From John 2, Jesus' first miracle of turning water into wine:
Josh Moody:
Who would have thought it? Jesus shows his glory, the very first of the seven signs of John’s Gospel (2:11), at a wedding (v 1-2)—a massive, long party. And not only does he do it at a party, but he does it by producing gallons of wine (v 6-9)—so much wine that it would have been impossible to have drunk it all at the party. Whoever this Jesus is, he is not what religion has made him out to be. He is about fullness, and so, in Spurgeon’s inimitable words:
When you are told to believe in him, believe in him up to the brim! When you are told to love him, love him up to the brim! When you are commanded to serve him, serve him up to the brim!
(Sermon #2317, Volume 38)
Jesus’ glory is shown in this moment of joy (v 11). God’s new work in Jesus is going to be centered on celebration, joy, festival, and that sign of the new covenant, wine....
There are certainly many reasons to lament in life—and indeed there are portions of Scripture, including many of the psalms, which help us, when we face sadness and difficulties, to work through our feelings in the context of God’s hope and power. But the nature of the gospel in which we believe is that it is good news, and with it comes joy. Joy is the hallmark of the Christian, for every Christian knows the things about which we can be joyful even when all other joys are taken from us. Like Paul and Silas, we can sing in jail—and that glorious truth, that glorious joy, can be the song in our hearts even down the darkest dale and in the deepest pit.
There are certainly many reasons to lament in life—and indeed there are portions of Scripture, including many of the psalms, which help us, when we face sadness and difficulties, to work through our feelings in the context of God’s hope and power. But the nature of the gospel in which we believe is that it is good news, and with it comes joy. Joy is the hallmark of the Christian, for every Christian knows the things about which we can be joyful even when all other joys are taken from us. Like Paul and Silas, we can sing in jail—and that glorious truth, that glorious joy, can be the song in our hearts even down the darkest dale and in the deepest pit.
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Oftentimes we constrain Jesus to operating within the parameters of what we can explain, and we live lives of timidity because we think of him as only capable of certain kinds of interventions or actions, all within the normal course of events. It is not right, nor rational, to expect miracles at every moment, since they thereby stop being miracles at all—but that said, we do worship the Jesus who is God himself, and more than capable of intervening on our behalf. He hears and answers prayers. We cannot escape from his presence, nor outlive the extent of his power. Risking our lives for God—through missionary commitment, through standing up for morality and truth, through holding fast to living holy lives even when the commitment is difficult—makes sense when we realize that the Jesus we follow is this Jesus.
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