Third Sunday of Epiphany

Genesis 14.17-20; Revelation 19.6-10; John 2.1-11

At a human level, all miracles are pretty pointless. I was reading a book during last week written by Fr. Alexander Schmemann entitled 'O death, where is thy sting'. It's, of course, about death, the last enemy. In the book Fr. Alexander mentions the raising of Lazarus; and it got me thinking 'why did Jesus raise Lazarus? What was the point?' He didn't really do Lazarus any favours except extend his time here on earth. Poor Lazarus would have to die all over again, go through the agony of it, or whatever it brought for him. Lazarus's sisters had the benefit of him being around for longer, but assuming Lazarus died before they did, they'd have to grieve all over again. So it seems a bit of a strange thing to have done, which in the end, didn't really benefit anybody.

It could, however, have given Jesus a bit of fame or notoriety. Just think if he'd lived now, in our society that's infatuated and mezmerized by celebrity. He'd be worth billions. But then, there are all sorts of illusionists about nowadays who, if they don't work miracles, send you away believing that they do. So maybe Jesus's miracle working wouldn't be treated as that extraordinary anyway. So what use are miracles?

We've come today to read about Jesus turning water into wine at a wedding reception. He seems a bit reluctant to do it. But he does it; not in an ostentatious way as some sort of party trick or illusion; but in a hidden way, only in front of one or two servants. So nearly all the people in the room had no idea what had happened and they thought only that they'd been served some pretty decent wine. So what was the point of the miracle, except to save the embarrassment of the bride and groom?

St. John, in writing the account of this miracle, gives a hint as to what it was all about. He says that in working the miracle Jesus revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him. The sticking point with that is that at the time, Jesus's disciples didn't know about the miracle because only the servants witnessed it. So maybe we've got to think not just about the point of this and other miracles, but how we read the Bible as well.

Turning back to Lazarus for a moment, when we read the account, again written by St. John, we see that he says that Jesus says he's raised Lazarus so that people would believe that God sent Him and that they would see the glory of God.

The raising of Lazarus was done in front of a crowd; the turning of water into wine, in front of just a few. But the thing that both miracles have in common, and that all the other miracles of Jesus have in common is that they are meant to point us towards God. On a human level, the miracles only have relevance for the place, people and time that they happen. They are strange and wonderful things that happen. But that's all they are on a purely human level, when we see and hear about them through purely human eyes and ears. Just strange and wonderful occurrences.

And on a purely human level, whether or not you believe that the miracles happened is entirely up to you. Jesus didn't do miracles to prove anything or as some attempt to persuade people to believe in him. If he had, I guess he'd have done a lot more than he did and have been far more open about them, put on sideshows and appeared in the theatre. I happen to believe that Jesus did do the miracles that we read of. I used to be sceptical; but now I know more about the power and presence of God in life, I've far less reason to doubt.

'And his disciples believed in him', seems to be a sort of throw away line here in St. John's gospel; an after thought even. St. John writes as if the disciples believing in Jesus was a 'spin off' of the miracle rather than the intention of the miracle. And I think that's part of how miracles have an impact upon our lives as well.

The miracles of Jesus point us to a different plane, a different level beyond the purely human level. And beyond this world as we engage with it. The miracles of Jesus point us towards God and towards his kingdom. But more than that even, the miracles of Jesus transfigure human existence and place it firmly in the Kingdom of God. The miracles, to put it another way, are the Kingdom of God breaking through into this world. And they take us there with them too. These miracles are all connected with the greater miracle of God here with us in Jesus Christ, in the Church through His Spirit then and now. As members of the Church, the Body of Christ, we actually inhabit that Kingdom of God, we live in it. And we, in a very immature way experience that Kingdom even now, where earth is transfigured by Jesus Christ into the Kingdom.

God didn't come at Christmas so that we might have a better life in the hereafter. He came to bring in His Kingdom now and so that we might be part of that Kingdom now. And the miracle goes on all around us if we have eyes to see and ears to hear. And He came to lift us into the Kingdom if we'll let Him lift us into it, so that we no longer see our life, our existence in purely human terms, with human eyes and ears; but see our life as God sees it, see it in terms of His glory, see our life in Christ itself as the miracle it was, is and always will be.