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III. The New Eve

A. Mother of All Living

In his "new creation" story, then, John wants us to see Mary as the New Eve.

At Cana, the New Eve radically reverses the decision of the first Eve. The first woman led the first Adam to commit his first evil act in the garden. At Cana, the new woman leads the New Adam to perform His first glorious work.

The first Eve counseled Adam to defy God and eat the fruit. The New Eve brings the people’s needs to her Son and teaches the people to obey Him in faith - "Do whatever He tells you" (see John 2:5).

The first Eve was "the mother of all the living" (see Genesis 3:20). By teaching the disciples and servants to believe in Jesus, the new Eve becomes the mother of the Church - "the children of God" (see John 1:12; 19:26-27).

B. Priest of the Most High God

As the Sabbath was the sign of God’s first covenant with creation, the wedding feast of Cana - with its faithful servants and its miraculous abundance of wine - is the sign of God’s new covenant.

In the first covenant, we witness the marriage union of a man and a woman, Adam and Eve (see Genesis 2:23-24). And in the new covenant, we have a new man and a new woman present at a wedding feast.

True, Mary is Jesus’ mother, not His bride. But in order to understand the supernatural depths of biblical symbolism that John intends here, we need to set aside our "natural" ways of reading.

As the "woman," Mary becomes the locus of a host of biblical symbols and expectations - she is simultaneously: a daughter of Israel, the mother of the new people of God, and bride of God.

Notice who is not mentioned in John’s account. The couple being married. Isn’t it odd that a wedding feast would be described but not the bride and groom?

When the headwaiter tastes the wine, his remarks to the "bridegroom" seem to be addressed to Jesus - "You have kept the good wine until now" (see John 2:10). John stresses this reading by following the headwaiters’ word immediately with this: "Jesus did this as the beginning of His signs."

John is evoking a deep Old Testament tradition. The "sign" that he wants us to see here is that of God fulfilling His promise to come as a divine bridegroom to Israel and to be "wed" to His people in a new and everlasting covenant.

We see this promise of "messianic nuptials" with increasing intensity in the writings of the prophets (see Hosea 2:16-25; Jeremiah 2:1-2; 3:1, 6-12; Ezekiel 16; Isaiah 50:1; 54:4-8;62:4-5), in certain Psalms (see for example Psalm 45) and other Old Testament writings (See Song of Songs).

In Hosea, we have the clearest description of God’s intentions. There, in language reminiscent of Genesis, God promises a new covenant with creation that will be capped by His marriage to Israel forever (see Hosea 2:20-21; Genesis 1:20-21,24-25).

In Hosea and elsewhere, the messianic blessings of the new covenant are accompanied or symbolized by "new wine" (see Hosea 2:23; Amos 9:13-14; Joel 2:19,24; 4:18; Zechariah 9:16-17; 10:7; Isaiah 25:6).

In the Song of Songs, which symbolically depicts the wedding of God to His people, wine is also the sign of their joyful union (see Song of Songs 1:2,4; 4:10; 5:1; 7:3,9; 8:2).

C. ‘Covenant in Your Flesh’

At Cana, then, John is presenting Jesus as the Messiah, the divine bridegroom and provider of the new wine at the wedding feast of the new covenant.

Again our interpretation is helped by looking at John’s Revelation, which concludes with a cosmic wedding feast. It is the "wedding feast of the Lamb" - of Christ to His bride, the Church (see Revelation 19:9; 21:9; 22:17); there too, this wedding feast marks the pinnacle of a new creation - a new heaven and a new earth (see Revelation 21:1).

Elsewhere in John’s Gospel, Jesus is explicitly identified as both the "Lamb of God" (see John 1:29, 36) and the Bridegroom (see John 3:29).

Jesus is also shown at Cana to be a new Adam, the firstborn of a new creation.

What John implies is made clear elsewhere in the New Testament. Paul calls Jesus a "type" of Adam (see Romans 5:14) and the new or last Adam (see 1 Corinthians 15:21-22,45-49).

At Cana, Mary is the "bride" of the New Adam, the mother of the new creation.

It is significant that the only "vow" spoken at this wedding are the words Mary speaks to the servants - "Do whatever He tells you."

In Mary’s words we hear a distinct echo of Israel’s covenant traditions.

We find essentially the same phrase used to describe Israel’s ratification of the covenant at Mount Sinai: "Everything the Lord has said, we will do" (see Exodus 19:8; 34:3-7;Deuteronomy 5:27). It is also used in the accounts of Israel’s renewal of the covenant (see Joshua 24:24; Exodus 10:12; Nehemiah 5:12).

So the words Mary speaks at Cana are a sort of covenant vow that she speaks on behalf of the servants and the disciples - expressing their acceptance of Jesus and their willingness to live by faith in His words.

That the servants share her faith is reflected in their decision is reflected in John’s detail - told by Jesus to fill the jars, they filled them "to the brim" (see John 2:7).

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