John’s Gospel tells us that the first miracle of Jesus’ ministry took place at a wedding in the town of Cana in Galilee. John calls Jesus’ miracles “signs”: that is, events that “signify” a deeper truth, signs that point to something beyond themselves. St. John tells us that this sign of turning water into wine at the wedding revealed Jesus’ glory, and in this way the miracle at Cana takes its place as one of three Epiphany stories that mark the season.
To recap: Christ’s glory was revealed not only at the wedding, but also in the appearance of the star in the east, guiding the magi to Bethlehem to pay him homage. As we heard last week, Jesus’ identity was revealed at his baptism, when the voice from heaven was heard: “You are my Son, the Beloved, with you I am well pleased” (Lk. 3:22). In all three events, Christ was manifested to the world.
But the Church over the years has seen additional significance in the fact that the miracle of water into wine took place at a wedding. Something else is up here, the attentive reader is aware; something else is going on beyond the manifestation of Christ’s glory; something of additional significance. In working this first miracle of his ministry, Jesus takes us back to the beginning, back to the Garden and the original creation; back to the first couple in Genesis, and the beginning of the story.
In the story of the creation of the human race, we hear in the second chapter of Genesis, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh” (Gen. 2:23). Adam and Eve are created to be together, to become one flesh as it says (Gen. 2:24); to be fruitful and multiply, according to the story in Genesis, chapter one. They are made of the same stuff as a sign of unity; they are made for each other, for friendship and for fellowship, for a common purpose.
But we know as well the twisty turn the story takes as the parents of the human race are led astray by the serpent and fall into sin. Adam and Eve thought that they were going to be like God, knowing good and evil; and this turns out to be heartbreakingly true. Unity breaks down and is followed by finger pointing, as one blames the other, and fellowship turns into farce. “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate” (Gen. 3:12). When closely questioned by God, that’s the best that Adam can do! The story concludes with “You are dust, and to dust you shall return” (Gen. 3:19), as Adam and Eve head out of paradise and into exile and death.
In his first miracle in John’s Gospel, Jesus returns to the ground zero of creation and fall in order to manifest his glory. You might say he returns to the scene of the crime. At the wedding feast, at the joining of two of Adam and Eve’s descendants, he comes to show a more excellent way. Our human propensity for division and estrangement, exemplified in the story of the fall, is met by Jesus’ healing presence and saving action to restore community. This is not the only time he returns to the garden and the story of creation: as Jesus says in Mark’s Gospel, in reference to marriage, “Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate” (Mk. 10:9).
The difference between Jesus’ teaching in Mark, and the miracle at Cana in Galilee, is that in our story today Jesus appears at an actual wedding and works a miracle. He not only teaches about the unity and fellowship of the human race, but he turns up and celebrates it! As so often with John’s miracles, the water turned to wine is a sign that signifies.
God supplies what is needed when our human charm and effort are exhausted. What the story signifies is that when the wine runs out, and the finger pointing and blame begins, Jesus is able to heal our hurt by supplying what we lack. He does what we cannot do. Jesus gives us his grace, what one early Christian preacher called “the sobering wine of his grace” (Maximus of Turin, Hom. 23), turning the water that we bring into the wine that we need.
Today we will all have the opportunity to come to the altar to receive Christ’s body and blood. The bread and wine of the Eucharist are themselves “outward and visible signs” of Christ’s body and blood, which is the means of grace for us. Coming forward, we all have the opportunity to reaffirm our faith, and begin the new year with renewed commitment. God will need to act powerfully in our lives if we are to follow Jesus as his disciples. But the effective means of grace are at hand in the sacrament of the altar. It is a sign that signifies, as God heals our hurt and our division, and gives us a new life through the power of the Spirit.