Transformation

"The Spirit of the Lord is on Me, because He has anointed
Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to
proclaim liberty  to the captives and  recovery of sight to the
blind, to release the oppressed, and proclaim the year of the
Lord’s favour." (Luke 4:18-19)

The New Testament reader very quickly notices that John’s gospel is quite different from the other three in a number of ways. One  difference is that John highlights only seven of Jesus’s miracles compared to the 37 we read of in the gospels combined!However, so that we are left in no doubt that there are many more, John  tell us that:

Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. (John 20:30)

Over the centuries,  people have scratched their heads, puzzling over John’s apparently strange inclusion of the wedding feast at Cana. It just doesn’t seem as relevant compared to  Jesus’ miracles of healing, deliverance, walking on water and the multiplication of food! However, if we take a closer look at the gospel, we understand why. 

The seven miracles that John chose, demonstrated to his readers, Jesus’ divine identity and his mission on earth. And what better way to open this narrative than recounting  a miracle of transformation! Jesus came to seek the lost, save the lost and transform the lost. 

​Paul explains this  in 2 Corinthians 2:18 when he says,

"But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory.”

After the miracle of transformation at Cana, we read of many transformed lives in the New Testament;  Mary Magdalen , Matthew, Peter, Paul, Zacchaeus to name but a few.


In his book, Fresh Eyes on Jesus’ Miracles, Doug Newton writes, 
“Without even waving a hand… Jesus performed a miracle of radical transformation. Only the God who created the Universe from nothing could have  fused the one-time water with carbon and acids and sparkling flavour. If he could do this to water-filled pots, imagine what he can do with worry-filled people.” 
Imagine what he can do/has done with the drug addict, the alcoholic, the depressed woman, the suicidal man, the broken hearted parent… you and me! Doesn’t that make us want to shout ‘Hallelujah’? Don’t we want everyone to know this God who takes the blind, the weak, and the oppressed and transforms them into ‘a crown of splendour in the LORD’s hand, a royal diadem in the hand of your God.” (Isaiah 62:3)

This is your God. This is my God. This is what we can expect when we yield our lives wholly to Him. Shall we do this today?

“The Bible was not given for our information but for our transformation.”
D.L. Moody

Pauline Anderson