbing their eyes and shaking their heads in bewilderment. "Did he just do what I think he just did? Did you see that? Holy cow! Who is this guy?"

John puts it this way. This, the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed at Cana in Galilee. He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him. (John 2:11)

I think it's interesting that Jesus revealed His glory to His disciples in this "little" way. I say, little, in comparison to things Jesus did later, like healing people of their diseases, giving sight to the blind, and raising people from the dead. Turning water into wine is just as miraculous as anything else Jesus ever did, but not as significant in terms of life-and-death issues. As I was jotting some notes down in my journal on that, however, I thought, 'How often do I see Jesus in the "little" things?' He doesn't have to raise the dead for me to see His glory. I've seen Him do some "big" things once in awhile, but thank God I haven't had to see Him do those big things too often. Why? Because He takes care of so much on the front-side.

I haven't had to ask Him to heal me from an incurable disease because He's kept me healthy for 41 years. I haven't had to see Him provide in "supernatural" ways very often because most of the time I've had plenty. I haven't had to ask Him to restore my sight because I've never been blind. I haven't had to see Him raise one of my children from the dead because He's kept them healthy and safe. No, the things I've seen are a lot more like Jesus turning water into wine. The everyday things that I often don't even think about because they just happen like clock-work. Most of the guests at that wedding never even knew there was a problem. They didn't see the miracle because there was no need for that. Jesus didn't go around telling everyone what He had done, not even the Bride and Groom, but everyone there benefitted from it.

Sometimes obvious miracles are needed. And sometimes the healing or answers we're looking for don't come. But Jesus always saves the day somehow--just how we need and however we can best see His glory, even if a lot of waiting or sorrow is involved. But we don't have to wait for those "big" things in life to see the faithfulness of our God. We can see it every day. Learn to recognize miracles on the front-side, in the "little" things, and you will see how blessed you truly are. Because a lot of little things add up to Something Big: His love for you. His care. The peace, joy, and hope He wants for you. And enough of those things to share with those around us.

Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let Him sing songs of praise. (James 5:13)

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