Turning an Ordinary Life into Something Extraordinary
Back in my college days, my sister and I sang and played at a church, and afterwards, the church had a covered-dish lunch. (If you’re not a Baptist, just know it’s something we do. Everyone brings a covered dish—hopefully with food in it—and you pray your casserole is more popular than Sylvia’s.) Like good Baptists do, everyone brought salads, veggies, and lots of desserts. Only one problem: no one brought any meat, not even a chicken casserole.
As a Southern boy, that is the closest I’ve come to experiencing the social faux pas that occurred in John 2. Jesus and His crew were at a wedding feast, and the host ran out of wine. This was a big deal, much more than a mild social embarrassment. It is one thing to run out of chicken wings at a church potluck, but to run out of wine at a first-century celebration was something you did not do.
Without fanfare Jesus stepped in and turned water into wine. He saved the reputation of the newly married groom and did something only a few people were aware of. He took the most ordinary thing at hand—water—and made wine.
And Jesus did it with extravagance. Jesus didn’t just provide enough wine to get them through the day. He took six stone jars, each holding 20-30 gallons of water, and turned the whole lot into wine. A whole lot of wine. Like 120-180 gallons of wine! To put that in modern terms, that’s the equivalent of 600-900 bottles of wine.
But it doesn’t stop there! His extravagance is seen again in that this was fine wine. As the headwaiter said to the groom, “Everyone sets out the fine wine first, then, after people are drunk, the inferior. But you have kept the fine wine until now” (John 2:10).
Jesus is still working miracles. He may not be saving social faux pas by turning water into wine, nor rescuing church socials by turning that weird Jello salad into BBQ ribs, but He still takes ordinary things and transforms them into something extraordinary.
Like you.
- When others cast aspersions, He redeems your mistakes.
- When others kick you when you’re down, He covers your hurts with His love.
- When others write you off, He takes your broken past and gives you an unbroken future with Him.
At a first-century wedding, no one gave much thought to common, ordinary water until Jesus stepped in. You may think no one gives much thought to you, but when you place yourselves in God’s hands … well, He does something extraordinary.
“If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come!” (2 Cor. 5:17).
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This post supports the study “The Sign of His Glory“ in Bible Studies for Life and YOU.
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