The season of Epiphany is now in full swing. Can you feel it? Has the chalk on your door washed off yet? Mine’s under cover so will last until this season ends on 2nd Feb with Candlemas – as long as it doesn’t get blown away. More on Candlemas next time.
Last time we considered Epiphany and the celebration of divine revelation. That’s not just reserved for the day of Epiphany itself, when we remember the Magi worshipping Jesus Christ, King of Kings. The whole season is given over to this theme of Epiphany during which two Biblical stories are particularly remembered.
One story is the Baptism of Jesus, celebrated on 8th January which I won’t write about here. Let us consider the second story: Jesus turning water into wine during the wedding at Cana in John 2. The story is probably very familiar to most readers. It would undoubtedly be on any ‘Greatest Hits’ album if a ‘Best of the Gospels’ were released. But why is this miracle associated with Epiphany? You can find the reason at the end of the story:
What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him. (John 2:11)
There’s that theme of divine revelation. Matthew, Mark and Luke write miracles. John uses the word ‘sign’. A sign points you in a particular direction. For John, the seven signs are clear indications of the identity of this man from Nazareth.
Except Jesus is not from Nazareth. He was raised in Nazareth but born in Bethlehem. John rather assumes his audience knows this. But in the gospel narrative, Jesus’s enemies are blissfully unaware of this. Or are they wilfully blind?
Getting the Credit
When Jesus turns water into wine, does everyone turn around to face Mary’s son and fall at his feet in worship? No. Jesus’s hour has not yet come, as he tells his mother rather abruptly. So who gets the credit for the miracle? It looks like the groom does. The chief steward calls him over and congratulates him on saving the best wine to the end. Only the servants know the origin of the wine, and no one cares about them.
Jesus’s glory, then, is hidden. In fact, his glory is obscured for the first six of the seven signs in John. This is the point I make in my one-man comedy show about this story (which you can stream here for a modest fee).
Seeing the Signs
The sixth sign in John’s gospel is significant here. It can be found in chapter 9 in which Jesus heals the man born blind. It’s a really funny chapter with lots of coming and going. It always feels like an episode of Frasier to me.
But there are two surprising things about it if you have eyes to see. The first is how long the story is. It is 41 verses, taking up the whole chapter. Jesus turning water into wine is only 11 verses. Feeding the Five Thousand is 15 verses and Walking on the Water a mere 9 verses. It is only exceeded by the seventh sign, in which Jesus raises Lazarus from the Dead. So it’s clearly quite important.
The second odd thing about John 9 is that Jesus is absent from most of the story. Jesus is only in the first seven verses and doesn’t return until verse 35. The story ends with Pharisees petulantly asking Jesus “What? Are we blind too?”, to which Jesus replies.
Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains. (John 9:41)
I’ll be honest. I don’t really know what that means, but one thing is clear. Throughout the story, Jesus’s enemies look very foolish because they are blind to the truth. The blind man’s neighbours themselves become partially blind, failing to recognise the man saying that it’s a different person.
Jesus is the one who grants sight to the blind – so that those in permanent darkness can see, showing how we witness the true manifestation of God in Christ.
Why not take a moment to read that story in John 9 for yourself? It’s what the season of Epiphany is all about. Or have it read to you by David Suchet.
The Passive Aggressive Wedding Thank You Note
I wrote about Jesus turning water into wine in my book, The Gospel According to a Sitcom Writer. Or you can listen to the audio version for free as it is being given away as a podcast. New chapters drop every Monday. Why not subscribe to it on Apple Podcasts, or Spotify (and other podcast apps if you have a rummage)?