There are no miracles in the gospel. Instead, there are seven signs which scholars say resonate with the seven days of creation in Genesis 1. The Gospel is expicit on which one is the first sign: the creation of wine from water during the wedding at Cana.
Yes, my friends, God has not stopped creating. Aside from creating wine from water, what else were created during the wedding at Cana? The water put in those six 20-30 gallon stone jars were for purification and cleansing purposes. They were not for drinking. They were to be expelled in the ritual process. Jesus more than creates wine from water; he creates wine for drinking, for taking in, from water dedicated for throwing out.
Jesus more than creates wine from water. In doing so, he creates a new community that privileges servants over masters. The servants were the first to experience the sign, then the chief steward, and then the bridegroom. The servants, who toiled yet did not even get to eat during feasts and weddings, were the first recipients of the best wine.
Finally, the creation of wine from water births a discipleship of the unnamed. Many times we forget that the most dedicated disciples of Jesus in the Gospel of John were unnamed: the child with five barley loaves and two fish; the Samaritan woman at the well; the Beloved Disciple; and Jesus's mother.
Many times we forget the role of Jesus's mother in this creation narrative. Many times we forget that the most dedicated disciples that God works through as God continues to create are people who remain unnamed, unrecognized, and uncelebrated.
We forget but God does not.
God always remembers.
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*art, "The Wedding At Cana," (JESUS MAFA, 1973) available at the vanderbilt divinity library digital archives.
