January 16, 2022
John 2: 1-11
After all the festivities in Advent and Christmas we arrive in what is called ‘ordinary’ time as if anything could be ordinary in these challenging times. It is difficult to know what to expect in 2022. What we do know is that God is with us every step of the way, and as today’s readings make clear we are invited to hear the Lord’s voice and they give us a clue how the power of God can be encountered.
The gospel of John is not written to tell us about the faith experience of the people “in the story” but to challenge the faith of those of us who are “reading the story.” We need to ask, “Where do I stand?” The miracle of Cana is so significant to John that he has it as the first of the seven signs which he selected from the many miracle stores in the tradition because they helped his readers to come to faith in Jesus as the Son of God (20:30). Yet it is an unusual gospel miracle; it is performed in the family circle of Jesus, apparently in order to save his hosts at the wedding from embarrassment.
The gospel gives us a wonderful picture of the extraordinary at the heart of the ordinary. Villagers in the small Galilean town of Cana are celebrating a wedding and there is a potential shortage of wine. Weddings in Jesus’ time were important events. Relatives and townspeople would gather to celebrate, often for up to a week! The text gives us clues to what John intended by including this incident in his gospel. Marriage was one of the images the prophets used to describe the covenant relationship of God with his people (Is. 62:4, see the first reading). Elsewhere Jesus describes himself as the bridegroom (Mark 2.21). The wedding may also allude to the messianic banquet, the feast that will celebrate the inauguration of God’s rule.
“On the third day” not only links the narrative with the opening chapter which began as Genesis began (1:1) but puts the reader in mind of the resurrection. John’s gospel is clearly not meant to be a chronological account of Jesus’ life but a mediation on the significance of his death. This is confirmed by the allusion to the hour of Jesus (2:4). In John, the ‘hour’ refers to Jesus’ Passion, Death and Resurrection. With the beginning of the ministry of Jesus the proper relationship between God and his people was restored and the benefits of the Resurrection were already felt.
The mother of Jesus has a role in this first sign, and she will not appear again until the scene at the cross (19:26). Mary, being a woman, is aware of a potentially catastrophic situation at the wedding, the wine is running out. Then comes an interchange between Jesus and his mother which ends with Jesus’ dismissive “Woman, what is that to you and me. My hour has not yet come.” Yet something must have happened between them because she turns to the servers and says, “Do whatever he tells you.” This suggests that the mother of Jesus does believe in Jesus and entrusts herself to the efficacy of his word (2:4-5). Her request results in an astonishing quantity of wine that took the place of the water for the ritual hand-washing that precedes the meal. The six stone jars each contained 20-30 gallons of water which means that Jesus miraculously provided 120-130 gallons of wine. Imagine the party that followed, but the symbolism of the wine is important, the prophets Amos (9:13) and Joel (4:18), both looked forward to an abundance of wine in messianic time.
John 2: 1-11
There was a wedding at Cana in Galilee,
and the mother of Jesus was there.
Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding.
When the wine ran short,
the mother of Jesus said to him,
“They have no wine.”
And Jesus said to her,
“Woman, how does your concern affect me?
My hour has not yet come.”
His mother said to the servers,
“Do whatever he tells you.”
Now there were six stone water jars there for Jewish ceremonial washings,
each holding twenty to thirty gallons.
Jesus told the them,
“Fill the jars with water.”
So they filled them to the brim.
Then he told them,
“Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter.”
So they took it.
And when the headwaiter tasted the water that had become wine,
without knowing where it came from
— although the servers who had drawn the water knew —,
the headwaiter called the bridegroom and said to him,
“Everyone serves good wine first,
and then when people have drunk freely, an inferior one;
but you have kept the good wine until now.”
Jesus did this as the beginning of his signs at Cana in Galilee
and so revealed his glory,
and his disciples began to believe in him.
There was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding. When the wine ran short, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.”
And Jesus said to her, “Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come.”
His mother said to the servers, “Do whatever he tells you.”
Now there were six stone water jars there for Jewish ceremonial washings, each holding twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus told the them, “Fill the jars with water.” So they filled them to the brim. Then he told them, “Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter.” So they took it. And when the headwaiter tasted the water that had become wine, without knowing where it came from — although the servers who had drawn the water knew —, the headwaiter called the bridegroom and said to him, “Everyone serves good wine first, and then when people have drunk freely, an inferior one; but you have kept the good wine until now.” Jesus did this as the beginning of his signs at Cana in Galilee and so revealed his glory, and his disciples began to believe in him.
The Gospel of the Lord
Meet Sister Marie Andre Mitchell, SNDdeN
