This begins a five-part series examining why Jesus Christ left the splendor of Heaven and came into this world of ours.
We know ultimately, as Luke 19:10 tells us, that the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost. That is, He came to open up the possibility of our being reunited with the Father.
But the story of redemption is so much broader than just the means to get believers to Heaven. What I am saying is that there is more, much more, that Christ wants to bring to our lives here and now.
So for the next five posts we’ll explore this first miracle of Jesus – turning water to wine at a wedding celebration.
And our first consideration is this: Why would He choose this as His first miracle?
Christ would later perform feats far more dramatic – healing the sick and lame, giving sight to the blind and hearing to the deaf, even raising the dead! Why this curious beginning to demonstrate His power ... His distinction from mere mortals?
I have an idea about this. But before I state that idea plainly I’d like to first consider something about this matter of water to wine. I think there’s a message tucked away in this for us.
There is nothing on this planet more prevalent than water. It covers 71% of the surface of this little globe of ours!
And therein, I would suggest, lies the point of this first miracle ... and our application of it.
For there is nothing so prevalent in our lives as human beings than common, every day, ordinary life. The vast majority of our days are not spent on the high peaks or in the low valleys. Most of our life is spent in the routine, the mundane, the day-to-day existence. (If you want more on this, read Ecclesiastes.)
So, to me, the miracle is plain. Jesus came to bring about conversions – water to wine, sinners to saints, common to remarkable.
This miracle – Christ’s first miracle – gives us insight into what He wants to do in this common, ordinary life of ours. He wants to infuse it, elevate it. He wants to transform it.
He came to sanctify the ordinary.
I doubt there’s a society in history who has dedicated as much time, effort, and money to escape the mundanity of life as ours.
The late Jimmy Buffet built a billion – yes, billion – dollar business off this pursuit with his Margaritaville empire, named after his hit song by that name. Buffet created a lifestyle brand that has been called “island escapism” which included lines of clothing, furniture, restaurants and bars, casinos, hotels, and cruises ... just to name a few.
His song Margaritaville has been called “the anthem of escapism.”
It’s certainly fun – and even important – to escape the routine of life sometimes. We all need a break from the grind of the daily. Christ validates this point in His practice with the apostles (Mark 6:31).
But as a philosophy for life, it falls short. Escapism is not a plan.
Here’s an important reality.
Only Christ can transform the daily routines of life.
A W Tozer had it right – “Jesus Christ wanted to take religion out of the external and make it internal and put it on the same level as life itself ....”
On the same level as life itself. Jesus wants to sanctify your ordinary.
Many blessings,
