John 2
Reading with a fresh perspective is such a freeing and rewarding thing. If your like me, you’ve probably read these scriptures before (and if you haven’t then you’re one leg up on the rest of us) then I hope you will reread them with intention and take all the stuff you’ve been told by preachers and books and lay it aside and ask the Holy Spirit for some fresh insight. Here we go!
There is something very humanizing about the first part of the ‘Miracle at Cana.’ Jesus was real! I know that sounds funny but I think if we are honest we never really think about Jesus as someone who was a normal person. I think a lot of us still see Him floating on a cloud stuck to a flannel board (if you haven’t, you’re lucky). Jesus was a social person; in Vs. 1-12 He’s at a wedding, doing normal Hebrew stuff, celebrating…and yes there was wine at the party!
But there is something else here worth mentioning. When the wine runs out Jesus looks at His mom and tells her ‘Woman, what does that have to do with us? My time has not yet come.’ Ok timeout. First, Jesus has a mom…that tells Him what to do, and He honors her. Second, I wish I could have been in the kitchen that day. Something tells me that Mary knew Jesus had some spiritual power, otherwise I doubt she would have assumed that He could help the cause. Which means to me, He’s probably already done some stuff that was uh…supernatural, before this moment.
I also think that there is something here for each of us, leaders included. Jesus recognizes that it isn’t quite time for Him to step onto the stage. I can’t recite how many times leaders have come to me and asked me ‘How can I make my ministry happen?’ Or ‘I just need to make a way for myself, its my time.’ As a leader of people or a leader in the Kingdom who influences the world around you…know your time. To say it nicely, if you have to force it there’s a big chance Gods not in it. I cant tell you how many times I have seen pastors leave a church and start their own thinking that its ‘their time.’ When its time, the doors will open and you will be invited in. Not to burst your bubble but this life isn’t about you, never has been and never should be…if you are trying to make your own way, don’t. The only possible outcome is your failure, large or small, and the pain and hurt of those who follow you. On the flipside that doesn’t mean sit back and take easy street, the waiting and growing process (which never ends) is likely to require more active participation on your part than the launch of your ministry or your service in your spiritual community or movement like PURE.
The second half of chapter 2 is even more telling of Jesus heart, soul, and Messianic awareness. During Passover Jesus and the disciple’s head to the temple as all Hebrews would have done in Jerusalem. And the corruption of the temple disturbs Him. He sees the temple as the Jews did as the Fathers house. And most of us have read this and know that He drives out all the livestock and makes a stink with the merchants who were profiting from selling animals to be sacrificed. But then the situation take a turn, He begins to tell people that his authority do this is rooted in His ability to destroy the temple itself and rebuild it in three days. On this side of the Cross it is easy for us to see that He was referring to himself, but leaves the merchants and temple royalty baffled probably thinking He was insane.
The poignant element here is simple, Jesus understood and knew His calling. He wasn’t waiting for someone to show him the way or to find inspiration, He went and was alone with the Spirit regularly, investing in His relationship with the Father so He could be aware and certain of all that the Father wanted from him.
How many of us can say we know with certainty what God wants from us? How many of us are constantly aware the Spirits leading?
Third Party Passion becoming First Person Experience demands that we spend time alone with Him. A week doesn’t go by without someone telling me they are uncertain in life, school, or relationships. While uncertainty is a very natural thing it should be the thing that drives us closer, drives us to more frequent intimate moments with Him. No question this life is a journey and we don’t understand it all, the joys of functioning in a broken world, however if we long to be sustained Passionate Christians, we have to find intimacy with Him at whatever cost…that is the soul of a PC, chasing Him, taking risks, believing for more.
live//PC
