Transformed!

"Fill the jars with water," Jesus told them. So they filled them to the brim. Then He said to them, "Now draw some out and take it to the chief servant." And they did. When the chief servant tasted the water (after it had become wine), he did not know where it came from--though the servants who had drawn the water knew. He called the groom and told him, "Everybody sets out the fine wine first, then, after people have drunk freely, the inferior. But you have kept the fine wine until now." - John 2:7-10 HCSB

Transforming the water into wine was Jesus’ first miracle and it set the tone for His entire ministry. Jesus was always taking the ordinary and turning it into the extraordinary. He took a rough fisherman and transformed him into a great orator. He took a hardened tax collector and turned him into a humble, compassionate servant. He took a mass murderer and turned him into the author of most of the New Testament. That He turned water into wine is, on the surface, no more wonderful than that His making saints out of sinners.

We shouldn’t wonder at Jesus’ participation and help in such a mundane thing as a local wedding. Jesus came to make our whole lives holy. He is deeply interested in every ordinary issue of our lives. We often think that God is calling us to holy martyrdom, or to a life characterized by ephemeral holiness. We forget that He called us to live a quiet life, minding our own business and working with our hands.[1] He wants us to pay our taxes[2] and to gather with other Christians.[3] He wants spouses to seek mutual submission; the husbands loving their wives sacrificially and their wives letting the husband take the lead.[4] He commands that we stop gossiping.[5] Jesus offers help with our day-to-day lives – not some pie in the sky esoteric dream of future goodness.

Our text also offers an indication of His motivation. Somehow we get the idea that God is up there in Heaven, coming up with rules and regulations to turn our lives into bland, meaningless and joyless existences. That could not be more wrong. He wants us to have more and better sex! However, He knows that that is only possible within the confines of marriage. He wants us to find joy. However, He knows that that is only possible when we serve others.

We can only truly achieve our dreams when we do His will. Why? Because His will for us is good! “For I know the plans I have for you"--this is the LORD's declaration--"plans for your welfare, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”[6]

The world offers its stale waters. Jesus offers the glowing, gladdening wine of faith – keeping the very best for us.


[1] 1 Thessalonians 4:11
[2] Luke 20:25-26
[3] Hebrews 10:25
[4] Ephesians 5:22-33
[5] 2 Thessalonians 3:11-12
[6] Jeremiah 29:11