Gospel for Sunday, January 19: John 2:1-11
The Wedding at Cana
1 Three days later, there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and Jesus’ mother was there. 2 Jesus with his disciples was also invited to the wedding. 3 Meanwhile, having come short of wine, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.” 4 And Jesus answered, “What have I to do with you, O woman? My hour has not yet come.” 5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”
6 There were there six stone jars for the cleansing of the Jews, each containing two or three barrels. 7 And Jesus said to them, “Fill the jars with water”; and they filled them to the brim. 8 He said to them again, “Now draw and bring some to the table master.” And they brought some to him. 9 And when he had tasted the water that had become wine, the table master, who did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), called the bridegroom 10 and said to him, “Everyone serves good wine from the beginning and, when they are a little tipsy, less good wine; you, however, have kept the good wine until now.” 11 Thus Jesus began his miracles in Cana of Galilee, manifested his glory, and his disciples believed in him.Jn 2:1-11
Dear sisters and brothers of Misericordia, I am Carlo Miglietta, a doctor, biblical scholar, layman, husband, father and grandfather (www.buonabibbiaatutti.it). Also today I share with you a short thought meditation on the Gospel, with special reference to the theme of mercy.
The Church as the bride of Christ
The evangelist John speaks of the Church under various symbolisms. But for him the Church is first and foremost the Bride of the Messiah. Already the Old Testament had expressed the love relationship between God and his people through the nuptial metaphor: God is the Lover, the betrothed, the bridegroom, and Israel the beloved, the betrothed, the bride. In the marriage image, however, not only is signified the loving relationship between God and his people, but also his “berit”-covenant with Israel, the final and solemn covenant, the mutual oath of fidelity (Hos 2:15-22; 3:1; Jer 3:1-13; 31:4; Ez 16; 23; Is 54; 62:1-5; Chr). Marriage thus becomes a sacrament (the word “sacramentum” means “sign”) of a reality that transcends it, a prophecy of God and his covenant with man.
The first miracle performed by Jesus, the turning of water into wine at the wedding in Cana (Jn. 2:1-12), falls into the literary genre of “prophetic actions,” that is, those gestures that prophets are wont to perform to express a message (Jer. 13:1-14; 19; 24; 27-28:10; Ezek. 3:24-5:17; Zech. 11:15).
At Cana the protagonists are not the bride and groom: the bride is not even mentioned. At Cana the wedding is celebrated between the Messianic Bridegroom and his Bride, represented by Mary and the disciples. “The purpose of the ‘sign’ of Cana is to ‘manifest the glory of Jesus,’ that is, the novelty of his message: the God he announces is a God who is not a stranger, but the Bridegroom who calls to the wedding of the covenant the whole of humanity here represented by the disciples who are the guarantors of the ‘sign’ of Cana of Galilee” (Fr. Farinella). In fact, one of the constant Old Testament images to express the joy of the Messianic advent is the abundance of wine (Am 9:13-14; Hos 14:8; Gen 49:10-12; Gl 2:24; 4:18; Is 25:6). In fact, the Greek apocryphal Revelation of Baruch writes: “The earth shall yield her fruit ten thousand times over, and in a vine there shall be a thousand branches, and a branch shall make a thousand clusters, and a cluster shall make a thousand grapes, and a berry shall make a kor of wine (ed. note: about 450 liters). And those who were hungry will be delighted and, still they will see wonders every day… And it will happen at that time: the deposit of manna will come down again from above and in those years they will eat of it because they are the ones who have come to the fulfillment of time. And it shall happen after that: when the time of the coming of the Anointed One shall be full and he shall return in glory, then all those who had fallen asleep in hope of him shall rise… The souls of the righteous shall come forth, and the multitude of souls shall be seen together in one assembly of one understanding… For they shall know that the time is come of which it is said: it is the fulfillment of the times.” At Cana Jesus miraculously procures four hundred and eighty to seven hundred and twenty liters of wine, really a bit much for a simple wedding feast! The disciples understand that he is the Messiah-Spouse of the end times, summoning the eschatological assembly of the elect. As Augustine says, “Christ…is the bridegroom of the wedding at Cana, in fact, to whom it was said, ‘You have kept the good wine until now.’” Christ, indeed, had kept the good wine until now, that is, his Gospel.” In Hebrew, wine is said “yayìn,” whose consonants (y – y – n) correspond to the number 70 (10 + 10 + 50), i.e., the number of the nations of the earth according to Judaism: the Gospel is precisely universal, all are called to the assembly of the elect.
The Song of Songs employs the metaphor of wine eight times to express the burning love between the Bridegroom and the Bride (Chr. 1:2,4; 2:4; 4:10; 5:1; 7:3,10; 8:2). Jesus is the Bridegroom, and such will be proclaimed by the Baptist (Jn 3:29).
Cana is derived from “qanah,” which means “to acquire,” but when it has as its subject God, also “to create” (Gen 14:22; Ex 15:16; Deut 32:6; Pr 8:22; Is 43:21; Sl 78:54; 139:13). The event takes place “on the third day” (Jn 2:1), just as “on the third day” the Sinaitic theophany had taken place (Ex 19:11). Mary’s words, “Do whatever he tells you” (Jn 2:4) recall Israel’s promise at Sinai, “What the Lord has said, we will do!” (Ex 19:8). The six “stone” jars (Jn 2:6) recall the “stone” tables (Ex 31:18; 32:15; 34:1.4) on which the Sinai Law is carved. “At Cana Jesus “creates” the new people of his disciples; they are the “archetypal first fruits” of the messianic community, founded on faith in Christ. Cana, in the likeness of Sinai, is the “arché” of a new creation, which stands in line with the Genesis creation” (A. Serra) and the people of Israel.
Marriage sacrament of Christ’s love for the Church
During the captivity (61-63), which distracts him from immediate problems, Paul writes the letters to the Philippians (which some place, however, around 56), to Philemon, and perhaps his school writes to the Colossians and Ephesians. Then the “ekklesìa” is no longer the local community, as, with rare exceptions, it was previously considered by him, but is contemplated in its mystery of universality, of catholicity.
“It is not by an addition of communities that the total Church is formed, as it is conceived in the Protestant movement, understanding each of the communities as autonomous and autogenetic; I speak of congregationalism, a temptation that is felt today even in the Catholic Church. Instead, each community, however small it may be, drawing its value from the total Church, represents it all, embodies the Mystery of that call that was so present to the consciousness of the first Christians” (L. Giussani).
The local churches are not only united by a common faith and ordinances (1 Cor. 7:17; 11:16), but they truly form a mystical unity of cosmic dimensions (Col. 2:19; Eph. 1:23; 4:13): the various communities form the one Bride, a term that designates both diversity and intimate union of love with the Bridegroom, Christ.
The letter to the Ephesians (Eph 5:26-27) presents human nuptiality as an icon of the relationship between Christ and the Church (Eph 5:21-33): marriage is “a great mystery…, in reference to Christ and the Church!” (Eph 5:32). The exhortation to spouses, inserted in this which is the ecclesial epistle par excellence, is for Paul an important occasion precisely for a new kind of reflection on the Church.
“Great mystery” (Eph 5:32) is not only that Christ loves us as the tenderest of spouses, but also that marriage is called to be a sign of divine love for the Church. To understand Christ’s relationship with his Church, we must meditate on conjugal love, which of divine love is a sacrament, that is, a sign, an icon, according to the great Jewish tradition, which Christ, the eschatological Bridegroom, brings to fulfillment. Every marriage is a prophecy of God’s love. From every marriage, from its passion, its tenderness, its sweetnesses, its warmth, we are to grasp small but concrete signs of God’s own Love. Our loves are traces, experiences and anticipations of God’s: to imagine divine Love we must start from our loves, obviously raising them to the nth power.
“The mutual relationship between spouses, husband and wife, should be understood by Christians in the image of the relationship between Christ and the Church” (John Paul II). At the same time, “one has the impression that Paul, speaking of the first covenant in human reality – between husband and wife -, the most fundamental of all covenants, wants to bring it back to its deep root, the root that explains everything and from which everything derives: the covenant between Christ and the Church” (C. M. Martini).
“This symbolism finds full fulfillment in a twofold sense: first of all, in Christ the union between God and humanity is made tangible since Christ is the subject in whom divinity and humanity are married and indissolubly united in Himself Man-God. Second, Christ is highlighted in a unique, faithful, intimate and non-soluble relationship with the community of believers: the Church. The image of the Bride applied to the Church makes, therefore, a plastic reference to the absolute intimacy that exists between Christ and the Church” (S. T. Stancati).
Happy Mercy to all!
Anyone who would like to read a more complete exegesis of the text, or some insights, please ask me at migliettacarlo@gmail.com.