In his book, God and Stephen Hawking, Dr. John Lennox notes a current objection to miracles that says: ‘Now we know the laws of nature, miracles are impossible’. To which Dr. Lennox responds: ‘From a theistic perspective, the laws of nature predict what is bound to happen if God does not intervene… To argue that the laws of nature make it impossible for us to believe in the existence of God and the likelihood of his intervention in the universe is plainly false’.

God’s people understand that ‘the laws of nature’ are the observable regularities that God the creator has built into the universe. However, such ‘laws’ do not prevent God from intervening if he chooses. When he does, we are able to identify the irregularity and speak of it as ‘a miracle’.

A wedding in a small, impoverished village. In John chapter 2 we read of a wedding that Jesus and his close followers attended in Cana in Galilee (2:1-11). A critical situation had arisen: the wine had run out. And Mary, Jesus’ mother, who seems to have been involved with the preparations for the wedding, had turned to him and asked him to do something.

Jesus’ response might seem harsh to us: “Woman, “What concern is that to you and to me?…” he said.

Woman was Jesus’ usual form of address, as we find when he spoke to the woman at the well (John 4:21) and Mary Magdalene in the garden after his resurrection (John 20:15). It was also the address he used when he spoke to his mother from the cross, putting her in the care of John, the beloved disciple (John 19:26). On no occasion did this imply harshness or indifference.

Furthermore, his response: “What concern is that to you and to me?…” is a Hebrew idiom. While literally it means, ‘What to me and thee’, we need to consider the context. So, on the lips of the evil-possessed in Mark 1, it means, ‘What have we in common with you?’ (1:24). Here, as one commentator observes, the probable meaning is, ‘Your concern and mine are not the same’.

Jesus was saying to Mary that he was no longer just her son but was now entering his time in public ministry as the Son of God incarnate, the Messiah. His work would now involve taking up the primary purpose of his coming. His response to Mary’s “they have no wine” would be much deeper and more significant than generously alleviating the pressing need at a wedding.

Water jars. In verse 6, John tells us: Now standing there were six stone water jars for the Jewish rites of purification,… As John’s Gospel was written in the first instance for a Jewish readership, it is fair to say that John, who uses symbolism throughout his writing, wants us to understand the purpose of the water: it was for outward and ceremonial cleansing of people who were physically and spiritually unclean.

The wine. Jesus directed the servants to draw from the water jars and take the beverage to the steward, the wedding master of ceremonies, for tasting. Recognizing the fine quality of the wine he spoke with the bridegroom, complimenting him for leaving the best wine, contrary to custom, until the last.

We are left in no doubt about the quality and superabundance of Jesus’ action. He had provided for a bridegroom in his dilemma – saving him from potential legal action, for a bridegroom was responsible for the cost of the wedding. Jesus also provided a generous wedding gift: the new couple could have sold the balance of the wine to start their new home.

Some critics have responded to Jesus’ action in turning some 120 – 130 gallons of water into wine as a purposeless ‘luxury’ miracle. It’s said this miracle is unlike every other supernatural act of Jesus. On every other occasion he showed God’s concern for those in physical need.

What then do we glean from this remarkable event?

In verse 11 we read: Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in (on) him. None of Jesus’ actions were simply designed to assuage human suffering. Yes, they do show God’s compassion, but they also pointed to Jesus’ uniqueness as God’s Messiah. In John’s Gospel they are spoken of as signs revealing the glory of Jesus.

Furthermore, because this sign is not followed up with John’s usual spiritual discourse, we need to look more carefully at the detail of the narrative. As we observed, in verse 6 John had indicated that the water in the six stone jars was used for the Jewish rites of purification.

Given the direction of John’s narrative to the hour when Jesus said he would be glorified – in his crucifixion, we can say that the water, now turned into wine, symbolized the day when Jesus would generously provide the perfect, once and for all time spiritual cleansing for the sins of an unclean humanity – through his shed blood on the cross.

Significantly, John the Gospel writer tells us that the disciples believed in (or, on) him. They did not simply believe that he was the Messiah, they put their trust in him.

Jesus’ turning the water into wine was the first occasion John records when Jesus chose to intervene and act outside ‘the laws of nature’. It was the first of the signs authenticating Jesus as the Word of God, the Son of God incarnate.

Prayer: Lord Christ, eternal Word and Light of the Father’s glory: send your light and your truth so that we may both know and proclaim your word of life, to the glory of God the Father; for you now live and reign, God for all eternity. Amen.

Aspects of Christianity can seem far-fetched to our 21st century minds. The miraculous elements make it seem like the story of Santa Claus or fairies at the bottom of the garden. But before we dismiss such events as pure fiction, it’s worth remembering GK Chesterton’s words about truth and fiction: ‘Truth must necessarily be stranger than fiction, for fiction is the creation of the human mind and therefore congenial to it.’

Authenticity. The Bible doesn’t permit us to dismiss the difficult bits. The writers of the New Testament insisted on the authenticity of their record. In the opening lines of his account of Jesus, Dr. Luke tells us that he was self-consciously writing a history – he was setting down an orderly account of events that have been fulfilled among us. Luke’s work is not a myth or legend that has the appearance of history, such as Tolkein’s Lord of the Rings.

Rather, he tells us that his record was verified by eyewitnesses. While Luke was not an eyewitness himself of the events he writes about, he did what Thucydides did. He verified his references with those who were there.

Transfiguration. I make these comments because today we turn to an extraordinary event recorded in the writings of Mark, Matthew and Luke. In Mark chapter 9, verse 2 we read: Six days later,… Mark wants us to be in no doubt that, just as the previous conversation had occurred, when Jesus had asked his disciples, “Who do you say that I am?” so did the event that follows.

Mark’s record is specific: Jesus took three of his close followers with him to a high mountain: Peter and James and John. There were three eyewitnesses to this significant moment in Jesus’ life.

And what an astonishing moment it was: Jesus was transfigured, literally, metamorphosed, before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them. Mark couldn’t find a metaphor for the dazzling brilliance and purity of the bright light that emanated from Jesus. The best he could do was to say that Jesus was brighter and purer than the very best soap manufacturers could provide. In both Luke and Acts the reference to dazzling clothes describes a supernatural glory.

Moses and Elijah. Furthermore, two of the great prophets, Moses and Elijah were also present and spoke with Jesus (9:4). In the conversation six days earlier, the disciples had answered Jesus’ question about who people thought he was by saying, ‘John the Baptist or Elijah, or one of the prophets.’ And when Jesus had pressed them for their own view, Peter had replied, “You are the Christ.”

But here on the mountain it was obvious that Peter had not yet worked out what this meant. For as the visitors departed, he said, “Master…; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah… As Mark comments, Peter had no idea what he was saying.

The Voice. Before he could say anything else, a cloud enveloped them all and they heard a voice, “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him” (9:35). God the Father’s words confirmed Jesus’ identity – He is not only the Messiah, but also God’s Son. The glory of Jesus on that mountain came from within. Peter, James and John witnessed the majestic glory of God incarnate.

God the Father’s words not only confirmed what they had begun to realise about Jesus. They also assured them of the authenticity of all that he taught and promised. These words are also for us. Furthermore, Jesus’ transfiguration was a foretaste of his appearing in all his majestic glory – a foretaste of his awesome messianic reign with its power, justice, goodness and compassion.

Much later, Peter writes of this event in his Second Letter (1:16): We did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ but we had been eye-witnesses of his majesty. For the present however, Mark tells us, Jesus asked the three of them to keep what they had seen to themselves.

Meaning. As we look at Jesus’ transfiguration through the lens of his death and resurrection and ascension, we begin to see its greater significance. Imagine if Jesus had just disappeared after his resurrection and ascension: the witnesses wouldn’t know about his glorious appearance or his kingly power and authority.

The transfiguration was a preview of Jesus in his post-resurrection state, informing and inspiring the disciples in their mission, in their preaching and ultimately, in their writings.

And there are implications for all God’s people. The day will come when we will share in the glory of Christ! In his Letter to the Romans 8:18 Paul the Apostle writes: I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God;…

C.S. Lewis put it this way: ‘If we let Him – for we can prevent Him, if we choose – He will make the feeblest and filthiest of us into a god or goddess, a dazzling, radiant, immortal creature, pulsating all through with such energy and joy and wisdom and love as we cannot now imagine, a bright stainless mirror which reflects back to God perfectly (though, of course, on a smaller scale) His own boundless power and delight and goodness. The process will be long and in parts very painful; but that is what we are in for. Nothing less.’

‘We have only one life to live! We need to live it well.’

How many of us really believe this? Most people have a sneaking suspicion that there is more to life – that death is not the end of our existence.

C.S. Lewis in Mere Christianity commented, If I find in myself desires which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.

Come with me to a significant question that Jesus put to his close followers. We read it in Mark 8:28: “Who do people say that I am?” he asked.

Up to this point, Mark tells us, Jesus’ followers seemed dull and obtuse in their understanding of him. They had seen first-hand his power and authority when at a word, he had healed the sick, commanded the powers of evil, and even raised the dead to life.

On one occasion they had been in a boat with him when a sudden storm threatened their very lives. When they cried out in fear, he calmed the tempest at a word. “Have you no faith?” he’d asked them. They saw his many miracles and they heard his teaching, yet they still didn’t understand.

Let’s think about this. Most of us have seen pictures that have two perspectives. We look at the drawing one way and we see a vase. We look at it another way and we see a face.

Sometimes we can look at a picture like this for hours and only see one thing. The second perspective remains hidden. Then we blink our eyes or turn our head and look back, and there the second perspective is. We wonder why we didn’t see it before. Psychologists call this a Gestalt phenomenon. It comes from the German word meaning shape or pattern.

The phenomenon can’t be broken up into logical stages. We can’t get half-way. It’s all or nothing. We either see the second perspective or we don’t.

Opinions about Jesus are a little like this. There have been times when I have talked with people for hours about him – answering questions, making points, developing the case that Jesus is who he claimed to be. Yet often people don’t see what is so obvious to me.

The ability to recognize the uniqueness of Jesus is an insight. We can’t organise it. It’s a perception we must have. It comes, not as a conclusion to a logical argument, but as a gift.

In the same way that people can be perplexed by picture puzzles, the disciples couldn’t make proper sense of Jesus.

Then came a critical moment. Jesus had taken them away to Caesarea Philippi, “Who do people say that I am?” he asked. Mark tells us they cited the popular perceptions: some say you’re Elijah, others, John the Baptist, and others, one of prophets.

It was obvious to everyone that Jesus was someone very impressive, but there had been impressive people before. The general consensus amongst the people seems to have been that Jesus belonged to the group of great ones in Israel’s history.

But Jesus was not content with this, “What about you?”. He pressed them: “Who do you say that I am?”

Suddenly, Peter seems to have got it. He’d probably thought about it before, but it was too crazy for words. But now the penny had dropped, and his blurred vision cleared. Jesus wasn’t just a prophet. He was the One the prophets had foreshadowed.

We can almost hear a click as Peter saw this new perspective. “You are the Christ”, he said.

How did Peter work this out? Was it the outcome of reasoned research? No. The moment of insight came, as it does for every true believer – out of the blue. It wasn’t a deduction or a discovery. It was revelation!

But there was something else: inspiration! The ministry of the Holy Spirit. In Matthew 16:17 we read Jesus’ words: “… Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven.”

It is here that we find the key to the meaning of life. To see that Jesus is no mere man but God in the flesh, is to see that there is much more to life than what we experience now. For to understand that Jesus of Nazareth is God’s Messiah, God’s eternal Son who has set aside his true glory and become one of us, opens our minds and hearts to a hope and a joy that satisfies our deepest longings.

As we reflect on these deep matters of life we see that there is something mysterious in the way God opens our eyes. As we come to know the Jesus of the Gospel records, we come to realize that there are critical moments when we are conscious that Jesus is personally asking us: “Who do you say that I am?”

How do we come to experience this? We don’t have the advantage of having Jesus with us in the flesh. But we do have the reliable accounts from those who did meet him face-to-face – the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. And we note that the account about Jesus is not just written up by one man, but four!

Richard Borgonon, a keynote speaker at the recent Anglican Connection Online Conference, spoke of a new Bible-reading series through the Gospel of John: ‘The Word One-to-One’. As the notes are already in place, all we need to do for friends we invite to coffee is to be ‘a page-turner’. The Word of God continues to do its work as in the days of Jesus.

And there is something else. God’s Holy Spirit is at work, convicting people everywhere of sin and opening blind eyes to who Jesus really is – the Christ, God’s Son, our Lord and Savior. Revelation and inspiration. A life-changing Gestalt moment!

No-one likes a hypocrite – someone who says one thing and does another. A hypocrite is basically an actor – consciously or unconsciously. In fact, the original Greek word translated by our English word hypocrite, means actor.

In Matthew 6:1 Jesus warns: “Beware of practising your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.”

Earlier in his Sermon on the Mount Jesus said: “…Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven…” Now he is saying, “Beware of practising your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them,..”

In both places he is talking about being seen by others, yet he seems to contradict himself. Is he inconsistent?

Counterfeit religion. In chapter 5 Jesus is speaking about the moral qualities of our life in public. Now in Matthew 6 he warns against using our faith to win applause. There is a sharp difference between living as God desires and wanting to make a name for ourselves. The first glorifies God; the second only brings the momentary applause of the crowd.

The attention-seeking ‘religious’ get what they delight in – accolades and celebrity. But Jesus warns, they will miss out on the true reward that comes from the living, all-righteous God. All they have is a counterfeit religion – empty and without lasting value. John Stott commented, ‘Our good works must be public so that our light shines; our religious devotions must be secret, lest we boast about them.’

Counterfeit Giving. Look at v.2: “So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others.”

Trumpets may be a metaphor – we shouldn’t sound our own trumpet when we give to the needy.  But trumpets may also have a literal meaning. In Jesus’ day, when there was a pressing need for charitable funds, the Temple trumpets sometimes called people to make a special contribution. Anyone watching would see who responded.

Jesus says that when we give so that others know what we are doing, whether in the street or in the synagogue, whether in church or at a charity function – we are being hypocritical.

That said, giving to the ministry of God’s Word and providing assistance for those in need is biblical. Writing on Godly and responsible giving in 2 Corinthians 8:9, Paul the Apostle says: For you know the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might be rich.

Hypocritical religion is not from the heart. It’s motivated by self-interest. Jesus is saying here that hypocrites give in order to be honored by those around them. And, he says, “I tell you they have their reward.”

They get what they’re after – celebrity status. But that’s all they’ll get. There is no genuine faith and no reward from God. It is counterfeit religion. This is one of the reasons that for decades naming rights of living people were not allowed in churches.

“But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be done in secret; and your father who sees in secret will reward you.”

To ensure that we’re not proud or smug about our generosity, Jesus uses the telling metaphor that the right hand should not know what the left hand is doing. No one, apart from God, will know about this private giving. He will see our real motives – our genuine concern to support gospel ministry and to care for the needy.

To be rewarded by God is the best kind of blessing. Approval by others is transient; approval from God is eternal. Aware of the deceitfulness of our hearts, we need to pray for God’s grace to avoid counterfeit giving.

Counterfeit prayer is another form of counterfeit religion that Jesus highlights.

In verse 5 we read: “And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward…”

Prayers in the synagogues were typically led by a synagogue member – not just the formal leaders. To be invited to lead the prayers was a mark of distinction, especially as the leader prayed at the front of the congregation.

Jesus knows how easy it is for the person leading prayer in church to focus more on the literary quality of their prayer and tone of voice, than upon God.

Now Jesus is not saying that prayer must always be in secret. He and his disciples attended services in the Temple and synagogue. On the night of his arrest Jesus urged Peter, James and John to pray for him – as a group. The first Christians regularly met together for prayer. Prayer in public was not so much the issue as the attitude of the pray-er.

In fact, the main point Jesus makes is the need for private prayer, for who we are in the privacy of our room is who we really are. Private prayer will be more honest and genuine. We are less likely to be motivated by selfish reasons. This is the kind of prayer that God hears. This is the way we can begin to counter counterfeit prayer.

How important it is on this Ash Wednesday and the start of the season of Lent, that we heed Jesus’ warning about counterfeit religion, counterfeit giving, and counterfeit prayer.

© John G. Mason

A Prayer for Ash Wednesday: Almighty and everlasting God, you hate nothing that you have made, and you forgive the sins of all who are penitent: create and make in us new and contrite hearts, so that we, lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness, may obtain from you, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

The resentment, bitterness and pain that many have experienced through the pandemic have tended to drive people further away from any sense of belief in God. ‘If God is there,’ I hear people say, ‘he certainly is not kind and compassionate. He can’t be good.’

Where can we find answers to comments like these? Let me suggest we need something more than our own testimony and wisdom.

Come with me to one of the great chapters of the Bible – Isaiah chapter 40. Isaiah tells us that when we are confronted with this world’s evil and suffering, rather than deny God, we need to think again about who he is.

Turn back the clock some two and a half millennia to a scene in the Middle East. Picture a great nation of the ancient world, brought low by conquering armies. Picture those people having been taught for hundreds of years that they are God’s special people. But the unthinkable had happened; the Babylonians had devastated Jerusalem and their lives. The temple was in ruins; the economy in tatters; and their homes destroyed. Now exiles in a foreign land, the temptation for the Jewish people to reject the God who had made promises to their forefathers would have been enormous.

Yet Isaiah 40 opens with these words: Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. There’s a timelessness about them that Handel’s Messiah identifies, for they speak to people suffering in every age. The language, ‘Comfort’ speaks of the tenderness of God. Indeed, the theme continues in verse 11: ‘He will feed his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms, and carry them in his bosom…’

Isaiah knows that in tough times only a big God can sustain us. And this is who God is. Only he can overrule our world when it is falling into chaos around us. Only he can say to us with any degree of credibility, ‘Comfort.’

Isaiah draws us into his picture of God’s awesome majesty and kindness, with questions such as, ‘What is God like?’

Can we compare him to the great ones of the world? Some try to pose as gods! Nebuchadnezzar, the great emperor of ancient Babylon, tried it for a while. So did Augustus Caesar and other Roman emperors.

Isaiah’s response is telling: Have you not known? Have you not heard?  Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?  It is he who sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to live in; who brings princes to nought and makes the rulers of the earth as nothing…

God’s throne fills the universe. He needs no capital city: the heavens are his palace. God has only to blow on the arrogant and power-hungry and they wither away.

‘Who created the heavens?’ Isaiah asks. Don’t you realize that every night God summons the stars because he controls the vast cosmic gravitational field? The universe is the arena of God’s artistry. We search the universe in vain for an adequate comparison to God’s majesty. There is nothing that men and women worship – be it science or technology, intelligence or wisdom, military might or political power, or even the sun or the stars – that can be compared with him.

 Yet our world today has walked away from the very thought of God.

Which brings us to another question: Is God kind and compassionate?

Have you not known? Have you not heard? Isaiah asks again. The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable (40:28).

No matter how heart-breaking our situation, no matter how perplexing, it’s not out of God’s control. We are in the hands of a kind and limitless intelligence, who knows what he’s doing. Events like Covid-19 don’t mean that God’s hands have slipped from the helm. They are permitted sufferings and a wake-up call to a world that has forgotten him. We may not always understand God’s ways, but we have every reason to trust him.

Indeed, God is good and caring. In verse 29 we learn: He gives power to the faint, and gives strength to the powerless. Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted; but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, and note this: they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.

We may wonder at the order of the words here. Why not conclude on the note of soaring higher, like the eagles? Yet concluding on the note of walking makes sense, for that is what life with God is like.

In life’s struggles, it’s not the wings of an eagle we need but the endurance of the long-distance walker. Flights of spiritual experience are no use if they are followed by plunges into the darkness of depression.

Walk and not faint. That’s what we need when life is tough and incomprehensible. That is the strength that the God of all strength, provides for his people.

In those times when resentment, bitterness and pain make it hard to believe and hard to pray, hard to sing and hard to read the Bible, turn afresh to Isaiah 40.

Let’s fill our minds with the awesome majesty and love of God. The greatness of his power is matched exactly by his love and compassion. The opening words of the chapter, ‘Comfort, comfort my people’ tell us that in the midst of disaster, God provides us with the strength we need to endure. Like God’s people in Isaiah’s day, let us hear the Word of God and believe it.