John 2: 1-11
The Word:https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/011622.cfm
Wedding celebrations are among the most festive and joyful across cultural boundaries. We begin with the commitment of the bride and groom, hopefully in a context of religious faith, only to be followed by a grand party that may last anywhere from a few hours or on into the night. I think it clear from the Gospel today that we find ourselves in the midst of a lengthy celebration.
In spite of the confusion caused by the
secular definition of marriage which prevails today, for us who follow Christ we
hold to what we have always known. Not because we are out of touch or stubborn
or old fashioned but because we must be faithful to what God has designed.
Marriage is not just about love and emotions, as beautiful as these are, or not
just about a “friend for life” between two partners but it is a holy covenant
of loyalty and faithfulness for life which reflects Christ and his Church as
God has intended it be. The union shared produces life beyond the couple. The
very nature of Marriage as a Sacrament implies this.
So, we come to the well-known first of Jesus’
public miracles during a wedding celebration at Cana in Galilee. Were these
relatives of Jesus at the wedding party?
Likely they were perhaps on Mary’s side of the family. And of course the potential for embarrassment
on the part of the groom and bride that the wine has run out was very real. In
the time of Jesus, these celebrations went on for several days. Imagine the awkward position the couple would
have been in if they ran out of wine. In
particular the headwaiter. Guests would have simply drifted away and commented
on the unprepared couple and families. Certainly, a major humiliation.
Imagine the scene. Surrounded by music and joyful laughter, a
problem is identified and the mother of Jesus, Mary, says to him: “They have no
more wine.” It seems Jesus, and some of his disciples, whom the passage
indicates were there, were simply enjoying themselves when Mary approached. Mary’s
presented problem to her Son, however, is significant.
In a sense both Jesus and Mary were guests at
the wedding; they were not responsible for the wedding coordination but there
to greet the couple and enjoy the bond of family life. So, why would this be
considered their problem?
How beautifully human and ordinary is this
common situation. Obviously, she felt Jesus could do something about it but was
a miracle in Mary’s mind? We don’t really know other than she felt her son
would be able to address the problem and on a deeper sense felt it was time for
him.
Jesus’ response to Mary’s statement has
always been a point of debate: “Woman, how does your concern affect me? Literally, “how is this a concern for you and
for me?”My hour has not yet come.” We might say Jesus is asking his mother –
“How does this involve the both of us?”
We would love to see the look of surprise on
Jesus’ face as Mary addressed the concern of the bridal couple. The headwaiter
was responsible to see that things went well.
He was in effect a Master of Ceremonies; likely a family member whose
very reputation was on the line.
It’s clear, however, that Jesus was
influenced by his mother’s observation. John may be showing us the influence of
Mary as the public ministry of Jesus began: “All right, son, now it’s time to
get on with this. Here’s your first
chance.” Hmm, how delightfully Jewish! With traditional respect for mothers in
the culture, Jesus could not refuse his mother’s request.
The richness of this is understood as a
direct link with the cross of Jesus.
Remember how he addressed his mother from the cross: “Woman, behold your son . . . son (John)
behold your mother.” At Cana he
addresses his mother as “woman” and same from the cross. Here, Mary is not just any mother or any
woman. She is THE woman of all women
through whom the Christ was born.
I addition, Jesus symbolically John tells us
that Mary is representative of new life, new beginning; she is the new “Eve.”
As Eve, the mother of all the living, invited Adam to participate in her
disobedience, here Mary invites Jesus to now open up the world to his person;
to the transformation of life for those who “Do whatever he tells you.” Was
that not the reason for which the chosen people were punished time and again –
they did not do what God had told them. In the same way, sin separates us from
God because we do not do what he tells us; we choose to walk our own way rather
than in the life God brings to us.
It was time and with this first of Jesus’
miracles, signs as John calls them, our Lord comes on the scene – all because
they did whatever he told them. So too with Jesus himself – he followed the
concern of his own mother and carried through her wishes. Her role in the
beginning of Jesus’ ministry was both cultural and symbolic. This “sign” open a
window for us: see who Jesus is and what he will do for those who hear and
offer themselves as faithful disciples. Our water is transformed by the
richness of God’s grace for those who do what he tells us.
Jesus will come and with his presence only
the finest will be made. The Prophet
Isaiah writes this Sunday (Is 62: 1-5): “No more shall people call you
‘Forsaken” or your land ‘Desolate,’ but you shall be called ‘My Delight,’ and
your land ‘Espoused. . .’ God, in a biblical sense, has joined in union, in
marriage with all humanity through his Son, Jesus. In Christ divinity and
humanity are joined in a solid and forever union. See the shadows of marriage in its beauty and
deeper spiritual meaning?
God will marry his people to himself as a
groom marries a bride. These nuptial
images imply an intimacy of the deepest love and faithfulness. When Christ steps in, things change. And so, Jesus begins his earthly ministry
around a wedding feast at which wine was given and in which a new and forever
covenant is established as he shed his blood and rose from the dead. However, this was not the only time Jesus
changed wine.
The Gospel should remind us that the earthly
ministry of Jesus will end as it began - with a feast, a supper of sorts at
which wine will be given again as his very life offered for all. A wedding
feast to begin and a Last Supper to end.
Both involve relationships, covenant, wine, feasting, celebration, and a
gift. Bread is changed into Him who offers the transformation of grace. Wine is changed into a living cup of his
presence, and we are invited to that wedding banquet each time we attend Mass.
In this beautiful and deeply symbolic wedding feast we find Jesus revealed once again but what his purpose and mission will be. That child in Bethlehem is God incarnate, his life will be filled with transformation as we who are water are touched by Christ who is wine, and this feast, a foreshadowing of the great banquet of heaven, will be open to us through the death and resurrection of Christ.
In the giving of his life for us, Jesus makes
himself present around a table which will become a cross which will become a
tomb which will become for all time a sign of hope, glory and life for all who
would come to believe. The feast of the Eucharist is our constant invitation to
wed ourselves in an intimate union between we who are water and Christ who is
wine.
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