Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me?

  

 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 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 

 

Yesterday we were given the fourth day in John's Gospel of the beginning of Jesus' ministry:  On this day 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, . . ..  Today's reading gives us an event happening on the sixth day of this beginning of Jesus' ministry.  The phrase on the third day is an expression which means "two days later," as it includes the current day in the calculation (in yesterday's reading we were given the fourth day; see above).  This sixth day, then, parallels the creation of man and woman in Genesis 1:26-31, and is, again in parallel, the occasion of a wedding.   This wedding is also the setting for the first of seven signs, or miraculous actions, given to us in John's Gospel, the turning of water into wine.  These are indications of the presence of the Kingdom of God, pointing to a truth beyond the obvious or easily evident about Jesus.  The phrase "on the third day," my study bible says, also sets a resurrectional tone, which shows that the marriage of God and God's Church will be fulfilled in Christ's Resurrection.  That the wedding takes place in Galilee, which included a large Gentile population, is a sign that the gospel will spread to all the world. 

. . . 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."   Let us first note that not only is the mother of Jesus present at the wedding, but also His disciples are all there as witnesses to this first miracle or sign in the Gospel.  My study bible calls Mary's action in these verses an example of her gift of intercession.   Even now, it says, Mary continually speaks to her Son on our behalf and is our preeminent intercessor before His Throne. An Eastern Orthodox prayer declares:   "The intercessions of a mother have great effect to win the favor of the Master," which is confirmed in Jesus' response.  Additionally, it notes that wine is also symbolic of life, and so there are two other levels of meaning to Mary's statement, They have no wine.   First, that a marriage isn't complete without the presence of Christ; and second, that the old covenant is unable to bestow life even on the most faithful people.   Finally, a note explains that, contrary to modern ears, Woman is a sacred title in Scripture.  It is an address conveying deep respect and distinction (4:21; 8:10; 19:26; 20:13; compare to Genesis 2:23).  Jesus' response, What does your concern have to do with Me? is more literally rendered, "What is that to Me and to you?"  This isn't a refusal of Mary's intercession, but rather a statement that the time had not yet come for Christ to be revealed.  That Jesus indeed responds to her request teaches several things, my study bible adds:  (1)  Christ is Lord over hours and seasons, and is not subject to them.  (2) The wedding party had to first be aware of their lack of wine so that they might learn it is Christ who fulfills all needs.  (3) We must have perseverance in our petitions before God (Matthew 15:21-28).  (4) The intercessions of the 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.  My study bible explains that waterpots were made of stone in accordance to rabbinical teaching, under which stone does not contract ritual impurity.  That there are six (one less than the perfect seven) is an indication that the Law, which is illustrated by water being reserved for Jewish purification, was incomplete, imperfect, and unable to bestow life.  As it is this water that is changed into wine, it becomes symbolic of the old covenant being fulfilled in the new, which is capable of bestowing life.  The overabundant gallons of wine are an illustration of the overflowing grace which Christ grants to all. 

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!"   My study bible comments that in patristic tradition, this transformation is seen as prefiguring the transformation of bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ in the Eucharist. 

 

This beginning 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.  Christ's glory is the truth of His being, His divinity is manifested and revealed through the signs that He does.  

My study bible cites Song of Solomon 3:1-5, and its beautiful poetry of love in commentary on today's passage.  It notes that John's Resurrection account (20:11-18) bears a striking similarity to the passage from Song of Solomon, giving us another indication of unity between marriage and our Lord's Resurrection.  We should note also that today's reading and the broader Resurrection passage of John (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.  All of these threads pulled together indicate the centrality of the notion of marriage and Christ's church; that is, the salvation plan whose fullness rests in the marriage of God and God's people, and embodied in the Resurrection.  For how else will all things be united -- or should we say reunited? -- except in the Resurrection of Christ.  This is the central reality, the event which is at the center of the wheel of spokes, where we all come together, and also back to our Source.  The poetry and language of love only emphasize the real nature of the Person-to-person(s) reality of the fullness of our true end in this salvation plan of Christ.  The presence of Mary, the mother of God, also emphasizes the fullness of love in this picture.   We note her relationship to her Son:  she recognizes a time for Him to assert the presence of the Kingdom of God.  She is the one who arranges for the possibility by telling her Son, in a not-quite-subtle but still pleading way, that the wedding party has run out of wine.  Note how it is framed by her as a need, suggesting that she knows an appeal to His compassion is appropriate, for no one knows her Son better than His mother:  "They have no wine."  It is reminiscent in that respect, too, of the feeding of the five thousand, the prefiguration of the Eucharist.  There is a love expressed here by Mary as one who knows her Son and places in Him her confidence.  This is a model for our faith as well, and it details how love is the currency of salvation, because it is in this kind of love that we find what it means to be part of the wedding feast of Resurrection.  That trust and confidence and knowing is all a part of this person-to-Person love, bound up with the compassion Christ shows as well.   Let us also have confidence in Christ as she does, His mother, for she shows us the way.   She is one with whom we pray.  Let us understand her gentle knowing and her total faith, her strength.