1 On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, 2 and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 3 When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.”
4 “Woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.”
5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”
6 Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.
7 Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim.
8 Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.”
They did so, 9 and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside 10 and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.”
11 What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.
Angels ascending and descending over the Son of Man, episode 1 takes place at a wedding in Cana of Galilee, the Oildale of Bakersfield, the Hemet of Riverside. And it takes place “on the third day”. “On the third day” is a phrase with multiple meanings, each of which John could have been using. 1) a literal chronological reference, nothing more nor less. 2) a Jewish figure of speech denoting an unspecified but short amount of time. 3) part of a metaphorical construction; if 1:19-2:1 are read a certain way then the story builds on a 7 day structure, climaxing with the wedding at Cana on the 7th day; the significance of the 7 day structure lies, especially when viewed in light of the overt parallels to the book of Genesis in vv. 1-18, in their implication that on the 7th day Jesus is beginning a new creation. This view has something to it, but if you want to know more e-mail me. 4) John allows the reader to believe whatever they want concerning 2:1 but, because of its repeated and redefined reference of three days in 2:19-21, leaves room for the reader to rethink the reference in 2:1. 2:19-21 describes the three-day language as a reference to the resurrection, the event that provides the lens through which John is reinterpreting the entire ministry of Jesus. John’s reinterpretation of Jesus’ ministry through the lens of his resurrection explains why his gospel took the shape it did, why it begins with the prologue and develops so uniquely compared to the other gospels. Though it is likely that all four views are actually true it is option #4 that makes the most sense of the story in vv. 1-11, as we will soon see.
Mary, Jesus’ mother, was there at the wedding. John never refers to Mary by her name, only by her association to Jesus, i.e., his mother. This is no disrespect to Mary. Instead it is part of the emphasis John means to place on the person of Jesus.
Jesus is at the wedding with his disciples and the wedding runs out of wine. Mary comes to Jesus informing him of the problem and, judging from his response, she informs him with an air of expectancy. They have no wine and she expects Jesus to do something about it. For the sake of understanding the story it’s important to know that running out of wine was a practically tragic thing to occur at a wedding for multiple reasons. 1) wine was a symbol of joy or life in first century Jewish culture, and to run out of it did in fact symbolize running out of joy or life. Of course this does not mean that they did in fact run out of joy or life, but merely symbolized the occurrence of such a thing. This does not mean that first century Jews were alcoholics. Drunkenness was a definite, clear-as-day no-no for any Jew. And do not make the mistake of confusing the differences between their association of wine with joy or life with contemporary association of alcohol with fun. Not only was their wine much more diluted than our wine today, they did not depend on drunkenness to supply their “good times”, as is the case with much of contemporary culture. 2) first century Palestine suffered from the same economic polarity that plagues giant chunks of our world today, meaning that the vast majority of people were poor. And poverty would definitely have been widespread in a town as obscure as Cana of Galilee. An economic environment as depleted as this, coupled with the fact that the wedding was taking place in the aforementioned obscurity that was Cana, allows us to make the reasonable deduction that this wedding was a huge event for the community(s) involved. Everyone would have been anticipating it, a fleeting glimpse of light on an ever-grey theo-historical horizon. That this event would run out of wine, of all things, would have been devastating not only for the vibe of the week-long party but also for the legacy of the newly-weds. This is what happened, and this is what Mary lays at the feet of Jesus.
Her request is an interesting one. Though she kind of knows who Jesus is (she probably hasn’t forgotten his virgin birth) there is no evidence of his performing miracles before this story. Perhaps her “kind of” knowledge, similar to that of the disciples, derived more from experience of the holy mystery that he was than the privilege of reading gospels that we now have, was enough for her to have faith that he would/could do something. And that seems to be all she asks him. His reply is even more interesting. It sounds like a rebuke when translated to English, and a more accurate translation might be “Ma’am” instead of “Woman”. Still, though ma’am isn’t an impolite way to address one’s mother, it still is unusual. And while he doesn’t outright refuse to help he makes it clear that he would prefer not to do anything because, number one, the problem belongs to the master of the banquet and the wedding party, not him, and number two, “his hour” has not yet come. By “his hour” Jesus is referring to the beginning of his ministry that simultaneously would signify the beginning of his road to the cross. Though Jesus has followers and is most definitely teaching them he has yet to begin his public ministry.
There is an additional tension in Jesus’ interaction with his mother. Jesus says later on that he can only do what the sees the Father doing, so that when he says his time has not yet come the implication is that he is waiting for his Father’s instruction to begin. Interestingly enough Mary does not listen to Jesus. She tells the servants to do what he says despite his initial rejection of responsibility. Here Bill Dogterom’s insight into the play-fullness of Jesus and those who follow him is helpful. Preaching on the woman of the demon-possessed child in Mark 7:24-30 he describes a situation very similar to what we see in John 2:1-11. There is a woman with faith in Jesus, his power, capabilities, heart, et cetera. She wants him to fix something, to save someone, in a way that no one else in the world is capable of. Indeed each woman presents a problem to Jesus that is, for all practical purposes, unfixable. Just as people (let alone gentiles) cannot command demons to leave children’s bodies, people cannot replenish the depleted wine stores of a party in the middle of a party. Here is some helpful cultural background for you: most places in the first century did not have a BevMo! or a 7eleven down the street. Thus, in both instances, Jesus is being asked to do something practically ridiculous.
But the insistence of these women is not about “getting ‘a thing’ from him but about getting real relationship with him” (quotes taken from “Faith with Attitude”, The Garden Church Long Beach, 7/9/11 and is free to download on iTunes). Neither of these interactions is about getting God to do stuff, which the Pharisees are repeatedly after when they ask Jesus to prove his authority and to perform miracles. No, there is a profound qualitative difference between the insistence of Mary and the gentile woman and that of the Pharisees. They are after Jesus. They already have faith, they already know, and want to play. “For your answer you may go, your daughter has been healed” he tells her in Mark 7:29. They know who he is, what he can do, and subsequently know that he can heal their tragedy. And precisely because of their willingness to play, to press in, he does. The woman in Mark returns home to find her daughter healed. Mary watches as Jesus reveals his glory.
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