John 2:1-11 (NRSV)
On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” Now standing there were six stone water jars for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to them, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. He said to them, “Now draw some out, and take it to the chief steward.” So they took it. When the steward tasted the water that had become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward called the bridegroom and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until now.” Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.
~
"[W]hen there was no more wine for the wedding guests, the mother of Jesus takes action. Notice that John doesn't call her Mary. He only refers to her as “the mother of Jesus.” At some point during the feasting and celebrating, Jesus' mother brings this information about the wine running out to Jesus. He answers her with, “Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come.”
"His response seems troubling, doesn't it? It sounds cold and harsh. Some translations add “dear woman” to try to soften it. It sounds as though he's treating her like a silly woman who should be minding her own business. But the way we hear his response has surely been shaped by societal and cultural views that diminish women.
"The word “concern” isn't from the Greek. That's supplied by translators. What if Jesus is actually asking his mother, “Is this for you and me?” What if Jesus is seeking his mother's counsel? Maybe he really wants her guidance here and is looking to her. Even if Jesus is saying No, she isn't taking No for an answer! She acts anyway. Since the time Jesus, the Word of God, was in her womb, she's been waiting and listening for God's time. And now she recognizes the quickening in her body. She knows that Jesus' hour has come; the hour is now. And with full and absolute trust, as soon as his mother acts, Jesus participates.
[...]
"And now we go back to the exchange between Jesus and his mother, when he calls her “Woman.” Why does he do that? Part of what makes that interaction sound harsh and cold is that “woman” doesn't recognize the warmth of the familial relationship. Why not call her mother? To answer this question, we need to remember that John begins his Gospel with the end in sight. So when we look, after this wedding, we don't see Jesus' mother again until Jesus is on the cross. There on the cross, Jesus has another exchange with his mother. Ch 19 v 26, “When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, ‘Woman, here is your son.’ Then he said to the disciple, ‘Here is your mother.’ And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.”
"When we remember that John is telling a creation story, then “woman” refers to the first woman. John is likening the mother of Jesus to Eve, the mother of humanity, the mother of life. So, as John is telling the story, Jesus is relating to Mary not as his mother, but as Eve, woman. And on the cross, his death gives birth to a new humanity. Jesus' death is part of the creation story, the completion of the creation story. He has given birth to a new way of being human. Here, at his end, the woman is his mother. Here, as a new humanity has been birthed, the woman becomes the mother of the disciples, of us.
[...]
"Following Jesus, Martin Luther King Jr. also had the end in sight. The Beloved Community that he saw is the new humanity of love. In a speech at a victory rally, after a favorable U.S. Supreme Court Decision desegregating the seats on Montgomery's buses, King said,
“the end is reconciliation; the end is redemption; the end is the creation of the Beloved Community. It is this type of spirit and this type of love that can transform opponents into friends. It is this type of understanding goodwill that will transform the deep gloom of the old age into the exuberant gladness of the new age. It is this love which will bring about miracles in the hearts of men [and women].”
"So today we celebrate the miracle that turned water into wine, the miracle that continues to turn the waters of our empty humanity into wine, giving birth to the beloved community. May we continue to give ourselves, our bodied vessels, to be filled with the wine of God's love, participants in the “exuberant gladness of the new age.”"
- Suella Gerber, from "Celebrating, feasting, delighting: Epiphany 2C, John 2:1-11"(https://girardianlectionary.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Gerber-Epiphany2C-1-17-16.pdf)
~
"Throughout these pages there have been two imaginative poles, two principal images, which have given us hints for the understanding of something of 'the things that are above' on which we are to fix our minds: the vision of the open heaven with the risen victim — the slaughtered lamb standing or seated at the right hand of God — and the wedding banquet.
"In fact these two images permeate the whole apostolic witness: shortly after John the Baptist points Jesus out as the Lamb of God, and shortly after Nathanael is promised that he will see the heavens opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man, Jesus works his first sign, in Cana of Galilee. The sign is that the bridegroom of Israel has arrived, and the one who was an abandoned and repudiated woman is beginning to be able to enjoy a wedding banquet where flow a wine and a rejoicing quite unthinkably greater than that imagined by those who had made the wedding preparations.
[...]
"The two images flow into one alone: the wedding banquet of the lamb. And this confluence of images has as its effect precisely that we should learn to imagine the things that are above, that we should allow ourselves to be nurtured by this imagination which will empower us to re-create that wedding banquet... This is a story which we construct in hope, and by which we construct hope, creating belief, in the midst of the crushing darkness of the dominion of death. That is, the apostolic witness itself shows clearly that the inner dynamic which runs through it reaches maturity precisely in this fusion of images which come together to form a single vision of heaven."
- James Alison, Raising Abel, pp 189-190
~
"The whole movement of the Bible is toward ever-greater Incarnation and embodiment, until the mystery of mutual indwelling is finally experienced and enjoyed even here in this world and this life. It then becomes the banquet that we call eternal life or heaven. For Christians, Jesus, the Christ, is the ultimate symbol of this divine goal, pattern and embodiment: “When Christ is revealed, and he is your life, you will be revealed in all your glory with him” (Colossians 3:4). Henceforth we know our true and lasting life in the new “force field” that Paul calls the Body of Christ and not in individual or private perfection. It becomes more important to be connected than to be privately correct.
"Paul's notion of the body of Christ has a material and cosmic character to it, and begins in this world (which is why we believe in the resurrection of the body and not just the soul). Yes, there is “a new heaven” but there is also “a new earth” (Revelation 21:1). What more fitting meaning could the “Second Coming of Christ” have except that humanity becomes “a beautiful bride all dressed for her husband?” (Revelation 21:3). Union is finally enjoyed, and God's win-win story line has achieved its full purpose. What a hopeful end to history! What an apokatastasis, or “universal restoration” (Revelation 3:21)! What a victory for God — and for humanity!"
- Richard Rohr, Things Hidden, pp. 211-12
[Source of James Alison and Richard Rohr quotes and link to Suella Gerber sermon, and for further analysis and discussion on all this week's lectionary texts: https://girardianlectionary.net/reflections/year-c/epiphany2c/]
I also highly recommend James Alison's video for this day in the lectionary: "Homily for Second Sunday in Ordinary Time 2022 C" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vexfI5Tjz8
No comments:
Post a Comment