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II. The Mother of Jesus

A. Scolding Mary?

Read in context, then, we see that Mary is present on the new Sabbath of God’s new creation. As the Sabbath was the sign of God’s first covenant, Mary is a part of the "sign" of God’s new and everlasting covenant with His creation.

In the creation story only the name of God is spoken. The first man and woman are identified not by name but as "the man" and "the woman."

The same is true in the Cana story. Notice that only Jesus is referred to by name. Mary is never named. John refers to her as "the mother of Jesus" and Jesus calls her "woman."

This is another indicator that John intends us to find a deeper, symbolic connection between what happens at Cana and the Genesis story.

And we should keep this deeper meaning in view as we try to understand the tricky or difficult passages in the account.

The most infamous of these is Jesus’ response to Mary: "Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come."

Quite often this text is used by non-Catholics to "prove" that Catholic devotion to Mary is "unscriptural." Jesus, they argue, is obviously distancing himself from Mary in this passage - He even seems to be scolding her.

This interpretation doesn’t hold up to careful study. It’s true that to our ears Jesus sounds like He is telling Mary to mind her own business and that He doesn’t care whether the wine has run out.

But we have to remember that the Gospel wasn’t written in English. It was written in Greek and recounts a dialogue that originally took place in a Hebrew dialect.

Actually, the words Jesus uses (literally, "what to me and you") were a figure of speech common in the Greek and Hebrew of His day.

The phrase has several shades of meaning in the Old and New Testaments.

However, in each biblical instance where it is found, the phrase expresses a situation similar to what’s going on at Cana: Someone is reluctant or refuses to do something and doesn’t agree that he has any business involving himself in the situation.

Sometimes the phrase implies a hostility between the two parties (see Judges 11:12; 2 Chronicles 35:21; 1 Kings 17:18; Mark 1:24; 5:7; Luke 8:28). Other times it expresses a simple disagreement or difference of opinion (see 2 Kings 3:13; Hosea 14:8).

With that background, how should we understand Jesus’ use of this idiom? First, there is no evidence anywhere in John or the rest of the New Testament to suggest that Jesus harbored hostility toward His mother.

Jesus was without sin (see Hebrews 4:15). Among other things that means He was faithful to the fourth commandment and honored and obeyed His parents (see Luke 2:51).

Nor do we find any evidence in the Cana episode that implies separation or tension between Mary and Jesus. In fact, four times in these twelve verses she is referred to as "the mother of Jesus."

Perhaps the best evidence for what Jesus meant is found in Mary’s reaction to His words. She turns to the servants and says: "Do whatever He tells you."

Certainly, she doesn’t take His words to be dismissive. And if Jesus had intended to reproach her, surely He wouldn’t have complied with her implied request.

B. Woman of Revelation

The real drama - and deeper significance - of the passage is found in Jesus’ addressing of Mary as "Woman."

In anti-Catholic polemics this too is often cited as evidence of Jesus’ lack of affection for His mother. Again there is no basis anywhere in John’s Gospel or elsewhere for drawing such a conclusion.

Jesus often addresses women this way (see Matthew 15:28; Luke 13:12; John 4:21; 8:10;20:13). In every case this form of address is polite and respectful.

It is, however, most unusual that He would address His own mother this way. In fact, nowhere else in the Bible or in other literature of the time do we have an example of a son referring to his mother as "woman."

This strongly suggests the word has symbolic value for Jesus and John. In fact, this is the only way that Jesus refers to Mary in John’s Gospel. Note that on the cross, when the dying Jesus entrusts His mother to His beloved Apostle John, He also calls her "woman" (see John 19:26).

To understand what’s happening at Cana, we need to keep in mind John’s larger framework - the new creation.

In the first creation, "woman" was the name Adam gave to Eve (see Genesis 2:23). And as we will see, John wants us to see the "woman" at Cana as a New Eve and to see Jesus as a New Adam.

This reading is reinforced when we look at another work attributed to John, the Book of Revelation. There, a mysterious "woman" is at the center of a great cosmic battle, described as a "sign" that John sees in heaven (see Revelation 12:1).

As in John’s Gospel, the Book of Genesis lies behind the scene in Revelation 12. The drama there plays out a promise made by God in the Garden of Eden.

After Adam and Eve ate the fruit (see Genesis 3), God promised that throughout human history there would be an "enmity" between the serpent and the woman and between the offspring of the woman and the offspring of the serpent. He promised further there would be a decisive struggle and that the woman’s male child would crush the serpent’s head (see Genesis 3:15).

In Revelation, the "woman" plays out the role assigned to Eve. She travails to give birth to a male child while a huge serpent, explicitly identified as the serpent of Genesis (see Revelation 12:9), waits to devour him.

The woman’s offspring is described as the long awaited Messiah - a "male child" who would "rule all the nations" (compare Revelation 12:5 and Psalm 2:9). That could only be Jesus, so the woman could only be His mother, Mary.

When the child is born and is whisked up to heaven, the serpent makes war against the "the rest of her offspring." This can only be the Church, the people of God - " those who keep God’s commandments and bear witness to Jesus" (see Revelation 12:17).

That’s why the woman from Revelation has from the earliest days of the Church been interpreted as both a symbol of Mary and of the Church.

How does this help us understand the story of Cana?

First, the creation story of Genesis is in the background at Cana as it was in Revelation. Mary is here, too, called "woman."

Also, Mary is presented at Cana as the mother of the Messiah, Jesus, as she is in Revelation.

She is also associated with Jesus’ disciples - as the woman in Revelation is the mother of those who "bear witness to Jesus." Indeed, at Cana, Mary is the catalyst for the miracle that manifests Christ’s glory and causes His disciples to begin to believe in Him (see John 2:2,11).

It is interesting to note that in Mary’s only other appearance in John - at the foot of the Cross - she is also portrayed as mother of the Church. Jesus designates her the "mother" of His beloved Apostle John and, by extension, mother of all his disciples (see John 19:26-27).

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