John 2: Light Turns Obstacles into Opportunities!
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“They have no more wine.” John 2:3b (NLT)
Light – “The True Light,” has penetrated our dark world! The Light has come! Yesterday in our study of John’s Gospel we discovered in John 1:4 (NIV), that “In him (Christ) was life, and that life was the light of men.” But verse five says, “The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.” John is saying that Jesus is the Light of the world. His Life brings Light! That light will expose opportunities in our lives we couldn’t see before; possibilities that were disguised as problems; opportunities often overlooked because all we could see without Christ were the obstacles in our lives. The darkness in our lives never understands the light of possibility that Jesus offers until we receive His life! In Him, nothing is impossible!
The second chapter of John’s Gospel is a perfect example of how the light illuminates the darkness of our obstacles revealing opportunities we could not see before. In fact, this chapter reveals the first of eight miracles Jesus performed recorded in John’s narrative. Six of these miracles are unique among the Gospels to John. The first, recorded in this chapter, was turning water in wine at a wedding celebration. Weddings in Jesus’ day were more than a single day’s event. They were festivals for the whole community that could last all week! Careful planning was made to ensure that plenty of provisions were ready for everyone to enjoy. To run out of wine was more than a social embarrassment. When Mary saw that the wine supply ran out, she took the problem to her son. In verse three she told Jesus, “They have no more wine.” What do you do with your problems? Do you just focus on the obstacle, or will you follow the light to see the opportunities?
I find a couple of insights from this first miracle that will help us follow the light when we are in the dark about what to do. Our problems are really God’s opportunities in disguise. They give God the opportunity to work in our behalf and display His glory! So, what do you do when you face a problem or a provision beyond your ability to resolve? Here are a few suggestions we learn from what Mary and the servants did at this wedding when they followed the light:
1. Tell Jesus. (John 2:3)
2. Trust Jesus to handle the situation.
3. Do whatever He tells you to do, even if it doesn’t make sense. (John 2:5)
It’s interesting to me that Mary didn’t try to tell Jesus what to do about the problem or how to resolve it. She didn’t even ask Him to perform a miracle. She simply trusted Him to help solve the problem and instructed the servants at the wedding feast to do whatever Jesus tells them. I love the simplicity of this. When we give our problems to the Lord, do we trust Him to work in our behalf and respond by doing whatever He tells us to do?
Sometimes what Jesus tells us to do doesn’t seem to make any sense. He told the servants to fill up six stone jars with water. These jars could hold 20 to 30 gallons! After filling them with water, Jesus instructed them to pour some of the water out and take it to the master of ceremonies. Why? What good would it have done to give the master of ceremonies some water when what he needed most was wine? It must have seemed absurd to these servants! Yet, without even questioning why, John said, “So the servants followed His instructions.” (Vs. 8) I love that! They simply followed the light He gave them!
We know the rest of the story. The water had miraculously turned into wine and not just ordinary cheap wine. It was the best wine of the festival! God had saved the best for last!
When you read this chapter take special note of verse nine. “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.” Only the servants who had obeyed Jesus’ instructions knew the real story! They not only witnessed a miracle in the making but participated in it as well!
Whenever we follow the light Jesus gives us and do what Jesus’ tells us to do, we position ourselves for a miracle! These servants got to experience a miracle because they were available and humble enough to do what Jesus told them to do. It was just a small thing, but it took faith. They risked embarrassment taking the water to the master of ceremonies. They didn’t know the water would turn to wine. They simply obeyed what Jesus told them to do! What is Jesus telling you to do? Follow the light He gives you one step at a time. Read John 2 and ask Him to give you the light you need for your next step. Click here to read John 2.