Christmas Weekday
As we continue to celebrate the great feast of Christmas, we hear in today’s gospel the very first miracle of Jesus’ public ministry—turning water into wine at the wedding in Cana. How often do we think about miracles? Do they still happen? How do we know if was has happened? Oftentimes, the criterion for whether or not a miracle has occurred is scientific explanation. If an occurrence can be explained by science, the conversation goes, then it’s not a miracle. Alternatively, if it can be explained by scientific investigation, then it’s not miraculous, it’s not God’s work.
In his gospel, John clues us in that these stories are about something more than scientific explicability by calling the wedding at Cana event and others “signs” rather than miracles. In fact, some English versions of John’s gospel will place the heading “The Book of Signs” shortly before today’s passage. What difference does it make to call them “signs”? Well, first of all it tells us that God is displaying something to us through them, rather than just incidental interesting events. But, further, in order for us to understand what’s being said, we need to interpret the sign. Signs require interpretation. Therefore, in order to understand the signs of the gospel and perhaps any signs we see today, we must place them in the wider context of Jesus’ life and work.
One of the most interesting things about the signs of Jesus’ ministry is that they are all in line with how things work in God’s creation. That is, we don’t see Jesus making any four-headed monsters out of sand. Take the one in today’s gospel—changing water into wine. This happens all the time in the world. It rains. Grape vines are nourished. We squeeze out the grape juice and allow it to ferment. This is a very natural process!! The miracle in this instance is that it happens so fast in order that the celebration may continue, and the couple not be embarrassed!! Timing and circumstance is far more important than scientific verifiability.
We see that God’s supreme gift of Jesus that we celebrate this Christmas season has all sorts of reverberations. Jesus is Lord. He can command creation, but He does so in line with God’s purposes. We come to see that this is the chosen one of God, the Messiah promised of the ages, sent to deliver God’s people.
- Tim Gabrielli