Gospel of John, Chapter 2 (The Wedding at Cana)

I just got back from an Ignatian retreat, and what a great experience that was. I just learned so much about discerning God's will for me. I hope that all of that comes through in the future content of this website.

Last week I talked about John 1. John 1 is a little difficult to wrap your head around, since it's an introduction, and hits everything that John will talk about in the Gospel. Well, in chapter 2, the Evangelist gets right to fleshing those points out with the Wedding at Cana. Now, you probably know the story about Jesus turning water into wine. This illustrates for us Christ's power, but there are so many ways his power could have been manifested. Turning water to wine doesn't seem like a very big deal. The feast is able to continue, but this seems minor compared to healing a person or raising Lazarus from the dead.

This might be Christ's most important miracle prior to his death and resurrection. Just picture all of the characters and images that are in this story. You have Jesus, Mary, and the disciples. Then you have the servants, and the steward of the feast (called the "governor of the feast" in the King James translation). You have jars holding water that was used to clean the feet of the wedding-goers. Finally, you have the bride and groom. Go ahead. Imagine it's a painting by Leonardo da Vinci, and there the characters are, left to right.

Now, I want you to imagine each of these images with a slight twist. Jesus is the bridegroom. Mary is the bride (with the disciples forming the rest of the Church, the bride of Christ). The servants are the angels. The governor of the feast is God the Father; and the cleansing water is the Holy Spirit. We've already accounted for the bride and groom, who go unnamed in this story.

This isn't a story about a normal wedding. This is an image of Heaven -- Christ's eternal marriage with his Church. When the steward says that the bridegroom has saved the best wine for last, he means it. And it's not just any wine. We see water elsewhere as an image for the Holy Spirit, and the transformation of the water to wine shows us the transforming power of the Spirit.

That's a nice vignette. There's no conflict and everyone is getting along. That's a big contrast with the next story. John backs up and shows us what is necessary to attain Heaven. Christ goes to work and cleans out the temple. He drives out the money-changers. Remember those jars from the wedding? They were cleansing jars. That's what the Holy Spirit does to us -- cleans us up so that we're able to have the Life of Christ within us.

After the cleansing water, those jars then contain wine. Maybe it goes without saying, but wine in the New Testament is an image for the Blood of Christ. Even today, blood has a paradoxical meaning of both life and death. Both meanings are pertinent here. When the Jews ask for a sign following Jesus drives out the money-changers from the Temple. He tells them, "destroy this temple, and in three days, I will raise it up." Christ's death wins eternal life.

So, quick recap. Jesus' miracles illuminate his teaching. Here, the teaching is about Christ's victory over death, and the image is one of Heaven. Second, always be on the lookout for the story behind the story. As you'll see throughout this Gospel, the images aren't simple and static. They pop out at you, if you look long enough and ask for the guidance of the Holy Spirit.