John 2: Showing Jesus' Glory

"On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 2 Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 3 When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, ‘They have no wine.’ 4 And Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come.’ 5 His mother said to the servants, ‘Do whatever he tells you.’ 6 Now standing there were six stone water-jars for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. 7 Jesus said to them, ‘Fill the jars with water.’ And they filled them up to the brim. 8 He said to them, ‘Now draw some out, and take it to the chief steward.’ So they took it. 9 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 10 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.’ 11 Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.

The Fourth Gospel calls the miracle of water into wine at Cana in Galilee Jesus "first" sign (2:11). It occurred "on the third day" (2:1), which may seem obscure and even irrelevant but, in the context of John 1, takes on a heightened significance. Count the days listed in John 1. There are four. Then, if you have the "third" day in 2:1, you either have Jesus miracle on the 6th or 7th day (depending on whether "3rd day" is inclusive or not). In John 1:1-2:11 we have a re-creation of sorts. The words of John 1:1 hearken back to Gen 1:1. "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth," will be trumped by, or reinterpreted through, "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God (John 1:1). As God "tabernacled" with the people in the Wilderness, so Christ becomes flesh and "tabernacles" among people (John 1:14). As God created humans on the sixth day (Gen. 1:26), so Jesus "re-creates" humans through manifesting his glory on the sixth 'new' day (John 2:1-11).

The Gospel of John not only tries to "re-create" the world in its opening pages; it does so through portraying Jesus as already fully divine from the beginning. The Synoptic Gospels leave open the possibility of Jesus' potential confusion or imperfect knowledge, especially when God's words from heaven during Jesus' baptism (see this essay) draw on diverse biblical traditions. But the Gospel of John will have none of this. The author says that "We beheld his glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth" (1:14). From the begininng Jesus was recognized as Messiah by Andrew (1:41); because of his seemingly supernatural knowledge he was confessed as the "Son of God" and "King of Israel" by Nathaniel in this new "week" of re-creation (1:49). Thus, when Jesus performs his first sign at Cana, we are not suprised when we are told that the disciples saw his glory and believed in him.

The scene in John 2:1-11 is at a wedding festival. This context dovetails nicely with the setting of Is. 62:1-5, where Israel shall be rejoiced over as the bride is by the bridegroom. Thus, those who want to weave the lectionary texts together already have a strong thread. As with other expositions, I will stress three points from John 2:1-11. First I will speak of Jesus and his Glory; then I will speak of the transformative work of Jesus; and finally of his relationship with his mother in this text.

I. The Glory of Jesus

For the author of the Gospel of John, Jesus' glory means two things: (1) his showing forth the presence of God; and (2) his suffering and death. Let's take them one at a time. (1) Glory is something that can be "beheld" (1:14); it is shown forth here in the turning of water into wine. Indeed, by emphasizing glory's "visibility," the author is reaching back to biblical traditions emphasizing the same. For example, when the Wilderness Tabernacle was completed and the priesthood established, we have the following picture of God's glory:

"Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled upon it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle...." (Ex. 40:34-35).

It is almost as if glory is a gaseous substance; a sort of divine "mace" that prohibits humans from coming into contact with it. It is seemingly both an odor and an overpowering visual stimulus. Jesus' glory is to be understood consistently with this picture. He shows it through his becoming flesh, his various "signs," and his eloquent discourses.

(2) But we misunderstand or, better yet, don't understand glory fully until we see the somber tone of it. When Jesus speaks about being glorified later in the Gospel, it means that he will be lifted up--to death. When two Gentiles come to a Jewish festival and ask to see Jesus, Jesus knows that his earthly time is over. "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified" (John 12:23). Then, a chapter later, after Judas has gone out into the night with the intention of betraying him, Jesus, piling up image after image of "glory," says:

"Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once" (John 13:31-32).

In the Gospel of John, Jesus will have two kinds of followers: those who "draw back" when Jesus discloses his more difficult teachings (see 6:66--and I am not superstitious on this one!!), and those who follow him to his death. The first are those who only see his glory in the first sense, who love him for his great miracles; the second are those who have caught the full significance of his teaching and life. Let's strive to present and explain both aspects of Christ's glory.

I see I need another essay to finish these thoughts.

2331