The Secret Miracle

On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus' mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine was gone, Jesus' mother said to him, "They have no more wine." ... His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you."

-John 2:1-3, 5

[A]nd the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew.

-John 2:9

There were myriad responsibilities these servants needed to take care of to make sure the wedding feast ran without a hitch. Is the food ready? Are there enough seats for the guests? Do we have enough wine for the guests? Apparently, this last responsibility was not sufficiently covered. Imagine the servants' anxiety at this point. "Out of wine?? What are we going to do? Our master will not be pleased with us." (<-A gross understatement, most likely) Enter a woman who claims that her son has a solution for their situation. Jesus' mother told the servants at the wedding feast to do whatever Jesus instructed them to do. And, without question, they did it. Filling six 20-30 gallon stone water jars with water is no small task (Mind you, there are no garden hoses or other such modern conveniences to assist in this endeavor, so imagine the process involved in obtaining 180 gallons of water. As an analogy, picture filling 180 milk jugs, but replace the plastic with stone... Yes, quite a task.). Yet, they obeyed this most unassuming of wedding guests. These servants looked upon this Man, whom they had never seen before, and one glance at Him assuaged their anxieties. One look at Jesus and "something" about Him told the servants, "He will provide for us a solution." Not only did He provide the solution to overcome this obstacle, Jesus was the solution these servants and the world were seeking.

So, the servants start obeying. They draw the water as Jesus instructed, filling the jars to the brim. Next, they probably expect Jesus to wave His hands over the jars or sprinkle some magic dust into the pots, resulting in a mini-firework display and an eye-popping color change in the liquid, signaling the amazing transformation of water into wine! Instead, Jesus tells them to take some of the water they had collected and bring it to their master. "Ummm," thought the servants (probably), "so you want us to give our master this water which we just drew? That's it? You know we're serving wine at this party, right?" But again, they obeyed. They ended up serving the best wine of the night ... and Jesus didn't have to lift a finger. The servants did all the work - they were the instruments of this miracle. Jesus worked through these obedient servants, whose faith in this Wedding Guest was now filled to the brim, on the verge of overflow, because they "knew" of what just occurred. The master of the banquet, bridegroom, bride and other guests continued celebrating, unaware of what took place to let the party continue. But, the servants "knew" and were content in being a part of the greater work that was done here.

God commands all of us to do - so we must do. Anything he commands, so must we obey. God has given us authority in this world from the time of Genesis. We, being His hands and feet, are the servants, the miracle workers. The same power which raised Jesus from the dead resides in us as well (see Ephesians 1:18-21 & II Timothy 1:7). Even if we don't see the ultimate outcome, we do the work, because God's point-of-view sees what we cannot see. What Jesus wants us to also realize is that miracles don't require great pomp, circumstance, magic powder or overt theatrics to be considered a miracle.

• Helping someone break an addiction? That's a miracle.
• Praying for someone and seeing someone healed from cancer? That's a miracle.
• Mending a broken marriage? That's a miracle.
• Listening when no one else listens and loving when no one else loves? That's a miracle.
• Seeing someone receive Jesus as the Lord and Savior of his/her life? THAT'S A MIRACLE!

That we are alive in this wretched world despite our wretched ways is a miracle of grand proportions, thanks to the saving grace and blood of Christ. Best of all? When the workers "know" and never forget who is the Source and responsible for it all. Though the world may not know now, the servants do the miraculous work, so that the world will know. For God's is the kingdom, the power and the glory, forever and ever ... AMEN!