Blogging Towards Sunday, September 21, 2026

John 2:1-11

We’re continuing a month-long series on Miracles, Signs, and Wonders. Today we’re sitting with the word sign.

When you’re driving, you pay attention to signs. Some signs inform you to go in one direction, others order you to “turn here,” and still others tell you how fast you can go. Signs tell us important things.

The original word for “sign” was the Greek σημεῖον or sémeion which became the Latin “signum” (from which we also get “signal,” “insignia” and “signature.”) Signum can mean anything from an “identifying mark” (think “X marks the spot”) to “proof” and even a “banner to follow.”

It can also mean a sign from heaven. That is what the evangelist John meant in his Gospel’s “Book of Signs,” which begins in chapter 1 (v 19) and goes through chapter 12. It precedes the “Book of Glory,” which deals with the mystery of Christ’s death and resurrection. The Book of Signs takes up a large part of John’s Gospel. This is because, as the late Scripture scholar, Fr. Raymond Brown, said of the “Book of Signs,” it’s the part of the Gospel where “the Word reveals himself to the world and to his own …”

In the Gospel of John, “sign” is also used to mean “miracle.” Unlike the Gospels of Mark, Matthew and Luke, John does not record very many miracles of Jesus. There are only seven listed in John, but each tells us very special things we need to know about Jesus.

The seven signs are:

1. Changing water into wine at the wedding at Cana
   (Jn 2:1-11);
2. Healing the royal official’s son (Jn 4:46-54);
3. Healing the paralyzed man at the pool of Bethesda in
   Jerusalem (Jn 5:1-15);
4. Feeding the 5,000 (Jn 6:5-14);
5. Walking on water (Jn 6:16-21);
6. Healing the man born blind (Jn 9:1-7); and
7. Raising Lazarus from the dead (Jn 11:1-45). ¹

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION & EXAMEN:

• What engaged, enraged, or surprised you in these texts?
• What is the miracle in the story of the wedding at Cana a sign? What does it signal in the story? For you today?
• For whom is the sign done or intended?
• When have you experienced, received or seen a sign that pointed you towards a truth about God, or a signal of the presence of Jesus in the world?
• What do you hear God saying to you through today’s read-ings?

1. [Adapted in large part from a blog post at https://onmissionmedia.com/the-seven-signs-of-john/] ↩︎