Breaking the Rules

Jesus was well known for many things. His compassion. His healing power. His wisdom.

But He was also a rule-breaker.

Not just those man-made rules, mind you. He purposefully violated natural laws. Again and again.

You just don’t heal a virulent disease like leprosy with a touch. But, Jesus did.

Giving sight to someone born blind? Not possible. Jesus did that, too.

Raising the dead? Definitely against the rules. Of course, that didn’t stop Jesus.

Or, as I was reading this morning in the gospel of John (chapter 2), taking six large waterpots full of water and transforming them into wine for a wedding celebration in the town of Cana. Not cheap swill, mind you. The good stuff. Cana Cabernet.

Hundreds of people witnessed His miraculous works. Even His enemies couldn’t deny them.

According to the rules, we just can’t do this supernatural stuff. I’ll probably swing by the pool in our housing development today while walking the dog, and I guarantee you, no matter how vigorously I wave my arms and how loudly I chant some magical incantations, that H2O isn’t becoming anything but pool water. I might entertain the neighbors, however.

I’m subject to the Rules. Natural law. Science.

Only Someone ABOVE natural law can break these rules. The One who rules nature itself can override natural law and do supernatural things. And when it comes bringing life out of death, that is the main point of Jesus’ gospel.

Being “born again” is experiencing rule-breaking, live-giving, supernatural re-birth. The gospel of hope is for the dead and the guilty and the powerless.

He takes the plain, tasteless, even polluted water of my soul and pours in the wine of His grace. He opens spiritually-blinded eyes. Transforms a sinner into a worshiper.

When God makes a Christian, He breaks all the rules. There is no such thing as a “natural” Christian. Where Christ is, there is super-natural life.

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