Four Weeks of Wonder: Week Two
O God, your ways are holy. Is there any god as mighty as you? You are the God of great wonders! You demonstrate your awesome power among the nations.
Psalm 77:13-14 NLT
In the spirit of Christmas, 20 The Countdown Magazine has themed the month of December a month of “wonder.” Our team has created a devotional each week of the month in which we will study a short passage of Scripture and uncover the wonder of God to honor the upcoming celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ!
Do you remember that Sunday school song that goes: “Our God is an awesome God, he reigns from heaven above with wisdom, power, and love. Our God is an awesome God”? It was definitely a memorable one, right?
Whenever we talk about the might of God, it’s impossible not to consider the miraculous things he did in the Old Testament, and the miracles he performed through Jesus in the New Testament. One thing we think is important to remember is that we were never meant to understand the works of God, whether that means the secrets of the universe, what heaven is like, or how miracles were performed. In fact, if we were able to explain the “how” behind those things, it would bring the Divine down to our level; in other words, the creation (humanity) is not able to explain the Creator (God).
Some of our favorite moments in Scripture are moments like the collapse of the walls of Jericho, the parting of the Red Sea, the plagues of Egypt, raising Lazarus from the dead, or healing the bleeding woman. While those events show the highlight reel of God’s might, we should probably begin with the first miracle Jesus ever performed on earth: changing water to wine.
The next day there was a wedding celebration in the village of Cana in Galilee. Jesus’
mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the celebration.
The wine supply ran out during the festivities, so Jesus’ mother told him, “They
have no more wine.”
“Dear woman, that’s not our problem,” Jesus replied. “My time has not yet come.”
But his mother told the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” Standing nearby, were
six stone water jars, used for Jewish ceremonial washing. Each could hold twenty to
thirty gallons. Jesus told the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” When the jars had
been filled, he said, “Now dip some out, and take it to the master of
ceremonies.” So the servants followed his instructions.
When the master of ceremonies tasted the water that was now wine,
not knowing where it had come from (though, of course, the servants knew),
he called the bridegroom over…
This miraculous sign at Cana in Galilee was the first time Jesus
revealed his glory. And his disciples believed in him.
– John 2:1-9, 11
At first glance at this passage from John, it looks like Jesus is just helping out a groom that wasn’t prepared with the right amount of beverages at his wedding, but it’s important to understand why this first miracle might be the greatest of them all.
Jesus was quick to say that his “time had not yet come,” but then we see Mary give him a nudge. This makes us think that, like the rest of us, sometimes we’re looking for a big sign to direct our next move but oftentimes the next move you should make is the one directly in front of you. We like to imagine Mary giving him that look that all moms give — you know the one with the raised eyebrows? Mary was most likely teaching him an important lesson without using so many words: if you’re going to provide for your people, you have to care about the things they care about, too. While the wine at the wedding wasn’t his “problem,” like he said, it was his opportunity to not only provide grace for this bride and groom, but give his new disciples an understanding of who they were following.
The wonder of Jesus’ first miracle doesn’t normally make the highlight reel, but we’re considering it one of the most important because Jesus showed the disciples what was to come when that first wine was poured out from the jar. A little over three years from turning water into wine, Jesus would become the wine poured out for us by purchasing our eternity through his death on a cross.
The symbolism that Jesus chose for his first miracle may not compare to a burning bush, but it illustrates that Jesus was the Son of God — the Lamb we had all been waiting for. He was a Wonder the world had yet to see and this miracle opened the eyes of everyone at the wedding to see a glimpse of what was to come.
Every week in the month of December, we’ll explore another aspect of “Wonder” through Scripture! Sign up for our e-newsletter to get all the news and this devotional delivered right to your inbox.
