Mary in the Gospel of John: Part V: Feast at Cana: And He Revealed His Glory
Fr. J. Patrick Gaffney, SMM
John’s magnificent account of the marriage feast of Cana ends with the statement that Jesus has revealed his glory through this sign of changing water into wine. How this miracle discloses the glory of Jesus – a study begun in Part III in the first publication of The Queen – is the subject of this installment of Mary in the Gospel of John.
The Meaning of Glory
In general, glory is the visible manifestation of someone’s or something’s reality. The glory of a precious stone is its luster. Money, as 1 Kings 3:13 implies, is the glory of a wealthy man (as could be his fine dress, his stretch limo). Glory here exhibits the stone’s or the rich man’s importance which calls for a certain “respect.”
The glory of God is a bit more complex. The Book of Exodus speaks of God’s glory as a cloud, as smoke, as fire: they visibly reveal the awesome presence of God. The final verses of Exodus are an illustration of this: “Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting and the glow of the Lord filled the tabernacle . . . For throughout all their journeys, the cloud of the Lord was upon the tabernacle by day and fire was in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel” (40:34-38). The cloud, the fire, were the visible manifestations of Yahweh’s presence among His people.
In a special way, brilliant light is the glory of God (cf. Is 24:23). The dazzling whiteness of eternal light manifests the tremendous majesty of God.
The earth is full of the glory of God for not only is it filled with light but it is also revelatory of God. God’s saving acts are also His glory: they reveal God as Father, Redeemer, Savior.
It can be said, therefore, that the glory of God is a visible manifestation of God who is Holiness Itself. To give glory to God is to praise Him, joyfully acknowledging His dominion, mercy and most especially, His divinity. The recognition of God as God, in prayer, song and holy living is to give Him glory. All peoples are created to give glory to God, i.e., to acknowledge His Divinity, to share in His glory (Jn 17:22), to become partakers, therefore, of the divine nature (2 Pt 1:14).
Painting: Feast at Cana: Bartolome Esteban Murillo (c: 1675)
Mary in the Gospel of John
The Queen presents a series of articles of Mary in the Gospel of John.
To give glory to God is to praise Him, joyfully acknowledging His dominion, mercy and most especially, His Divinity. The recognition of God as God, in prayer, song and holy living is to give Him glory. All peoples are created to give glory to God, i.e., to acknowledge His Divinity, to share in His glory, to become partakers, therefore, of the divine nature.
Jesus is personally the glory of the Father. As the enfleshed Second Person of the Most Blessed Trinity, Jesus reveals, discloses, manifests the Father. Even more: Jesus shares in the very glory of the Father, in the dazzling whiteness of Divinity, for “I and the Father are One: (Jn 10:30). The New Testament makes it clear, however, that although His miracles and teachings are His glory (they reveal His reality), nonetheless, Jesus is glorified through the paschal mystery: His passion, death and resurrection. The triumphant cross is the glory of Jesus (cf. Heb 2:9). It is only in this Easter mystery that Jesus as the Incarnate Word is fully transparent even in his humanity of His awesome reality as the Victorious Messiah, the Son of God made man, our Brother and Our God who is forever in the glory of the Father. The risen Lord is the supreme manifestation of the Holiness and Majesty of God. Jesus, risen in His body, is taken into the brightness of eternal light.
Cana as the Manifestation of Glory
How does the marriage feast at Cana reveal the glory of Jesus? How is it a disclosure of His reality? When this event is seen within the entire context of John’s writings, this first sign discloses Jesus as the true Bridegroom of the human race, as was noted in the Part IV. All of us, the people of God, are called to be the Bride, i.e., to become like Mary the prototype of the Church. As the Book of Revelation reads: ‘Hallelujah! Let us rejoice and exult and give Him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb [the victorious, risen Jesus] has come and his Bride [the Church] has made herself ready” (19:6-7).
It may also be said that through this sign of Cana, Jesus if glorified by the Father as the fulfillment of all Jewish customs and feasts. One of the basic themes of the Fourth Gospel is that the covenant made to Abraham, Isaac and Moses is fulfilled in Jesus, the new covenant of God with us. A few examples will suffice to show how this theme is found in John’s Gospel and specifically in the wedding feast of Cana.
- The Temple in Jerusalem is now the Person of Jesus. He is the personal presence of God with us (cf. 2:19-22). He is the enduring love (“grace and truth”) of the Father (cf. 1:16—18).
- The Spirit of Jesus replaces any need of worship in Jerusalem (4:21—24).
- Jesus’ flesh and blood fulfills and surpasses the manna in the desert (6:48-51).
- The Feast of Booths, when water from the Pool of Siloam was poured out before the altar, is fulfilled and replaced in Jesus from whom there flow fountains of living water (7:27 ff.).
- The Feast of Passover is now the celebration of freedom from sin through the paschal sacrifice of the Lamb of God, Jesus (cf. 1:29; 18:39; 19:14).
Where is this replacement theme found in the account of the wedding feast? At Cana in Galilee, Jesus replaces the water of the Old with the wine of the New, and shows that the wine of the New Testament is the fulfillment of the water of the Old Testament. The “Jewish rites of purification” (Jn 2:6) are now fulfilled in Jesus who is the new wine, overflowing wine, excellent wine. Jesus is our rite of purification.
It is important to recall the significance of “overflowing wine” in the Scriptures. A popular symbol of the joys of the “last days,” of the exhilaration of messianic times is an abundance of wine: “Behold the days are coming,’ says the Lord, ‘when the plowman shall overtake the reaper and the treader of grapes him who sows the seed; the mountains shall drip sweet wine and all the hills shall flow with it”
(Amos 9:13; cf. Joel 3:18; Jer 31:11-12).
A metaphor, then, for the age of the Messiah is “overflowing wine.” Jesus, at the marriage feast of Cana reveals His glory, i.e., discloses visibly who He is. And He is the Messiah: in Him, the final age has come.
Joining the marriage feast account with John’s description of the victorious crucifixion of Jesus in chapter 19, it may be said that this Cana miracle is an anticipation through symbols of the reality of Christ the bestower of new life through the paschal mystery. His “hour” has not yet come at Cana. Nonetheless, through the sign he performed there, Jesus shows us what that decisive moment will be: the overflowing wine of his Precious Blood by which the new creation is born from the wounded side of the crucified Messiah. The marriage of Jesus the Bridegroom with the Church the Bride takes place in and through the triumphant Cross. Calvary is the fulfillment of the deeper meaning of the marriage feast at Cana, as will be seen in more detail in future installments.
In our next issue, we will enter into a discussion of Mary’s role in this disclosure of the glory of Jesus at Cana in Galilee.
