CHAPTER 6. DISTANTIATION: THE EXEGETICAL MOVE ON THE SELECTED TEXTS IN JOHN
6.1 Jesus’ mother at the Cana wedding: John 2:1-12
6.1.5 Exploration of the plot of John 2:1-12
6.1.5.4 B` Crisis averted after successful intervention: The hosts are saved from public shame (verses 9-10)
As the servants move from Jesus to the master of the banquet, the suspense increases but the plot moves towards the end of the crisis as the master of the banquet tastes the drink brought to him by the servants and the reader is informed that it had become wine (verse 9). The crisis is resolved. The master of the banquet, who was under threat of being confused and shamed by the shortage of wine, now marvels at the abundance of wine of a superior quality (verse 10). It is now confirmed to the reader that, despite his initial negative answer to his mother’s request, Jesus finally responded favourably to her request.61
The title of the steward is to. avrcitrikli,noς meaning the governor of the feast or, according to Keener, “ruler of the table” (Keener 2003:514). His role is compared to that of a person who, in Greek custom, presided over the entertainment and determined the degree to which wine would be diluted (Keener 2003:514). Apparently, the master of the
61 A pattern whereby Jesus responds negatively to a request before acting positively has been noted especially in the Gospel of John (4:47-50; 7:3-10; 11:3-7). Each instance, suggests Köstenberger, is wedded to misunderstanding regarding the arrival of Jesus’ “time” (Köstenberger 2004:97; Neyrey 2007:66). In the case of Jesus’ mother’s request, it may be that the primary reason of the rebuff was that she did not understand what this sign will cost Jesus: it starts him on the road to his hour, the cross. John speaks of the beginning of Jesus’ sign, referring to the beginning of a public ministry destined to culminate in his final hour (Keener 2003:506).
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banquet did not join the wedding party at the table but rather, as a headwaiter in charge of catering, supervised the serving of food and drink, with several servants under him carrying out his orders (Köstenberger 2004:97).
It is not clear whether the master of the banquet was initially aware of the problem; only by virtue of his position it may be surmised that he was among those who could notice that the wine was running short. What is clear is that he was not aware of the work of negotiation and persuasion done by Jesus’ mother until he was presented with the result.
The master of banquet did not know where the wine came from, but he recognized that it was of superior quality.
The steward’s ignorance of where the wine came from renders unquestionable the genuineness of the miracle. It is on account of his unbiased ignorance that he addresses not Jesus but the bridegroom as the person solely responsible for the wine supply and makes known his astonishment at the course of action that has been followed (Ridderbos 1997:108). The steward of the feast declared, for those at the feast and for the reader, that what has taken place lies beyond the realm of previous experience. Jesus offered something new to the celebrants at Cana and to the reader of the Fourth Gospel (Jones 1997:61). In Jewish literature, wine was often used as a symbol of the messianic age. The wine offered by Jesus at Cana is often understood in this same way. In Feuillet’s understanding: Le vin surabondant et d’une qualité extraordinaire procuré à Cana par la vertu divine de Jésus signifies la surabondance et l’excellence des biens messianiques liés à l’ère nouvelle qu’il veut instaurer (Feuillet 1986:371), meaning: “The plentiful wine of extraordinary quality provided at Cana by Jesus’ divine virtue signifies the abundance and excellence of the messianic things associated with the new era that he wants to bring about”.
Koester observes that several writings spoke of an outpouring of divine favour upon Israel, saying that “the mountains shall drip sweet wine, and all the hills shall flow with it” and sometimes connecting abundant wine with the restoration of Davidic rule (Amos 9:11, 13; cf. Joel 3:18; Isaiah 25:6). Jewish traditions associated this outpouring of wine
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with the advent of the messiah (Koester 2003:84). Koester also notes that according to the Law, a ruler was to come from the tribe of Judah: “Binding his foil to the vine and his donkey’s colt to the choice vine, he washes his garments in wine and his robe in the blood of grapes” (Genesis 49:10-11). According to this analysis, the Cana sign was a demonstration of Jesus’ messiahship.
At last, the narrator mentions the presence of a bridegroom who comes at the end of the story and has no active role to play. This is an indication that the story is not about the wedding, but about a crisis miraculously resolved by Jesus at the instigation of his mother. It is not only the host and his guests who benefited from Jesus mother’s shrewdness; even Jesus had his own share, as is indicated in the epilogue.
6.1.5.5 A`. Setting: Jesus, his mother, his brothers and his disciples leave Cana for Capernaum (verses 11-12)
The transformation of water into wine is presented as the first sign. The narrator highlights two points with respect to the significance of the event. First, in performing this sign Jesus revealed his glory. The glory was revealed both in his ability to change water to wine, and also in his grace in providing an abundance of quality wine to spare the bridegroom shame and loss of face (Kruse 2003:93). The revelation of Jesus’ glory is explicitly presented as the ultimate result of this sign. Feuillet argues that in the Cana event, attention is not on the miraculous character of the change of water into wine but the unique role prophetically assigned to Jesus in the history of salvation, and the subsequent manifestation of his divine glory (Feuillet 1986:365).
Second, the disciples put their faith in him (verse 11). The sign that the disciples saw was part of what had been earlier referred to as “greater things” (1:50). The story mentions or implies the presence of many people who witnessed the sign, but a in the prologue where only the disciples are mentioned alongside Jesus and his mother, in the epilogue, only the disciples are reported to believe. This is probably because they are those who were with him from the beginning as appointed witnesses of his glory (cf. 15:27). The narrator locates the Cana sign in the context of the call of the disciples. By emphasizing the
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reaction of belief on the part of the disciples, the evangelist shows that he has not forgotten the theme of evolving discipleship that was elaborated in chapter 1, which focuses on living out the message of the new community. The new community is not dominated by kinship and blood ties; Jesus then at the Cana wedding is starting to create a new community of faith. At the end of the narrative, the mother is mentioned in the company of the disciples whose faith she has contributed to strengthen (verse 12), thus participating in building up a new community of believers. After the transcendence of kinship and blood ties, she became part of a wider community which is not based on human ties. The story ends with the main actors leaving the venue now accompanied by Jesus’ brothers. They are going to Capernaum (verse 12).