2nd Sunday of ordinary time (C)
The First Miracle of Jesus
“Do whatever He tells you!”
John 2, 1-12
1. Opening prayer
Lord Jesus, send your Spirit to help us to read the Scriptures with the same mind that you read them to the disciples on the way to Emmaus. In the light of the Word, written in the Bible, you helped them to discover the presence of God in the disturbing events of your sentence and death. Thus, the cross that seemed to be the end of all hope became for them the source of life and of resurrection.
Create in us silence so that we may listen to your voice in Creation and in the Scriptures, in events and in people, above all in the poor and suffering. May your word guide us so that we too, like the two disciples from Emmaus, may experience the force of your resurrection and witness to others that you are alive in our midst as source of fraternity, justice and peace. We ask this of you, Jesus, son of Mary, who revealed to us the Father and sent us your Spirit. Amen.
2. Reading
a) A key to the reading:
The Gospel of this second Sunday of ordinary Time places us before the celebration of the Wedding at Cana, in Galilee. At that time, just as now, everybody likes feasts: the feast for a marriage or for a Baptism, the birthday party, the feast of the Patron or Patroness of the Church, the feast at the end of the year, the feast and more feast… There are some feasts which remain engraved in our memory and, which with time, always acquire a more profound significance. Other feasts, we forget. We no longer remember them because they have lost their significance. The feast of the Wedding of Cana, as it has been described in the Gospel of John (Jn 2, 1-12), has remained alive in the memory of the Christian people, and it has given a few a more profound sense.
To understand this progressive discovery of the significance of the Wedding at Cana we must remember that the Gospel of John is different from the other Gospels. John describes the facts of the life of Jesus in such a way that the readers discover in them a more profound dimension, which only faith can perceive. John, at the same time, presents a photograph and the X-Rays. This is why, during the reading, it is good to be very attentive to the details of the text, especially to the two following things: (i) to the attitudes and to the behaviour of the persons and (ii) to what is lacking and to the abundance which appear in the Wedding at Cana.
b) A division of the text to help in the reading:
John 2, 1-2: Feast of the Wedding. Mary is present, Jesus is the one who has been invited.
John 2, 3-5: Jesus and His Mother before the lack of wine.
John 2, 6: The jars for the ablutions are empty.
John 2, 7-8: The initiative of Jesus and of the servants.
John 2, 9-10: The discovery of the sign by the president of the feast.
John 2, 11-12: The comment of the Evangelist.
c) Text:
 1 On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee. The mother of Jesus was there, 2 and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited. 3 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.' 4 Jesus said, 'Woman, what do you want from me? My hour has not come yet.' 5 His mother said to the servants, 'Do whatever he tells you.'
6 There were six stone water jars standing there, meant for the ablutions that are customary among the Jews: each could hold twenty or thirty gallons. 7 Jesus said to the servants, 'Fill the jars with water,' and they filled them to the brim. 8 Then he said to them, 'Draw some out now and take it to the president of the feast.' 9 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 10 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.' 11 This was the first of Jesus' signs: it was at Cana in Galilee. He revealed his glory, and his disciples believed in him.
12 After this he went down to Capernaum with his mother and his brothers and his disciples, but they stayed there only a few days.
3. A moment of prayerful silence
so that the Word of God may penetrate and enlighten our life.
4. Some questions
to help us in our personal reflection.
a) Which point in this text pleased you the most and which one impressed you the most? Why?
b) What struck you in the attitude and in the behaviour of the persons? Why?
c) Which type of lack and of abundance was there in the feast? Which is the significance of this detail?
d) What did Jesus do and how did He do it to offer wine in abundance?
e) Jesus begins the announcement of the Kingdom in a Wedding feast. What does He want to teach us with this gesture?
f) Which is the message of this text for us today?
5. For those who wish to go deeper into the theme
a) The context in order to understand the photograph and the X-Rays:
When we say “Photograph”, we indicate the facts in themselves, just as they appear before our eyes. When we say “X-Rays”, we indicate a more profound dimension, invisible to our eyes, which is enclosed in the facts that only faith makes us perceive and reveals to us.
It is in the way in which John describes the facts that he takes an X-Ray of the words and the gestures of Jesus. Through these small details and references, he makes evident the symbolical dimension and, in doing this, he helps us to penetrate deeper into the mystery of the person and the message of Jesus. In the Wedding at Cana, in Galilee, there is the change of the water of the ablutions of the Jews into the wine for the Wedding feast. Let us look closely at the details with which John describes the feast, in a way that we can understand the more profound significance of this beautiful and very well known episode.
b) Comment on the text:
John 2, 1-2: Feast of the wedding. Jesus has been invited.
In the Old Testament, the wedding feast was a symbol of God’s love for His people. That was what everyone expected in the future (Hos 2, 21-22; Is 62, 4-5). And it is precisely in a wedding feast, around a family and a community, that Jesus fulfils his “first sign” (Jn 2, 11). The Mother of Jesus was also in the feast. Jesus and His disciples had been invited. That is, the Mother of Jesus forms part of the feast. This symbolizes the Old Testament. Together with His disciples He is the New Testament which is arriving: The Mother of Jesus will help to pass from the Old Testament to the New Testament.
John 2, 3-5: Jesus and His Mother before the lack of wine
Right in the middle of the celebration, the wine is finished. The Mother of Jesus recognizes the limitations of the Old Testament and takes the initiative, in order that the New Testament may be manifested. She approaches Jesus and affirms: “They have no wine!” Here we have the photograph and the X-Ray. the Photo represents the Mother of Jesus like a person who is attentive to the problems of others and to become aware that the lack of wine would ruin the feast. She is not only aware of the problem, but also takes the an effective initiative to solve it. The X-Rays reveal the deepest dimension of the relationship between the Old Testament (the Mother of Jesus) and the New Testament (Jesus). The phrase, “They have no wine”!”, comes from the Old Testament, and awakens in Jesus the action which will bring to light the New one. Jesus says: “Woman, what do you want from me?” That is, which is the link between the Old and the New Testament? “My hour has not come yet!” Mary did not understand this response as negative, as a no, because she tells the servants: “Do whatever He tells you!” It is in doing that which Jesus teaches that one goes from the Old to the New Testament! The hour of Jesus, in which the passage from the Old to the New Testament will take place, is His Passion, Death and Resurrection. The change of the water into wine is the anticipated indication of what is new which will come from the Death and Resurrection of Jesus.
At the end of the first century, the first Christians discussed concerning the validity of the Old Testament. Some no longer wanted to know anything about the Old Testament. In the meeting of the apostles in Jerusalem, James defended the continuity of the use of the Old Testament (Acts 15, 13-21). In fact, at the beginning of the second century, Marcione rejected the Old Testament and remained only with the books of the New Testament. Some even affirmed that after the coming of the Holy Spirit, Jesus of Nazareth should no longer be remembered, but that we should speak only of the Risen Christ. In the name of the Holy Spirit, they said: “Anathema Jesus!” (I Co 12, 3).
John 2, 6: The jars for the ablutions are empty
It is a question of a small detail, very significant. The jars were usually full, especially during a feast. Here they are empty! Why? The observance of the law of purification, symbolized by the six jars, has exhausted all their possibilities. The ancient law has already succeeded to prepare the people to be able to have the union of grace and justification before God. The jars, the old Covenant, are empty! They are no longer capable to generate a new life.
John 2, 7-8: Jesus and the servants
The recommendation of the Mother of Jesus to the servants is the last order of the Old Testament: “Do whatever He tells you!” The Old Testament looks toward Jesus. From now on, the words and gestures and actions of Jesus will be the ones to direct our life. Jesus calls the servants and orders them to fill the six empty jars. In all, over six hundred litres! Immediately He orders them to draw from the jars and to take to the president of the ceremony. This initiative of Jesus takes place without the intervention of the president of the feast. Neither Jesus, nor His Mother, nor the servants were obviously the patrons. No one of them went to ask permission from the president or the bridegroom. Renewal passes for the persons who do not belong to the centre of power.
John 2, 9-10: Discovery of the sign by the president of the feast
The president of the feast tasted the water transformed into wine and said to the bridegroom: “Everyone serves good wine first. But you have kept the best wine until now!” The president of the feast, the Old Testament, recognizes publicly that the New is better! Where before there was water for the rite of the ablutions of the Jews, now there is abundant wine for the feast. There was a lot of wine! Over six hundred litres, and the feast was almost over! Which is the sense of this abundance? What was done with the wine which was left over? We are drinking it up until now!
John 2, 11-12: Comment of the Evangelist
This is the first sign. In the Fourth Gospel, the first sign takes place to help in the building up of the family, of the community, in order to mend the relationships between persons. Other six signs will follow. John does not use the word miracle, but the word sign. The word sign indicates that the actions of Jesus in behalf of the persons have a more profound value, that can only be discovered with the X-Rays of faith. The small community which had formed around Jesus that week, seeing the sign, was ready to perceive the more profound significance and “believe in Him”.
c) Extending the information:
* A much expected Wedding
In the Gospel of John, the beginning of the public life of Jesus takes place in a wedding feast, a moment of great joy and of great hope. For this same reason, the wedding at Cana has a very intense symbolical significance. In the Bible, matrimony is the image used to signify the realization of the perfect union between God and His people. This marriage between God and His people was expected for a long time, for over eight hundred years!
It was prophet Hosea (toward the year 750 BC) that, for the first time, he represented the hope of this marriage when he narrates the parable of the infidelity of the people before the proposal of Yahweh. The monarchy in Israel had abandoned Yahweh and his mercy, leading the people towards false gods. But the Prophet, sure of God’s love, says that the people will be led once again to the desert to listen to the following promise from God: “I shall betroth you to myself forever, I shall betroth you in uprightness and justice, and faithful love and tenderness,. Yes, I shall betroth you to myself in loyalty and in the knowledge of Yahweh!” (Hos 2, 21-22). This marriage between God and the people indicates that the ideal of the exodus will be attained (Hos 2, 4-25). About a hundred and fifty years later, the prophet Jeremiah takes the words of Hosea to denounce the monarchy of Judah. And he says that Judah will have the same destiny as Israel because of its infidelity (Jer 2, 2-5; 3, 11-13). But Jeremiah also looks towards the hope of a perfect marriage with the following novelty: it will be the woman who will seduce the husband (Jer 31, 22). And in spite of the crisis created by the exile of Babylonia, the people do not lose hope that one day this marriage will take place. Yahweh will have compassion of his abandoned spouse (Is 54, 1-8). With the return of the exiled, the “Abandoned one” will again be the spouse accepted with great joy (Is 62, 4-5).
Finally, looking at the Novelty which is taking place, John the Baptist looks towards Jesus, the awaited bridegroom (Jn 3, 29). In his teachings and conversations with the people, Jesus takes back the parable of Hosea, the dream of the perfect marriage. He presents himself as the awaited for bridegroom (Mk 2, 19). In his conversation with the Samaritan woman, he discreetly presents himself as the true bridegroom, the seventh one (Jn 4, 16-17). The Christian communities will accept Jesus as the awaited for bridegroom (2 Co 11, 2; Eph 5, 25-31). The wedding at Cana wishes to show that Jesus is the true bridegroom who arrives for the so awaited wedding, bringing a tasteful and abundant wine. This definitive marriage is described with beautiful images in the book of Apocalypses (Ap 19, 7-8; 21, 1a 22, 5).
* The Mother of Jesus in the Gospel of John
Even though she is never called with the name of Mary, the Mother of Jesus appears two times in the Gospel of John: at the beginning of the Wedding at Cana (Jn 2, 1-5), and at the end, at the foot of the Cross (Jn 19, 25-27). In both cases she represents the Old Testament which is waiting for the New one to arrive, and in both cases, she contributes to the arrival of the New One. Mary is the bond of union between what was before and that which will come afterwards. At Cana, she, the Mother of Jesus, symbol of the Old Testament, is the one who perceives the limitations of the Old Testament and takes the necessary steps in order to attain to the New one. At the foot of the Cross, she is at the side of the “Beloved Disciple”. The Beloved Disciple is the community which grows around Jesus, he is the son born from the Old Testament. At the petition of Jesus, the son, the New Testament, receives Mary, the Old Testament, in his house. Both of them have to walk together. In fact, the New one cannot be understood without the Old one. The New one would have no basis, foundation. And the Old one without the New one would be incomplete: a tree without fruit.
* The Seven Days of the New Creation
The text begins by saying: “On the third day” (Jn 2, 1). in the previous chapter, John had already repeated the expression: “On the following day” (Jn 1, 29.35.43). Considering this, it offers the following schema: The witness of John the Baptist on Jesus (Jn 1, 19-28) takes place on the first day. “The day after” (Jn 1, 29), that is the second day, is the Baptism of Jesus (Jn 1, 29-34). The third day, the call of the disciples and of Peter takes place (Jn 1, 35-42). On the fourth day, Jesus calls Philip and Philip calls Nathanael (Jn 1, 43-51). finally, “three days later” that is on the seventh day, that is, on Saturday, the first sign, that of the Wedding at Cana, takes place (Jn 2, 1). Throughout the Gospel, Jesus realizes seven signs.
John uses the outline of the week to present the beginning of the activity of Jesus. The Old Testament uses the same outline to present creation. In the first six days, God created all things calling them by name. On the seventh day he rested, and worked no more (Jn 1, 1-2, 4). In the same way, Jesus in the first days of his activity, He calls the persons and creates the community, the new humanity. On the seventh day, that is on Saturday, Jesus does not rest, but works the first sign. Throughout the next chapters, from 2 until 19 included, he realizes six other signs, always on Saturday (Jn 5, 16; 9, 14). Finally, in the morning of the Resurrection, when Mary Magdalene goes to the sepulchre, it is said: “the first day of the week” (Jn 20, 1). It is the first day of the new creation, after that prolonged Saturday in which Jesus worked the seven signs. Accused of working on Saturday, Jesus answers: “My Father still goes on working and I am at work too” (Jn 5, 17). Through the activity of Jesus between Cana and the Cross, the Father completes what is lacking in the old creation, in a way in which the new creation can emerge in the Resurrection of Jesus.
6. Pray with Psalm 148
Alleluia! Praise Yahweh from the heavens,
praise him in the heights.
Praise him, all his angels,
praise him, all his host!
Praise him, sun and moon,
praise him, all shining stars,
praise him, highest heavens,
praise him, waters above the heavens.
Let them praise the name of Yahweh
at whose command they were made;
he established them for ever
and ever by an unchanging decree.
Praise Yahweh from the earth,
sea-monsters and all the depths,
fire and hail, snow and mist,
storm-winds that obey his word,
mountains and every hill,
orchards and every cedar,
wild animals and all cattle,
reptiles and winged birds,
kings of the earth and all nations,
princes and all judges on earth,
young men and girls,
old people and children together.
Let them praise the name of Yahweh,
for his name alone is sublime,
his splendour transcends earth and heaven.
For he heightens the strength of his people,
to the praise of all his faithful,
the children of Israel,
the people close to him.
7. Final Prayer
Lord Jesus, we thank for the word that has enabled us to understand better the will of the Father. May your Spirit enlighten our actions and grant us the strength to practice that which your Word has revealed to us. May we, like Mary, your mother, not only listen to but also practice the Word. You who live and reign with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen.
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