Have you ever noticed some of the mundane activities that surround Jesus’ miracles? At the wedding in Cana, Jesus asks these servants to fill massive water jars to the brim. Why? He could have filled them as part of the miracle. In the feeding of the five thousand, Jesus sends the disciples out to “go and see” how much food is around. Why doesn’t he just do the miracle?
The mundane activities of these servants and the disciples are not a set up, nor are they peripheral background. They are an integral part of the miracle. It helps us understand that these things are happening in the context of normal human living.
It is exciting to read about the miracles of Jesus. But “miracle” just means “something we are not used to seeing.” God is always working in incredible ways, what we ought to call miracles.
Consider a firefly or the love between spouses. Science has examined the molecular foundations for our existence and nothing has been solved. Rather, the mystery of how it can all fit together has compounded. God is everywhere holding it all together, actively working.
We often lament the plains of life, the everyday activities like filling water pots. We tend to long for the mountain tops to be rescued from our boredom. This is an attitude that enslaves us to circumstances and robs us of joyful living.
When we choose the perspective that filling a water pot is not a prelude to a miracle but an integral part of the miracle itself, we are beginning to see life as it is. We can embrace the “mundane” as an essential part of the miracle that is the time we’ve been granted to live on this earth.
“Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, ‘Fill the jars with water’; so they filled them to the brim. Then he told them, ‘Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.’”
– John 2:6-8