From Ordinary to Extraordinary

An ordinary young woman who was soon to be married had her world turned upside down. It was from the moment that the angel of the Lord appeared to Mary that she knew her life was going to be different. From that time strange things began to happen. She found that she was with child though she had not yet married Joseph nor “known” any man. She visited Elisabeth her cousin and upon her greeting Elisabeth’s child leaped in her womb. When Mary’s child was born, many visitors came to worship Him. First, some shepherds followed a star to the manger in Bethlehem. Then, a few months later, some wise men brought three gifts for the child.

Surrounding her baby boy people would prophesy, worship, and joyfully announce His coming. In Luke 2:19 the physician records that Mary, “kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.” She realized that she had an extraordinary child.

Jesus has from the beginning taken the ordinary and made it special. As an adult Jesus took ordinary men and made them apostles. Most of these men were merely fishermen. While fishing today is seen as mostly recreational, for these men it was a difficult and dirty job. Matthew was a tax collector, part of a group of people seen by the Jews as traitors in that day, but became a great apostle and preacher. These men became extraordinary because of Jesus’ influence.

In the Christian age, Jesus has taken the sinner and made him a saint. Jesus’ primary purpose in coming was to “seek and save that which was lost” (Luke  19:10). The sinner was without hope to ever reach a holy God (Isaiah 59:1-2) but Jesus’ sacrifice took away the sins of the world for all who would believe and obey Him.

Jesus has taken the ordinary need to call out for help and given us prayer. Everyone, at one time or another, needs to cry out for help. It might be as simple as car trouble stranding you on the highway or as difficult as recurrent money problems. Because of His mediation we have a God who not only hears our prayers, but stops to listen and acts upon our supplications (James 5:16). Jesus has taken our need for help and given us an avenue to the Father.

Another need that we have common is acceptance. All of us need to be loved, appreciated, and to feel a common bond of brotherhood. Jesus has taken this need and given us fellowship. Because we enjoy fellowship so much, sometimes we forget that it is a commandment. Hebrews 10:24-25 instructs us to spend time together. Christ gives us fellowship in Him to fulfill our need for acceptance.

Jesus also took ordinary food items such as grape juice and unleavened bread and gave us communion with Him and one another in His death. Can you think of any food or drink that is more common and easy to attain anywhere in the world? Yet they become so special when they remind us of His sacrifice each Lord’s day.

In His ministry Jesus took simple stories and made them great life lessons for generations to come. His tales were not long and complicated like Homer’s Iliad or The Odyssey. Instead he spoke to the crowd, “A sower went out to sow.” His simple stories are so extraordinary in the scope of their application to us.

What has Jesus done to you? Have you allowed Him to take an ordinary man or woman and create something special? You might be surprised at the results of His work.