As we make sense of this story, John tells us emphatically the wedding took place “On the third day,” we are familiar with that expression because we remember that Jesus rose from the dead “on the third day.”(1 Corinthians 15:3–7, and the Creed) –using the same expression.
I have been wondering if the Bible is the source of the California inspired New Math that baby boomers like to make fun of on Facebook, since in the Bible; “on the third day” essentially means “two days” as it did with Jesus' time in the tomb before the resurrection. In fact, Jesus was in the tomb for one whole day, and parts of two others. In keeping with Jewish custom, this was “three days.”
Previously in the story John narrates four
consecutive days (1:19, 29, 35, 43), so this would make our “day” here, the sixth day narrated
in the first week of Jesus’ ministry.
Since John’s Gospel begins with an obvious echo of the creation story in chapter 1, “In the beginning was the Word,” the sixth day would be an echo of the sixth day of the creation. This is the day that God created the first man and woman, Adam and Eve. This was widely understood as the first wedding found in Scripture.
When later in his earthly ministry, Jesus is asked about marriage, he points back to Genesis and says it was not so in the beginning (Matthew 19:8). Adam and Eve become the divine model for God’s intention in Marriage. In John’s telling here, Jesus attends a wedding on the sixth day, and this would highlight the Genesis parallel. It is the day that God instituted marriage. This point is extremely important because Jesus is about to take the divinely created human institution of Marriage, and elevate it to something new, a Sacrament for those who are baptized.
In order to understand our Gospel story today, we need to know a bit more about the customs of Marriage in these times. In ancient Palestinian culture, there was a profound duty to provide hospitality to guests at a wedding.
The Rabbis believed that to be considered legitimate, a wedding ceremony must include a Marriage feast. The Rabbis required this feast to be celebrated with dancing and joy. It was most important to feast on the night of the wedding itself, but ideally, the feast lasted for seven days. The bride and groom would remain for the full period of the feast, abstaining from work and sharing in the joy of the family.
John tells us that disaster struck at the wedding, as “the wine ran short.” Wine was an essential part of the joy that was expected to occur at a wedding. Running out of wine would be an enormous social embarrassment to the family. In the eyes of the rabbis, the wedding might even be considered illegitimate without it.
Understanding this, Mary approached Jesus and said, “They have no wine.” Jesus' reply to Mary may catch us off guard because it sounds rude, “Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come.” Jesus is not rude at all. The word ‘woman’ in Aramaic would have sounded like old fashioned spikey English, “My Lady, how does your concern affect me?”
Then Jesus adds, “My hour has not yet come.” In John’s telling of the Gospel story, he recounts three years of Jesus' earthly ministry. John does not tell us a little bit about each year, instead, time gradually slows down in his Gospel until we are looking at the final “hour” when Jesus is fully revealed in his passion and death. Jesus is saying it is not yet time to reveal his “hour.” The hour of his passion, death and resurrection.
John portrays Mary as a model disciple perhaps the model disciple. Mary says to the servers, “Do whatever he tells you.” While these words are a crucial prompt for Jesus in our story, they also model the ideal behavior of a disciple of Jesus. The fathers of the Second Vatican Council called this the “obedience of faith” (Romans 13:26; 2 Corinthians 10:5-6). According to the council fathers, this type of faith is “an obedience by which man commits his whole self freely to God, offering the full submission of intellect and will to God who reveals,” (Dei Verbum 5).
I cannot resist giving a small piece of advice for marriage. Modern psychological research has shown that husbands who allow themselves to be influenced by their wives have happier marriages. Perhaps husbands should not say, “Do whatever she tells you,” -- but certainly being open and to listen to each other is essential to a happy Marriage.
As a model disciple, Mary invites us to be open and listen to our Lord, and to respond by doing whatever he tells us.
Mary is undeterred by the difficulties they are facing, and models trust. She asks Jesus for assistance, and in faith believes that these difficulties will be overcome. This is very much like prayer.
John tells us there were “six stone water jars there for Jewish ceremonial washings, each holding twenty to thirty gallons” (John 2:6). These were not used for drinking but for ceremonial washing.
Jesus tells the servants to “filled them to the brim” and then to “draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter” (John 2:8). The headwaiter is astonished because the wine he tastes, is now kalos oinos the very best wine. He comments, “Everyone serves good wine first, and then when people have drunk freely, an inferior one; but you have kept the good wine until now” (John 2:10).
The many gallons of water filled to the brim have become the best wine. Wine is a symbol of joy and of the Spirit. Jesus replaces the rituals for purification in the Old Covenant with life in the Spirit. Perhaps it is better to say the Old Covenant is filled with the Spirit, and is renewed. The New Covenant will overflow with an abundance of joy in the best wine of the Spirit.
This has profound implications for Christian Marriage. Jesus
has now elevated the divinely given human good of marriage into a
sacrament. For baptized Christians, joined to Christ by the Spirit, three
people become one in Holy Matrimony. The groom, the bride and Jesus,
are joined through the Spirit.
The graces of this sacrament help Christian couples to be a living icon of God’s love in the midst of the world.
God’s love for us is always true and eternal,
so our married love is permanent, faithful, and open to new life. These
are the promises that a Christian couple exchange in the Marriage
ritual.
Marriage itself also becomes a profound image of our
relationship with God. In Christ, we are now the bride of Christ and
with firm hope; we look forward to the wedding feast of the Lamb in
eternity. Just as marriage is a covenant or exchange of promises that
binds the couple together, each one of us called to make a commitment
to an everlasting relationship with God. Marriage is a God-given model or
pattern for this relationship.
God desires us to think deeply about our relationship with him and to come to a decision that we are ready to give everything to him. He requires the obedience of faith from each one of us. Mary’s words highlight this obedience for us. “Do whatever he tells you.”
Just as a couple grows in relationship and trust with each other and eventually makes a lifelong commitment in Marriage, so God wants us to fall in love with him, and to freely give ourselves to him.
As we meditate today on the joyful commitment made by a bride and groom in Marriage, let us each examine our hearts. Where are you in your relationship with God? Are you still dating Jesus? Are you in a serious relationship? Have you decided to give him your life and share everything with him?
Today let us drink with joy the wine that Jesus
offers us.
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