The Question of Doxa: A Socioliterary Reading of the Wedding at Cana

The public ministry of Jesus narrated in the Fourth Gospel opens in typical Johannine style, with a misunderstanding of Jesus' identity. Read in light of the cultural context and literary setting, the Wedding at Cana provides clues for an ironic reading focused on the revelation of Jesus' doxa. The social context of a wedding evokes common social values and expectations for the characters involved and for the actions that follow. Primary among these is public opinion. The literary context of irony involves the doxa of Jesus. The wine shortage suggests a loss of doxa, a loss that if averted by Jesus would increase his doxa. Jesus' production of wine results, not in an increase in his doxa, or public honor, but in a revelation of his less apparent ascribed heavenly doxa.