Jesus has the power to do the unexplainable in even the small things in our lives...

Last week, we looked at a section of an account of Jesus life in the Bible called the gospel of John where Jesus, along with His mother and His disciples attended a wedding in Cana of Galilee, which is located in what is now Northern Israel. However, there was a problem at the wedding. And that problem was the wedding reception ran out of wine. Not only would this be embarrassing but in the culture of the day, this would result in the family of the bride being slurred by the rest of the community.

Like any good mother, Jesus mother, sensing the potential embarrassment to this newly married couple, approaches Jesus and makes the statement “they have no wine”? Jesus, however, reminded Mary that He is God in a bod. And as Messiah, as God-in-a-bod, Jesus does not submit His kingdom mission and will to anyone, even His earthly mother. Jesus reminded His mother of the reality that, in Jesus adult life and ministry as Messiah, all must recognize His status and place, even His mother Mary.

Mary responded to Jesus statement to her by telling the servants to do whatever Jesus requested. Instead of arguing with Jesus; instead of attempting to direct Jesus to fix the embarrassing situation and problem, Mary humbly allows Jesus to decide what He was going to do. Here we see the mother of the Son of God humbly submitting to the will of the Son of God. Here we see Mary provide us an amazing example of how a Godly woman lives in relationship with Jesus. Mary was a very godly example of a woman who did the right thing and trusted in God throughout her life, even though it was not the easy or popular thing to do.

Today, we will see John then reveals for us what Jesus decided to do when it came to this embarrassing situation in John 2:6:

 Now there were six stone waterpots set there for the Jewish custom of purification, containing twenty or thirty gallons each. Jesus said to them, "Fill the waterpots with water." So they filled them up to the brim. And He said to them, "Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter." So they took it to him.

Now to fully understand what is happening here, we first need to understand what John is referring to when he mentions the Jewish custom of purification. In the Jewish religious system, before any Jewish person ate a meal, they would wash their hands in an elaborate ritual that was conducted to make their hands physically and spiritually clean to participate in a meal.

So what would have happened is that as the people arrived and were seated at the wedding reception, servants would have come around and poured water over the hands of all of the guests so that they could participate in this Jewish custom of purification. John tells us that there were six stone waterpots that had been used for this ritual and were now empty. Each waterpot held between 20-30 gallons of water.

So the servants used between 120 and 180 gallons of water in order to ensure that those in attendance at this wedding reception were able to participate in this custom of purification. So this was not a small wedding reception. Jesus, upon seeing the empty waterpots, directed the servants to fill all six waterpots to the brim with water. John tells us that the servants responded by filling all six waterpots to the brim.

Now to the brim is to the brim. In other words, these waterpots were filled to their maximum capacity. To add any more water would simply result in that water spilling over and being wasted.

Here is something to consider: Do you think the servants used high quality drinking water to fill those waterpots? After all those were waterpots that were used for washing hands, not drinking. The servants most likely got water from our equivalent of a garden hose. So you can probably imagine the surprise on the faces of the servants when Jesus told them to draw out some of that water to take to the headwaiter to sample. The headwaiter was the wedding planner of the day. The headwaiter had the responsibility to make sure that the wedding reception went off without any problems.

Now imagine that you are one of the servants that Jesus has just asked to take the water to the wedding planner. Place yourself in their shoes. What would you be thinking at this point? How would you respond? “But Jesus that is hand washing water out of the garden hose, not drinking water. You want us to take that water from the garden hose and have the headwaiter drink it? O.K. if you say so”.

Would you tell the wedding planner that you were giving him handwashing water from the garden hose to drink? Would you say “hey wedding planner, here is some water out of the garden hose for you to drink”. Some of you are like “what’s wrong with that?” I don’t think so. You would not tell him where you got the water from. You would probably hand him the water and get away as fast as you could. And that is exactly what they did.  John then records for us what happened to the wedding planner as he drank the water that came from the garden hose in verse 9:

 When the headwaiter tasted the water which had become wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the headwaiter called the bridegroom, and said to him, "Every man serves the good wine first, and when the people have drunk freely, then he serves the poorer wine; but you have kept the good wine until now."

Now the wedding planner’s statement to the groom, if communicated in the language we use in our culture today, would have sounded something like this: “In every wedding that I have ever attended or planned for, the family always serves the best wine first in order to impress their guests. Normally the Quintessa, or the Corison Kronos wine is served first. Then, after the reception has gone on for a while and the senses of the guests are no longer functioning as well because they have had a lot of wine, then the family brings out the Boones Farm or the wine that comes in a box, because at that point they are unable to notice the difference. But that’s not what you have done. Instead you started off the reception with good wine, and then you brought out the great wine.”

Now can you imagine what must have been running through the mind of the servants at that point? Can you imagine what must have been running through the mind of the family of the bride at this point? Can you imagine what must have been running through the mind of the disciples? Can you imagine what must have been running through the mind of Mary?

Jesus had just done the unexplainable. Jesus had just miraculously changed between 120 and 180 gallons of water from the garden hose into high quality wine. Jesus had just miraculously turned a potentially embarrassing situation into an abundant blessing for the couple. Jesus had just provided this very poor couple a very generous wedding present. What would you have been thinking at that point? How would you explain the unexplainable?

Now, while John does not tell us what was running through their mind, I am pretty confident that this was not running through their mind: “Can you believe that Jesus provided alcohol to these people? Someone needs to tell Jesus that He was wrong because having a drink of wine is a sin”. I don’t think that anyone who knew what had happened had that thought in their mind.

And while the Bible makes it abundantly clear that being controlled by wine and being drunk is a sin, here’s something to consider: if Jesus changed water into wine at a wedding reception, do you think Jesus considers having a drink of wine or a beer with a meal a sin. Just something to think about. John concludes this section of his letter in verse 11:

  This beginning of His signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in Him.

Now a natural question that arises here is “why did John refer to Jesus miracle as a sign? Is there a difference? And if there is a difference what is the difference between a miracle and a sign? If you are here this morning and that question is running through your mind, I want to let you know that you are asking a great question. And the answer to that question is this: Signs are different than miracles in the sense that they point to something significant about Jesus.

Jesus, in doing the unexplainable, was providing a sign that was designed to reveal and point people to something significant about who He is and what He came to earth to do. The unexplainable turning of water into wine was a sign that pointed people to the reality that Jesus was beginning to usher in something that was new and better than what the people had previously experienced, which was the kingdom of God here on earth that would provide all of humanity that opportunity to experience forgiveness and the relationship with God that they were created for through Him.

But here is the interesting thing; how many people were actually aware that the unexplainable had taken place? How many people that day were aware that Jesus had revealed a glimpse of His splendor and majesty as God-in-a-bod? We already know that the wedding planner was not aware that the unexplainable had happened. The bride and groom and their family were not aware that the unexplainable had happened. All they knew was that Jesus, His mother, and His disciples had provided them with a generous wedding present that avoided a potentially embarrassing situation.

Those attending the wedding reception were not aware that the unexplainable had happened. All they knew is that they had some more really good wine to drink. You see, only Mary, the disciples and the servants were aware that Jesus had done the unexplainable. Jesus kept a low profile and had quietly worked behind the scenes to do what was unexplainable.

I mean, if you think about it, in the grand scheme of things, Jesus unexplainable activity here went virtually unknown. Jesus unexplainable activity did not involve a big thing. Instead, Jesus unexplainable activity involved just a small thing. Jesus unexplainable activity did not have a large impact; instead Jesus unexplainable activity had very little impact.

But it is here, in the event from the history of Jesus life that is unexplainable, that we see revealed for us a timeless truth when it comes to Jesus. And that timeless truth is this:  Jesus has the power to do the unexplainable in even the small things in our lives. Just as it was with this unexplainable activity at a rural wedding party, just as it has been throughout history, Jesus has the power to do the unexplainable in even the small things in our lives.

You see, so often we think of Jesus power to do the unexplainable as only involving the big things. We think of Jesus power to do the unexplainable as only involving the things that have huge impact and implications for all of eternity. But the timeless reality is that Jesus has the power to do the unexplainable in the things that we consider to be little things that have little lasting impact over all of eternity. How often can we see unexplainable evidences of Jesus activity in the seemingly small details of our lives?

And the timeless reality is that Jesus is concerned about everything in our lives and every detail of our lives. Jesus is concerned about the big things and the little things. Jesus is concerned about the things that have a large impact in our lives and that have little impact in our lives. Jesus is concerned about the things in our lives that are well known and that are unknown. And as we have seen today, Jesus has the power to do the unexplainable in even the small things in our lives as He calls us to experience something new and better in our lives.

So here is a question to consider: Is there a part of your life that you think is too small and insignificant for Jesus to be bothered with?  Is there a part of your life that you think is too small and insignificant for Jesus to do the unexplainable? A small hurt? A small habit? A small hang-up?

Because Jesus has the power to do the unexplainable in even the small things in our lives.