More Than Just a Wedding
Second Sunday Scripture Readings
Why have we now slipped from the Gospel of Mark that we’ve been following this liturgical cycle, and gone back into John’s Gospel? The answer lies in the last sentence of this passage: “Jesus did this as the beginning of his signs at Cana in Galilee and so revealed his glory.” We began this portion of our liturgical year with Jesus’s baptism and the initiation of his public ministry. Now, right away, we’re introduced to the first of his “mighty deeds,” what John calls his “signs.” John’s is the only gospel that reports this event, and that, also, tells us something about it. John’s is the mystical gospel, and therefore John is far more concerned with the meaning of the events he reports than with their historical accuracy. The events described in John’s gospel actually happened but not necessarily exactly as John describes them.
For whatever reason, those who selected the readings for today chose to provide us with only half of the first verse quoted here. It’s missing a phrase that helps to ground this story in the context of John’s writings. The complete text reads, “On the third day, there was a wedding feast at Cana in Galilee…” Why is that significant? When we look at all the passages that preceded this one and count up the days that John mentions, we find this sign taking place on the seventh day after Jesus’s encounter with the Baptist and the beginning of his public ministry. This “seventh day” certainly hearkens back to the creation story in Genesis which is a vital and recurring theme in this gospel. Remember how the Prologue begins as an echo of that first creation story as he writes, “In the beginning…” On the seventh day of the Father’s work, all creation was complete; on the seventh day of Jesus’s ministry, the new creation was underway.
Not only that but the conclusion of the narration of the wedding feast at Cana parallels almost exactly the conclusion of the Prologue. There, we hear, “And the Word was made flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory, the glory of the Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth.” [John 1:14] Here, he writes, “Jesus did this as the beginning of his signs at Cana in Galilee and so revealed his glory, and his disciples believed in him.” [John 2:14] For John, the full revelation of Christ’s glory occurred with his death and resurrection on the third day. But we can clearly see that the timing of this sign—on the third day—leads us inexorably toward that revelation of Christ’s glory. And that is the “hour” that Jesus speaks of as he answers Mary’s plea for help. You see? Little of what John wrote should ever be taken merely at face value.
Now, into the scene itself. The fact that Jesus’s first sign took place at a wedding wasn’t an accident. In several places in the Hebrew Scriptures, Israel is presented as the bride of Yahweh God. The writings of the rabbis also sometimes described the coming of the Messiah and the Messianic age as a wedding feast. John’s readers are led to think of Jesus’s appearance at this wedding feast in terms of the Messiah coming to the people of Israel, wedded to the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The symbolism is further deepened when we hear of the six stone water jars provided there “for Jewish ceremonial washings.” This is an obvious reference to the Torah, the covenant, and the stipulations of the Law regarding ritual purity. Jesus’s presence in the context of the needs of his people leads to the transformation of the water of the old Law and covenant into the wine of the new.
As Jesus thus transforms the water into wine, the old creation into the new, and the old covenant into the new, he does so through the obedient service of the household staff. As we shall see, there is also a parallelism between these servants of the household through whom the sign is accomplished and the servants of the Church through whom Jesus’s signs continue. In this, we see an evident reference to the Eucharist. Can you see the parallel between Jesus’s providing wine to the needy bridal party out of the water brought by the household servants and Jesus’s providing for the hungry crowd of five thousand from five barley loaves and two fish brought through the ministry of his disciples? The point is that the sign regarding the water and wine and that regarding the loaves of bread are both eucharistic symbols. To further bring that point across, we’re told in the verse immediately preceding today’s gospel that this sign took place at Passover time, as also did the multiplication of the loaves. In typical Johannine fashion, the glorification of Jesus through his passion, death, and resurrection and his sharing of that glory in the Eucharist permeates his whole gospel.
One final note about the role of Mary, the mother of Jesus, in this story. Even as early as the time of the composition of this gospel, Mary was recognized by Christians as not only the mother of Jesus but the mother of God and also the mother of the Body of Christ, the Church. It’s her role as mother and symbol of the Church that she exercises here by bringing to Jesus the needs of the people. In his response, Jesus isn’t rebuking her. By calling her “woman,” he is once again echoing the words of the creation story from Genesis where Eve is referred to as “the woman.” As, in the new creation, Jesus is the new Adam, so Mary is the new Eve. Similarly, as the name “Eve” comes from the Hebrew root for “life,” and she is called the “mother of all the living,” [Genesis 3:20], so Mary is thus acknowledged as the mother of the Church—of those living the new life of water and the Holy Spirit. As Mary presents the needs of the wedding party to Jesus, so the Church presents the needs of the world to him, the eternal Word made flesh. He responds to those needs in and through the Eucharist.
There’s much more in the story of the wedding feast at Cana than what first meets the eye. It encapsulates the history of salvation from creation to this Eucharist we offer here today. As such, as always, the gospel story implicates us. It tells of our needs, both physical and spiritual, and the intercessory role of both Mary and the Church in presenting us, needy as we are, to God. It tells us of God’s response to us eucharistically as he gives himself as the greatest of all gifts to us. In this is contained all other gifts and the satisfaction of all our needs. And, finally, it brings us face-to-face with Jesus’s hour—the revelation of his glory to our world—and our invitation to share in it eternally. We share in the Church’s ministry not only to bring the world’s needs to God but to bring his glory to birth in our world as we, the faithful servants of God’s household, heed Mary’s words, “Do whatever he tells you.”
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