Posted on 01/16/2010 9:38:57 AM PST by GonzoII
Jesus and his mother Mary were at a wedding feast at Cana (as recorded in John 2). There is what seems to us a tense interaction between them. Mary observes that they have no more wine. And Jesus says to her, Woman, how does this concern of yours affect me? My hour has not yet come. (Jn 2:4).
To modern English ears this response of Jesus seems terse and off-putting. Is Jesus annoyed by his mother’s request? A little study of culture reveals that his repsonse ot his mother is not disrespectful but is in fact a sign of respect and readiness to comply with her request. In order to understand this we need to look at the cultural context of Jesus’ remark.
(Excerpt) Read more at blog.adw.org ...
This is something many people forget. There is a historical aspect to all the words and phrases.
Also interesting is “Why did Mary care if there was enough wine? After all, she was just a guest and it wasn’t her responsibility.” She may, in fact, have been a relative of the host and feared her extended family wouldn’t look so great if there wasn’t enough to go around. As a distant relative, maybe Jesus could care less but was sensitive to his mother’s and her family’s reputation.
What I always got out of this passage was that Mary knew exactly what her son was capable of and that she was pushing him into the next phase of his life. His response to her told me that he wasn’t quite sure what she was talking about but the fact that he responded to her and did what she ask of him told a lot about the massive influence she had upon his life. This is a story that any mother can relate to. We all know what it is like to give that nudge to our child from the comfort zone they are in to the next phase of their life. She was a truly amazing woman and an inspiration to all mothers.
I posted this once before, awhile back:
"This is also true, by the way, of Scots Gaelic. A Highlander in the old days (and may still in the very few places where Gaelic is a first language) would address his mother as "a bhean" - "o woman". And that's exactly what Jesus says in the Gaelic Bible (I had to go upstairs and hunt it out - it's not on line - at least only the Gospel of Mark is on line. If you want to read John, you have to have a hard copy.)"
It also ties neatly into the fact that the Blessed Virgin is "the second Eve".
Mary was just being a Jewish mother.
True. That's why a good commentary is essential.
Faith sharing bump.
Its quite Obvious Jesus was the caterer and his momma is trying to tell him, “do something!!!’
"What is it to thee and to Me?" means "why should we trouble or interfere." Not only is not a rebuke, but it implicitly includes Mary ("thee and Me" -- "we") as part of God's plan. Mary shared in all of Our Lord's sorrows and glories. It also demonstrates how Our Lord responds to the intercession of His mother on behalf of others.
This was the Gospel that my wife and I had read at our wedding 30+ years ago.
**Does Jesus Rebuke His Mother?**
No — he merely says it is not his time yet.
But the Blessed Mother, in trust, tells the servants, “Do whatever He says.”
BTW, these are the last words of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Bible and we should all follow them.
Do whatever Jesus says!
Kind of like “how may I help you?”
This was Jesus’ first public miracle. That is a big deal as once He goes public with this power, everyone knows He’s not just any gifted teacher/Rabbi. He is the Messiah. That first public miracle took His work to the next level of both healing and transformation but also total freak out among the powers that be and a leap towards the suffering that was to come.
The words translated into English don’t match Jesus’ action of responding to the request of his mom. I always wondered about it and figured something was lost in the translation. This explanation of the meaning of our Lord’s response in the context of His culture is interesting.
The water that Yah'shua changed was not the water we think of, The water of purification was used to remove sin under the old covenant. Yah'shua by this miracle pointed to His power to remove sin. Yah'shua demonstrated that He was greater than the ashes of the Red Heifer. Later He would become the Pesach Lamb,
For all those who have wondered why Yah'shua changed water into wine
shalom b'SHEM Yah'shua HaMashiach Adonai
when He could have just gone poof; the answer lies in NUMBERS 19.
it was not drinking water. It was the water of purification as detailed in NUMBERS 19.
By the act of changing the water of purification into wine, Yah'shua
ended the OT means of removing sin.
This is the beginning of the New covenant as outlined in JEREMIAH 31:31
removing sin forever to all who would look to Him and call on His NAME
Yah'shua (YHvH is my salvation) for salvation.
Good advise
Exactly, Excellent post... people think of it as drinking water.. it was actually the purification water for the ritual cleaning. After He changed them to wine they became unclean ceremonially. He was now going to be the cleansing living water
John 2: 1 1 On the third day there was a wedding 2 in Cana 3 in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 2 Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding. 3 When the wine ran short, the mother of Jesus said to him, "They have no wine." 4 4 (And) Jesus said to her, "Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come." 5 His mother said to the servers, "Do whatever he tells you." 6 5 Now there were six stone water jars there for Jewish ceremonial washings, each holding twenty to thirty gallons. 7 Jesus told them, "Fill the jars with water." So they filled them to the brim. 8 Then he told them, "Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter." 6 So they took it. 9 And when the headwaiter tasted the water that had become wine, without knowing where it came from (although the servers who had drawn the water knew), the headwaiter called the bridegroom 10 and said to him, "Everyone serves good wine first, and then when people have drunk freely, an inferior one; but you have kept the good wine until now." 11 Jesus did this as the beginning of his signs 7 in Cana in Galilee and so revealed his glory, and his disciples began to believe in him.
The ceremonial jugs were filled with drinking water. There may be an element of allegory associated with purification, but since you have posted that God did not engage in allegory (ie the length of time for each 'day' of Creation), why would you speculate on this?
This was a Jewish wedding. Major partying. With appropriate amounts of alcohol.
Before you demonstrate a complete ignorance of the Holy Word of G-d,
shalom b'SHEM Yah'shua HaMashiach
I recommend you read Numbers 19 illuminated by the Holy Spirit.
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