Jesus is tempted again to show signs of who He was. Jesus again shows restraint. He knew that He could win the crowds with a show of miracles. He chose not be a circus. He healed the sick knowing it was far easier to heal physical ailments. To heal a diseased spirit was much more difficult – especially when the people didn’t recognize their disease of the heart.
The miracle currently the closest to my heart, is the one performed at the wedding in Cana. You think you have heard it a thousand times and then your pastor presents it to you in a new a different manner – with a box of wine, and another box and another box and another box – in order to show the magnitude of the miracle.
But nothing brings it home better than presenting the lesson yourself. (This is precisely why I long to teach my own Bible Study. I know I would get far more out of it by teaching rather than sitting and listening for an hour a week.) Nothing makes it stand out clearer than preparing the lesson and then presenting it three times in a row to three different age groups of children. That was a blessed day!
Here’s the set up. It’s Christmas VBS and the Bible Story for the second day is the wedding at Cana. And I am to present it by having the kids act it out!! We’re supposed to decorate for a wedding. Have presents for the guests to bring. Have wine jars to fill. Have something to represent a well.
As if that were not enough, I needed to find kids willing to play the bride, groom, Jesus, Mary, disciples, guests, servants, and host. And dress them accordingly.
If you had told me that the second day was to be the most successful day, I would have laughed, spitting I’m sure, in your face. Every kid from age 3 to 11 enjoyed it and got into it. I had the pleasure of feeding the lines to the actors. My favorite was always, “Woman, what does this have to do with me?” And we delivered it like a modern day man!
I tell this story because, unlike the other miracles this chapter presented, this one shows Jesus’ humanity. I enjoy a good wedding feast and you cannot let the wine run out. It also shows the love of a mother and son at work. It gives you a peep at a very special relationship that is hard for us to conceive of. And it shows Jesus keeping the 4th commandment.
It’s also very funny. I can actually imagine Jesus grinning. If you don’t believe me, I’ll go into greater detail some other day.
When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”
Luke 2:3-5 (ESV)
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