Today’s Gospel passage is the third “theophany” in the Epiphany triptych, made up of the divine manifestations to the Magi, at the Jordan, and now in Cana. One thread uniting these scenes is that God’s presence is revealed to the outsider. In the first two scenes, those privy to God’s revelation were the stargazers from foreign lands and the tax collectors, soldiers, and misfits coming to the Jordan.
Jesus’s first public miracle in John’s Gospel, turning water to wine, is known only by his mother and the kitchen staff who followed Jesus’s commands. Neither the guests nor the wedding celebrants—not even the banquet organizer—witnessed the miracle. They simply enjoyed the blessing of an amazing party!
The miracles in John’s Gospel never point to themselves but to the One who gives true abundance that we might believe. Jesus, the ultimate Outsider, is known only by those who stay close to the ones on the margins. Click To TweetHow often we revel in the good things of life without even noticing where they come from! Whether it’s our clothes, food, or electronics, we too easily remain unaware that it’s often those on the peripheries of society who enable our undisrupted comfort.
Still, the miracles in John’s Gospel never point to themselves but to the One who gives true abundance that we might believe. Jesus, the ultimate Outsider, is known only by those who stay close to the ones on the margins. By attending to those who go unnoticed in our daily lives, we, too, might recognize and see the One from whom all good things come.
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