Let's Dance
I have been watching the new series, “The Chosen”.
If you haven’t had the chance to see it, stop everything and watch it, NOW.
Friend, it is so good! The creators depict the stories of Jesus beautifully and creates an image for the feeling we have towards Jesus.
To simply say the show is a must watch, holy-inspired, perfect show is the understatement of the century.
I watched the episode about the wedding feast found in John 2 numerous times. The scene paints scripture into a relatable experience for all who watches.
When I first read the story of the wedding where Jesus turns water into wine, I missed vital components of the story. After watching the episode I realized, Jesus knew.
He knew that performing this seemingly frivolous miracle would set in motion His last days on earth before His death and resurrection.
Scripture shows us a short conversation between Jesus and His mother, Mary. Mary pleads with Jesus to do something about the lack of wine to serve. Obviously, she must have known He would have some ability to do something that others couldn’t.
But it was Jesus’ response that got me. He said, “Woman, why do you involve me? My hour has not yet arrived.” John 2:4 NIV
Jesus knew! He knew that by performing this act, His purpose would be set in motion. He would no longer just get to love on those around Him, but He would then be set on the path towards struggle and pain.
How many times have we known before making a decision that it would forever change the trajectory of our lives? How many requests have we submitted to knowing it would trigger hard work and sacrifice?
Jesus knew.
Just as he knew with every miracle he performed, He knew the consequence, and yet He performed them anyway.
He knew when He healed the leper, made the lame man walk, healed the blind man, rose his friend from the dead, all of these things would bring Him closer to a painful, horrific death fueled by ignorance and hate.
He knew.
But then He danced.
In the series, the creators took some liberties on the character’s personalities and some of the details, but the basis of the story is one hundred percent scripture based. I know the people working on this project studied for years prior to filming, working with theologians and bible scholars to get the meanings and cultural context just right.
They did an amazing job capturing the tension Jesus must have felt during his conversation and inevitable transformation of water into wine. We watch Jesus, our God, mourn for what needs to happen and place the need for wine over His desire to keep His true identity a secret.
Then He danced.
Que the tears, and the whole purpose of me writing this blog post.
According to the people making creative decisions for the show, Jesus danced after performing the first of so many miracles.
What a great way to model how we should behave. The bible is not misleading when it describes our roles in this world as followers of Christ. It is very clear that struggle, pain, hard times, death and destruction will circle us like a lion ready to devour.
But it is also very clear about how we should control our thoughts and reactions to these troubles.
Have joy.
Dance, smile, give thanksgiving to our Lord.
We are all faced with crossroads. There are multiple times in our lives where we must submit to the plan and accept the hard things as they come. We are faced with decisions to engage in battle with the full knowledge of what that means. Yet, we must choose that path regardless.
And we must dance. While things settle and we are in the waiting, we must take up the opportunity to find joy in the little things, laugh in the wake of hard times.
We must celebrate the now, even when we are waiting for the inevitable struggle to emerge.
Lets be like Jesus.
Lets dance.