Dirty

I believe Jesus had dirty hands.

When I first arrived in Mongolia, I was surprised at how quickly my hands became dirty. Every time we wash our hands the rinse-water becomes visibly dirty, like after rolling pennies or sorting newspaper back home. Helen told me that when she goes back to the states she doesn't see the point in washing her hands as often because the water always rinses clear.

In the ger district, where most families don't have running water, hands are dirty as a rule. Sometimes when the kids are playing with us, I can't help but see the beauty in their dirty fingernails and think, "I believe Jesus had dirty hands."

In Bible study this week we read the story of Jesus healing a blind man as found in John chapter 9. I'm struck by the fact that Jesus spits in the dirt to make a mud paste to heal the blind man's eyes. I'm in awe of the Great Physician, who uses dirt to heal this man.

In John chapter 2 Jesus performs his first miracle. Jesus helps a family avoid embarrassment after they run out of wine by turning water into wine. Now, I love a good glass of wine and particularly like this story because if nothing else disproves the teetotalers - this story does.

But, I've always felt that perhaps this miracle doesn't quite fit with the others. Maybe it's that Jesus gets thrown into the situation by his mother and wouldn't have chosen to perform this miracle on his own. Or perhaps it's that I want my Jesus to be just a little more social-justice-liberal and I want his miracles to directly help people. I love it when He miraculously heals people, when He raises people from the dead, when He feeds large crowds of people - I love the miracles that give me hope for the moments when I look out my window and see unswerving poverty. But this miracle seems a little less heroic.

I felt this way until I got a little closer to the story.

In the middle of the desert, where the water is undrinkable, after days of entertaining guests -- How much water would a family have on hand who didn't even prepare enough wine for the celebration?

Not much.

What water would they have on hand?

The water that had been used for the ceremonial washing.

Dirty water.

The water that had rinsed all the "unclean" off the party guests.

Unclean water.

So Jesus, thrown into this particular miracle somewhat against his will, looks around the room and sees these large bowls of dirty water - and He sees the possibility.

And the servant follows along; taking this dirty water in a chalice, he serves it to the man at the head of the table - who in turn rejoices that the family has saved the best wine until last.

Perhaps the miracle wasn’t only that Jesus could turn one thing into another, but perhaps the miracle was that He was willing to use what others consider dirty and unclean and to turn it into something truly great.

Jesus spits into the dirt and gives sight to the blind. Jesus takes dirty water and serves the finest wine ever had. This is the miracle.

Jesus still performs miracles. He still takes the dirty, unclean, and unwanted things of this world and uses them to heal the sick, give sight to the blind, and to change the world.

Jesus takes us, in all of our sin - dirty, unclean, and unwanted - and uses our lives to heal the sick, to give sight to the blind, and to change the world.