The reading:
On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee. The mother of Jesus was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited. And they ran out of wine, since the wine provided for the feast had all been used, and the mother of Jesus said to him, 'They have no wine.' Jesus said, 'Woman, what do you want from me? My hour has not come yet.' His mother said to the servants, 'Do whatever he tells you.' There were six stone water jars standing there, meant fo the ablutions that are customary among the Jews: each could hold twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, 'Fill the jars with water,' and they filled them to the brim. Then he said to them, 'Draw some out now and take it to the president of the feast.' They did this; the president tasted the water, and it had turned into wine. Having no idea where it came from --though the servants who had drawn the water knew-- the president of the feast called the bridegroom and said, 'Everyone serves good wine first and the worse wine when the guests are well wined; but you have kept the best wine till now.'
This was the first of Jesus' signs; it was at Cana in Galilee. He revealed his glory, and his disciples believed in him. After this he went down to Capernaum with his mother and his brothers and his disciples, but they stayed there only a few days. (John 2,1-12).
As Catholics know this is a very popular reading. We read this last Sunday in Mass, and the now deceased Pope John Paul II included it as a mystery of the Rosary in his Luminous Mysteries according to his encyclical Rosarium Virginis Mariae. Personally I consider that the Pope was right, not only in adding the Luminous Mysteries, but also including this wedding at Cana as a Mystery of the Rosary. And finally, he was finally right in relating Mary to the Eucharist using this passage in his encyclical Ecclesia de Eucharistia.
The Gospel of St. John (whose authorship we really don't know) was the latest one written. While the Syntoptic Gospels were probably written from AD 70-90, the Gospel of St. John was probably written in its final form from AD 100 to AD 110 approximately. We must remember that this Gospel was not written all at once, there are several clearly earlier writings, even some which are shared with the Synoptics (although not in the same order and the same meaning), several additions made by the author depending on the situations of his ecclesiastical community. The final text, which was added much later to the Gospel was the story of the adulteress (John 8,1-11).
Also, unlike the Synoptic Gospels, St. John's Gospel is full of symbols. As you may have noticed, he never uses the word "miracles", he uses the word "signs". There are six of them during the entire Gospel. "John" tells us that the miracle of the wedding at Cana is the very first sign that Jesus makes. The Johanine Jesus also has a funny vocabulary. He constantly talks about "the hour", a term that indicates a special moment or occasion. In this case, it means the beginning of Jesus' ministry.
The story is filled with symbolic content. First of all, everything occurs in a wedding. According to the scholar Senén Vidal, this event seems to be based on an early legend or story that provided a foundation for a Johanine community, which may indicate that in Cana there was a Johanine community. The story may have originated during the early years of Christianity founded by a disciple of Jesus, who would later be known in the Johanine community as "the beloved disciple". We know this because there are aramaic expressions in the story, as we shall see later.
But within the Gospel of St. John this story has a specific function. A wedding, in this case, ironically does not stand for a wedding. It is standing for a Covenant. Historically and throughout Bible literature, the Covenant between God and His people is represented by a wedding of Husband and Wife. In the case of the prophets, we see how, when the people of Israel did not fulfill the covenant, God compared them to a "prostitute", or as "unfaithful wife" (e.g. the book of Hosea). The Song of Songs represented to many the relation between Yahweh and His people.
Let's continue with the symbolism there is a change of water to wine. Water and wine are very important symbols, in St. John's Gospel. In the case of "water", in this Gospel it is a symbol of "life". Let us remember the scene with the Samaritan woman when Jesus says: "Whoever drinks this water will be thirsty again; but no one who drinks the water that I shall give will be thirsty again: the water that I shall give will become a spring of water within, welling up for eternal life" (John 4,13-14). We also have to remember the beautiful passage that says:
'Let anyone who is thirsty come to me!
Let anyone who believes in me
come and drink!'
As scripture says, "From his heart shall flow streams of living water" (John 7,37-38).
Also water represents Baptism, a sign of birth, which should be done along with baptism of the Spirit, a practice that was certainly done at the time, an act that can be clearly distinguished from Baptism (Acts 2,1-4; 8,14-17; 19,6-7), and that today Catholics identify with the Sacrament of Confirmation.
Furthermore, "water" has also a very sacramental meaning. For example, in Chapter 6 of the Gospel of St. John has a special Eucharistic meaning. It begins, with the miracle of the multiplication of the bread and fishes (6,1-15), and ends with the speech he gave in a synagogue at Capernaum where he gives his famous speech as Him being the Bread of Life (6,22-70). Between those two stories there is one of him calling his disciples while walking on water (6,16-21). We should also see that this is the only Gospel where the wound of Jesus' side appears. According to the Gospel:
When [the soldiers] came to Jesus, they saw he was already dead, and so instead of breaking his legs one of the soldiers pierced his side with a lance; and immediately there came out blood and water (19,33-34).
Later, in the letter written by the same author, it says:
Who can overcome the world
but the one who believes
that Jesus is the Son of God?
He it is who came by water and blood,
Jesus Christ,
not with water alone
but with water and blood,
and it is the Spirit that bears witness,
for the Spirit is Truth.
So there are three witnesses,
the Spirit, water and blood;
and the three of them coincide (1 John 5,6-8).
This is a very important text, because with these texts, John wants to confront the Docetists (a branch of Christianity which did not believe that Jesus was not really human). The account for the blood and water coming out of Jesus' heart at the moment of the resurrection coincides with the medical knowledge of the time.
Now, let's look again to the whole event of the wedding at Cana. We find water, the symbol of life, which Jesus turns into wine. Wine, in John's Gospel, has a specific meaning of being a symbol of the festivities of the meal in the Kingdom of Heaven. It is also used within this context as a symbol of Jesus Himself. Wine is the fruit of the vine (John 15,1-7). Wine, is obviously related also to the Eucharist, since it is also the symbol of Christ's blood.
Water and wine appear to be one substance where it changes from source of life to Jesus Himself. The presence of water and blood are there. This whole symbolism represents the Eucharist, Jesus' own gift to humanity, and without which we cannot be saved. The doctrine of the Eucharist is decisively upheld in John's Gospel, specially in Jesus' speech in the synagogue at Capernaum (John 6,54-58).
Finally, I wish to point out something interesting. One of the things that really impresses people when they read this is the relation between Mary and Jesus in this passage. Mary is never mentioned by name in the entire Gospel. It is interesting also that Jesus calls her: "woman". This is no sign of disrespect, since in the rest of the passages Jesus calls other women "woman" with much affection. In particular he calls Mary again "woman" in another moving context: when he is dying on the cross. In this passage he makes the gives his own mother to his beloved disciple (John 19,23-27). The use of the word "woman" in this context has a significant meaning.
According to Raymond Brown, it is very significant to look to the book of Revelation, evidently not written by the same author of the Gospel of John, but it is somehow related to the Johanine school of thought. If we look at Revelations, chapter 12, we see a description:
Now a great sign appeared in the heaven: a woman, robed with the sun, standing on the moon, and on her head a crown of twelve stars (Rev. 12,1).
This is a symbol for the people of God, it picks up the general descriptions for the people of God which can be found in the Bible (Gen. 3,1-19; 37,9; Is. 66,5-17; among others). This woman gives birth to Jesus Christ (Rev. 12,5), and fights with the Dragon, which is described as the Ancient Serpent and Satan (Rev. 12,9). This obviously reminds us of Gen. 3,15:
I shall put enmity
between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and hers;
it will bruise your head
and you will strike its heel.
Although the woman does represent the people of God, because of the fact that she gave birth to Jesus, she also can represent Mary. Besides, it describes the woman and her children, who are the ones "who obey God's commandments and have in themselves the witness of Jesus" (Rev. 12,17). The second time that Jesus uses the word "woman" to refer to Mary, was when Jesus made the beloved disciple (and hence the rest of the Johanine community) the child of Mary.
Jesus' response to Mary is a definite negative. Literally translated, the phrase Jesus gives her is an aramaic expression: "What you and I in this?" which most probably means: "This is not my problem." And added to this we see why Jesus did not want to act right away: "My hour has not come yet." The hour, as we said, is the beginning of Jesus' ministry. But then something very important happens: Mary makes His hour manifest before Jesus wants to. She gives a command to the servants: "Do whatever He tells you." Today this is regarded as most of us who are Marians, as Mary's commandment: To do whatever Jesus tells us to do..
Reflections on the Wedding at Cana
Here I want to share what I spiritually have learned from this, specially after reflecting many times after praying the Rosary with the Luminous Mysteries.
* This passage represents a Covenant.
* In this Covenant, the figure of the Eucharist appears.
These two facts are interrelated, not only in John's Gospel, but in all the Synoptic Gospels. It is the death of Jesus Christ (presented in the Eucharist under the appearance of bread and wine) that seals this new eternal Covenant (Luke 22,20)
* Through Mary's intercession Jesus' ministry begins, and the first sign of God's presence is manifested. In Catholicism this is a very clear sign of Mary's Mediatrix between us and Her Son, as the one who constantly prays for us before Her Son, so that Jesus grants us certain graces.
* Mary's role is intimately associated to the New Covenant, and to the Eucharist.
* Mary gave us a commandment: "Do whatever Jesus tells you." And whoever follows her commandment, and follow Jesus' will, are the children of the Church, and children of Mary.
In this story in John's Gospel, full of symbolism, we find the basis for what today is Catholicism's two pillars: the Eucharist (Jesus Himself) and Mary.
On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee. The mother of Jesus was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited. And they ran out of wine, since the wine provided for the feast had all been used, and the mother of Jesus said to him, 'They have no wine.' Jesus said, 'Woman, what do you want from me? My hour has not come yet.' His mother said to the servants, 'Do whatever he tells you.' There were six stone water jars standing there, meant fo the ablutions that are customary among the Jews: each could hold twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, 'Fill the jars with water,' and they filled them to the brim. Then he said to them, 'Draw some out now and take it to the president of the feast.' They did this; the president tasted the water, and it had turned into wine. Having no idea where it came from --though the servants who had drawn the water knew-- the president of the feast called the bridegroom and said, 'Everyone serves good wine first and the worse wine when the guests are well wined; but you have kept the best wine till now.'
This was the first of Jesus' signs; it was at Cana in Galilee. He revealed his glory, and his disciples believed in him. After this he went down to Capernaum with his mother and his brothers and his disciples, but they stayed there only a few days. (John 2,1-12).
As Catholics know this is a very popular reading. We read this last Sunday in Mass, and the now deceased Pope John Paul II included it as a mystery of the Rosary in his Luminous Mysteries according to his encyclical Rosarium Virginis Mariae. Personally I consider that the Pope was right, not only in adding the Luminous Mysteries, but also including this wedding at Cana as a Mystery of the Rosary. And finally, he was finally right in relating Mary to the Eucharist using this passage in his encyclical Ecclesia de Eucharistia.
The Gospel of St. John (whose authorship we really don't know) was the latest one written. While the Syntoptic Gospels were probably written from AD 70-90, the Gospel of St. John was probably written in its final form from AD 100 to AD 110 approximately. We must remember that this Gospel was not written all at once, there are several clearly earlier writings, even some which are shared with the Synoptics (although not in the same order and the same meaning), several additions made by the author depending on the situations of his ecclesiastical community. The final text, which was added much later to the Gospel was the story of the adulteress (John 8,1-11).
Also, unlike the Synoptic Gospels, St. John's Gospel is full of symbols. As you may have noticed, he never uses the word "miracles", he uses the word "signs". There are six of them during the entire Gospel. "John" tells us that the miracle of the wedding at Cana is the very first sign that Jesus makes. The Johanine Jesus also has a funny vocabulary. He constantly talks about "the hour", a term that indicates a special moment or occasion. In this case, it means the beginning of Jesus' ministry.
The story is filled with symbolic content. First of all, everything occurs in a wedding. According to the scholar Senén Vidal, this event seems to be based on an early legend or story that provided a foundation for a Johanine community, which may indicate that in Cana there was a Johanine community. The story may have originated during the early years of Christianity founded by a disciple of Jesus, who would later be known in the Johanine community as "the beloved disciple". We know this because there are aramaic expressions in the story, as we shall see later.
But within the Gospel of St. John this story has a specific function. A wedding, in this case, ironically does not stand for a wedding. It is standing for a Covenant. Historically and throughout Bible literature, the Covenant between God and His people is represented by a wedding of Husband and Wife. In the case of the prophets, we see how, when the people of Israel did not fulfill the covenant, God compared them to a "prostitute", or as "unfaithful wife" (e.g. the book of Hosea). The Song of Songs represented to many the relation between Yahweh and His people.
Let's continue with the symbolism there is a change of water to wine. Water and wine are very important symbols, in St. John's Gospel. In the case of "water", in this Gospel it is a symbol of "life". Let us remember the scene with the Samaritan woman when Jesus says: "Whoever drinks this water will be thirsty again; but no one who drinks the water that I shall give will be thirsty again: the water that I shall give will become a spring of water within, welling up for eternal life" (John 4,13-14). We also have to remember the beautiful passage that says:
'Let anyone who is thirsty come to me!
Let anyone who believes in me
come and drink!'
As scripture says, "From his heart shall flow streams of living water" (John 7,37-38).
Also water represents Baptism, a sign of birth, which should be done along with baptism of the Spirit, a practice that was certainly done at the time, an act that can be clearly distinguished from Baptism (Acts 2,1-4; 8,14-17; 19,6-7), and that today Catholics identify with the Sacrament of Confirmation.
Furthermore, "water" has also a very sacramental meaning. For example, in Chapter 6 of the Gospel of St. John has a special Eucharistic meaning. It begins, with the miracle of the multiplication of the bread and fishes (6,1-15), and ends with the speech he gave in a synagogue at Capernaum where he gives his famous speech as Him being the Bread of Life (6,22-70). Between those two stories there is one of him calling his disciples while walking on water (6,16-21). We should also see that this is the only Gospel where the wound of Jesus' side appears. According to the Gospel:
When [the soldiers] came to Jesus, they saw he was already dead, and so instead of breaking his legs one of the soldiers pierced his side with a lance; and immediately there came out blood and water (19,33-34).
Later, in the letter written by the same author, it says:
Who can overcome the world
but the one who believes
that Jesus is the Son of God?
He it is who came by water and blood,
Jesus Christ,
not with water alone
but with water and blood,
and it is the Spirit that bears witness,
for the Spirit is Truth.
So there are three witnesses,
the Spirit, water and blood;
and the three of them coincide (1 John 5,6-8).
This is a very important text, because with these texts, John wants to confront the Docetists (a branch of Christianity which did not believe that Jesus was not really human). The account for the blood and water coming out of Jesus' heart at the moment of the resurrection coincides with the medical knowledge of the time.
Now, let's look again to the whole event of the wedding at Cana. We find water, the symbol of life, which Jesus turns into wine. Wine, in John's Gospel, has a specific meaning of being a symbol of the festivities of the meal in the Kingdom of Heaven. It is also used within this context as a symbol of Jesus Himself. Wine is the fruit of the vine (John 15,1-7). Wine, is obviously related also to the Eucharist, since it is also the symbol of Christ's blood.
Water and wine appear to be one substance where it changes from source of life to Jesus Himself. The presence of water and blood are there. This whole symbolism represents the Eucharist, Jesus' own gift to humanity, and without which we cannot be saved. The doctrine of the Eucharist is decisively upheld in John's Gospel, specially in Jesus' speech in the synagogue at Capernaum (John 6,54-58).
Finally, I wish to point out something interesting. One of the things that really impresses people when they read this is the relation between Mary and Jesus in this passage. Mary is never mentioned by name in the entire Gospel. It is interesting also that Jesus calls her: "woman". This is no sign of disrespect, since in the rest of the passages Jesus calls other women "woman" with much affection. In particular he calls Mary again "woman" in another moving context: when he is dying on the cross. In this passage he makes the gives his own mother to his beloved disciple (John 19,23-27). The use of the word "woman" in this context has a significant meaning.
According to Raymond Brown, it is very significant to look to the book of Revelation, evidently not written by the same author of the Gospel of John, but it is somehow related to the Johanine school of thought. If we look at Revelations, chapter 12, we see a description:
Now a great sign appeared in the heaven: a woman, robed with the sun, standing on the moon, and on her head a crown of twelve stars (Rev. 12,1).
This is a symbol for the people of God, it picks up the general descriptions for the people of God which can be found in the Bible (Gen. 3,1-19; 37,9; Is. 66,5-17; among others). This woman gives birth to Jesus Christ (Rev. 12,5), and fights with the Dragon, which is described as the Ancient Serpent and Satan (Rev. 12,9). This obviously reminds us of Gen. 3,15:
I shall put enmity
between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and hers;
it will bruise your head
and you will strike its heel.
Although the woman does represent the people of God, because of the fact that she gave birth to Jesus, she also can represent Mary. Besides, it describes the woman and her children, who are the ones "who obey God's commandments and have in themselves the witness of Jesus" (Rev. 12,17). The second time that Jesus uses the word "woman" to refer to Mary, was when Jesus made the beloved disciple (and hence the rest of the Johanine community) the child of Mary.
Jesus' response to Mary is a definite negative. Literally translated, the phrase Jesus gives her is an aramaic expression: "What you and I in this?" which most probably means: "This is not my problem." And added to this we see why Jesus did not want to act right away: "My hour has not come yet." The hour, as we said, is the beginning of Jesus' ministry. But then something very important happens: Mary makes His hour manifest before Jesus wants to. She gives a command to the servants: "Do whatever He tells you." Today this is regarded as most of us who are Marians, as Mary's commandment: To do whatever Jesus tells us to do..
Reflections on the Wedding at Cana
Here I want to share what I spiritually have learned from this, specially after reflecting many times after praying the Rosary with the Luminous Mysteries.
* This passage represents a Covenant.
* In this Covenant, the figure of the Eucharist appears.
These two facts are interrelated, not only in John's Gospel, but in all the Synoptic Gospels. It is the death of Jesus Christ (presented in the Eucharist under the appearance of bread and wine) that seals this new eternal Covenant (Luke 22,20)
* Through Mary's intercession Jesus' ministry begins, and the first sign of God's presence is manifested. In Catholicism this is a very clear sign of Mary's Mediatrix between us and Her Son, as the one who constantly prays for us before Her Son, so that Jesus grants us certain graces.
* Mary's role is intimately associated to the New Covenant, and to the Eucharist.
* Mary gave us a commandment: "Do whatever Jesus tells you." And whoever follows her commandment, and follow Jesus' will, are the children of the Church, and children of Mary.
In this story in John's Gospel, full of symbolism, we find the basis for what today is Catholicism's two pillars: the Eucharist (Jesus Himself) and Mary.
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