In the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke), the miracles are called dunamis. The Greek word translates into English as “act of power.” John, on the other hand, uses the Greek word semeia. It means “sign.” The miracles are signs; they point toward something. They indicate. In themselves they are not important. What they point to is what matters.
This is the first sign in John’s gospel. It is certainly an act of power. But what does it point to? What does it indicate?
This is the season of Epiphany, so the other reasonable question is, what does it reveal?
Paul writes of spiritual gifts. He means they point to God, that they are signs. Think of a sign by itself. A stop sign is just a piece of painted metal on a stake. But it points to the authority of the state, an authority we respect because it keeps traffic orderly, it keeps us safe. For Paul the spiritual gifts point to God, and what God gives for us; the emphasis on “us,” not you or me. The gifts point to the church, not to your merits. The stop sign is not for you; it is for us.
Who’s the wine for, then? What does it point to? What is revealed? Paul says the gifts are from God for the common good. Whose good is the wine for? Yours? Mine? The bridal party’s?
We might as well do the story the respect of taking all of it seriously. John opens his account of Jesus’ ministry with it for a reason. John says because of this sign Jesus’ disciples believed in him. What had they been doing before? He also says this sign reveals Jesus’ glory; so at least we’ve got the epiphany worked in. But what reveals Jesus’ glory? The water into wine, or the quality of the wine? Is it a better sign because the wine is so good? Is that the glory? Or does it just underline it?
Yes, signs have to be interpreted. What is revealed is what we understand.
In itself the sign is not important. But then why is the wine so good? The steward recognizes its quality, but not its provenance. Maybe that’s the point; maybe it serves a purely narrative purpose. But is all of it not a sign, then?
Is the story significant in itself, or is it a sign? In the narrative it’s important, because this is the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. But is it just a McGuffin, meaningless in itself and forgotten as soon as it is used to start the story? Who are these people? Jesus’ mother appears again at the crucifixion (more than she does in Matthew or Luke, where she’s present only for the nativity); the disciples continue on; but this wedding disappears once this event is over. Is it really even important? Significant? What, then, does it signify?
According to John this is about the glory of God. Glory is the doxa, the light that comes off of God and is God, but obscures God. It is illuminating, it is light. Think of it as the light of revelation. It is the light that reveals. Paradoxically, it also hides. But that’s appropriate to John. In John’s telling, the semeia reveal; but they also hide.
John’s “signs” reveal to those who understand; they also conceal the truth from those who don’t. Think of Mathew’s magi: the star reveals a truth to them Herod’s scholars don’t see. But the scripture, the word of God, reveal a truth the magi couldn’t know. The revelation is still hidden from Herod, who doesn’t see God’s action in the world; he only sees a threat to his power. In Matthew, as in Luke, the nativity is the first miracle of Jesus. It is dunamis, an act of power. It is a rather simple matter of who it is revealed to: magi, shepherds. In John the semeia reveals and hides: the steward of the wedding doesn’t get it; the disciples do. Of course, like Mary, the disciples know something the steward doesn’t. It’s not his fault; Jesus has not yet revealed himself. When he does, how can everyone know what it means?
Even John the Baptizer, in John’s gospel, has to tell the disciples, “Behold, the lamb of God.” That’s not a semeia, but it’s the first revelation. That the disciples understand it is not to their credit; it is meant for the common good. It is meant for us, the readers of this gospel. It is, for us, a sign. The sign is not the point. The point of the sign is what it signifies, what it points to. Whether we understand that, whether we realize that; well, that’s on us.
Thanks be to God.
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