Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come

Creation of the plants, 15-16th century fresco.  Sucevita Monastery, Romania

 On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there.  Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding.  And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, "They have no wine."  Jesus said to her, "Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me?  My hour has not yet come."  His mother said to the servants, "Whatever He says to you, do it."  Now there were set there six waterpots of stone, according to the manner of purification of the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece.  Jesus said to them, "Fill the waterpots with water."  And they filled them up to the brim.  And He said to them, "Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the feast."  And they took it.  When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom.  And he said to him, "Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior.  You have kept the good wine until now!"  This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.  After this He went down to Capernaum, He, His mother, His brothers, and His disciples; and they did not stay there many days.

- John 2:1-12

In yesterday's reading, we were given the events of the fourth day of Jesus' ministry, as the Gospel of John reports:   Jesus wanted to go to Galilee, and He found Philip and said to him, "Follow Me."  Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.  Philip found Nathanael and said to him, "We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote -- Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph."  And Nathanael said to him, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?"  Philip said to him, "Come and see."  Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward Him, and said of him, "Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit!"  Nathanael said to Him, "How do You know me?"  Jesus answered and said to him, "Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you."  Nathanael answered and said to him, "Rabbi, You are the Son of God!  You are the King of Israel!"  Jesus answered and said to him, "Because I said to you, 'I saw you under the fig tree,' do you believe?   You will see greater things than these."   And He said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, hereafter you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man."

On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there.   So far John's Gospel has given us a report of the first four days of Jesus' earthly ministry, after its Prologue (verses 1:1-18) which gives us the theological understanding of who Christ is as Logos and Son.  On the third day is an expression which means "two days later," as it includes the current day in the calculation.  Therefore, this is the sixth day given in the Gospel.  The setting of the wedding at Cana of Galilee parallels the creation of man and woman in Genesis 1:26-31, just as each day given so far has paralleled the creation story of Genesis.  This is the setting for the first of seven signs given in John's Gospel.  My study bible comments that "on the third day" gives a resurrectional tone to this event, which gives us another parallel linking both Old and New Testaments:  in the Old Testament, marriage feasts symbolized the union of God with God's Bride, Israel.  My study bible comments that Jesus deliberately begins His ministry here at Galilee, which had a large Gentile population; and that makes this a sign of the spread of the gospel to all the world.  The resurrectional tone of the "third day" shows that this marriage of God and God's Church will be fulfilled in the Resurrection.   My study bible links several other parallels to John's Resurrection account in 20:1-18.  Both involve a woman named Mary who makes an appeal, and in both passages the disciples are invited to witness the event.  Moreover the Resurrection account in 20:11-18 has a strong similarity to the verses in Song of Songs 3:1-5, which again echoes the ties between marriage and Christ's Resurrection.  My study bible comments further that by Christ's presence at this wedding, He declares marriage to be holy and honorable (Hebrews 13:4).  Therefore this passage is read at Orthodox weddings, and these images are incorporated into many prayers in the wedding service (which itself strongly parallels the Jewish wedding service).

Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding.  And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, "They have no wine."  Jesus said to her, "Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me?  My hour has not yet come."  His mother said to the servants, "Whatever He says to you, do it."  My study bible cites this passage as an example of Mary's gift of intercession.  It notes that even now, in the faith of the Church, Mary continually speaks to her Son on our behalf.  She is our preeminent intercessor before the Throne of Christ.  This is stated in the words of an Orthodox prayer:  "The intercessions of a mother have great effect to win the favor of the Master."  My study bible also notes that this is confirmed as Jesus grants her request.    Wine here is symbolic of life, and my study bible notes two levels of meaning in Mary's statement, "They have no wine."   First, that a marriage is not complete without the presence of Christ; and second, that the old covenant was unable to bestow life even on the most faithful people.  Concerning Jesus' address to His Mother, Woman is a sacred title in Scripture, an address which my study bible notes conveys a deep respect and distinction (4:21; 8:10; 1926; 20:13; compare to Genesis 2:23).   Jesus' question, What does your concern have to do with Me? is translated more literally, "What is that to Me and to you?"  It's not a refusal of Mary's intercession, but a statement that the time hasn't come for Him to be fully revealed.  That Christ fulfills Mary's request teaches several things which my study bible notes as follows:   (1)  Christ is Lord over hours and seasons and not subject to them.  (2)  The wedding party had to first be aware of their lack of wine before it could be understood that it's Christ who fulfills all needs.  (3)  We must have perseverance when we petition before God (Matthew 15:21-28).  (4)  The intercessions of those who are righteous have great power (James 5:16).

Now there were set there six waterpots of stone, according to the manner of purification of the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece.  Jesus said to them, "Fill the waterpots with water."  And they filled them up to the brim.  And He said to them, "Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the feast."  And they took it.  Waterpots were made of stone as stone was considered to be unable to contract ritual purity, according to rabbinical teaching.  The number six is important.  My study bible explains that as it is one less than the perfect seven, it indicates that the Law -- illustrated by water being reserved for Jewish purification -- was incomplete, imperfect, and unable to bestow life.  When this water is changed into wine, it symbolizes the old covenant being fulfilled in the new, which is capable of bestowing life.  The overabundant gallons (filled ... up to the brim) of wine are an illustration of the overflowing grace granted to all by Christ.  It reminds us of the words in Psalm 23:  "My cup runs over."

When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom.  And he said to him, "Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior.  You have kept the good wine until now!"  This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.  After this He went down to Capernaum, He, His mother, His brothers, and His disciples; and they did not stay there many days.   This transformation of water to wine is viewed by the Patristic Fathers as prefiguring the transformation of bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ in the Eucharist.  My study bible notes that John says that Christ manifested His glory.  It is a reference back to verse 1:14, in which John wrote that "we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."  He is God and man in one Person, His divinity present in full human nature.

Man and woman together -- in marriage ceremony -- are symbolic of life, but then so is everything else in this story of the first sign or miracle in John's Gospel.  This parallel to the sixth day of creation in Genesis reminds us that God told the man and the woman, "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it . . . ," teaching that they were to have dominion over the earth, and moreover that the entire earth would grow an abundance of food for all creatures on the earth "in which there is life," or a living soul.  So the feast is life, the transformation of water to wine is like God giving life to humankind, just as it is the Spirit who gives life (6:63).   With the water in the stone pots turned to wine, the Old is transformed into the New, like the new wine that needs new wineskins (Matthew 9:17, Mark 2:22, Luke 5:37-38).   The very act of change and transformation, of the enzymatic action of water turning to wine, suggests life itself, the process of ongoing change always present in what is living in this world.   In 7:28, Jesus will promise that "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water" -- and even that term, living water, means water that is moving and not still.  Let us note the movement also of labor; even this first sign happens not simply at Jesus' command and inception, but with a plea or prayer first by His mother, Mary, our chief intercessor.  It is she who first has total and unshakeable faith in her Son, as shown here -- and will carry it through His Crucifixion and forward from there.  Right from the beginning, we know Mary, the Mother of Christ, as an inspiration in the Church, from that time onward.   And on that note we can say that this first sign is also a product of a Man, and a woman.  We can think about the link between her assent to Gabriel's Annunciation ("Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word" - Luke 1:38),  and her statement to her Son, "They have no wine."  Both occur prior to God's gracious act of life-creation, and are coupled with it.  Let us consider, when we pray, our own part of participation with Creator.  The icon above is a fresco showing the Lord's creation of the plants, which filled the earth to give food even "to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life."  It is a reminder to us that Christ comes into the world not simply to save human beings, but for the life of the world, for an entire cosmos of the created order, visible and invisible.