Don’t only read this passage. Close your eyes and imagine it. See the scene, hear the words, notice the human dynamics. Be there! Then, decide what about Jesus seems most amazing. Is it his power to make really fine wine out of water? Is it his frankness with his mother (“But mom, this is not our concern!”) but in the end his respectful obedience? All of the above? Or perhaps one more: his humanness?
This was his first recorded miracle. And it wasn’t anything important, like curing a blind man or a leper, or pardoning Mary Magdalene, or bringing Lazarus back to life. It was to assure simple human enjoyment – to save a great party!
Paul tells us Jesus was “like us in all things except sin”: thoroughly human though God.
There’s no point in trying to puzzle that out. When we see God face to face it will be easier to grasp, but the Mystery involved here will be one reason why eternity will never be boring for us: we will continually – forever — be given greater insight into Who our Triune God is.
In the meantime we believe, we adore.
—Fr. Jack O’Callaghan, S.J. is assists the Dean at Loyola University’s Stritch School of Medicine with programs in Ignatian Spirituality.