Re: water into wine - what is it a sign of?

fergus wrote:
On Wed, 07 May 2008 07:55:40 GMT, "Kendall K. Down"
<webmaster@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:


It deals with the possible claim that they were ordinary amphorae that had
been used for wine and the taste of the wine still lingered, deceiving the
half-cut groom and guests.

Surely they'd have to have been more than half cut to be deceived by
that!

I've seen this interpreted as being symbolic of the new and old
covenants and all sorts of things being inferred, or read into, that.
It all seems very cryptic though, as evidenced by the multitudes of
incompatible interpretations.

What do others think? Was it because my original question was a silly
one that only one person answered??

Your question is not silly but, as you indicate, it is not easy to answer. You use the word "cryptic" and that is not inappropriate, I think. John's Gospel is quite different from the other three. Almost every word is filled with deep meaning, layer upon layer. John is doing much more than offering a simple narrative. Symbolism, and especially sacramental symbolism, is everywhere. (Bread of life, water of life, wine etc)

We assume that his readers will have understood his references. Many people believe there was a Johannine "school" of Christians, disciples of John (whoever John actually was.) These people would have heard the teacher and discussed with him; and it may have been them who finally collected and edited his teachings into the Gospel.

This story, which is unique to John, is right up at the front of the Gospel, and it is clearly about transformation. Perhaps the synoptic equivalent is the idea of new wine in new wineskins. Jesus' reluctance to act on his mother's request could be John's equivalent of the messianic secret in the Synoptics (where Jesus tells the disciples not to reveal his identity just yet.) John is certainly portraying Jesus, from the beginning, as one who will do what no other can do and who will change society, not just water.

Some might see, and I don't think it unreasonable, in the changing of water to wine a hint of a deeper transubstantiation that John goes on to refer to in chapter 6.
John 6:51 "I am the living bread that came down from heaven.
If you eat this bread, you will live forever. The bread that I will give you
is my flesh, which I give so that the world may live."

It is not for nothing that John's Gospel is often referred to as the Gospel of Signs.
--


Revd. Eric Potts

"Go in peace, in the power of the Spirit
to live and work to God's praise and glory."
.

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