CHAPTER 6. DISTANTIATION: THE EXEGETICAL MOVE ON THE SELECTED TEXTS IN JOHN
6.1 Jesus’ mother at the Cana wedding: John 2:1-12
6.1.6 Jesus’ mother at Cana (John 2:1-11) and at the cross (John 19:25-29)
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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).
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mother of the new community. Carson describes the change of relationship initiated by Jesus at the cross in the following words:
In John 2:11, Mary approaches Jesus as a mother and is somewhat rebuffed. If she demonstrates the first signs of faith, it must be the faith of a disciple, not a mother. Here she stands near the cross with other disciples, and once she has assumed that stance she may be again assigned a role as a mother – but not as mother of Jesus, but of another fellow-disciple (Carson 1991:618).
Different suggestions have been made about the symbolic theological significance of this relationship. These include the perception of the woman and the Beloved Disciple as representative of male and female unity in the Johannine community, an indication of Jesus’ success in bringing together bonds of blood and faith in a single unity. Howard- Brook estimates that Jesus uses the power of the cross to form new relationships (Howard-Brook 1994:422). So in changing the relationship that the mother and the Beloved Disciple have to one another, Jesus is completing the formation of the community which is seen to be a new family. It is only at this point that he drinks the wine and having received the wine, he said, “It is accomplished, tetelestai” (19:27).
The theological importance of Jesus’ entrusting his mother to a disciple rather than to unbelieving siblings fits well with the Synoptic tradition also (see Mark 3:33-35). This model suggests that the ties of the believing community must be stronger than natural familial bonds (Keener 2003:1145). Earlier Jesus’ mother attempted to take an active part before the decisive hour on the ground of her blood relations with Jesus, but she was rebuked for this. Now she is invited to take an active part in the new community where faith rather than blood relationship matters. Her efforts at restoring harmony at Cana were flawed by her reliance on blood relationship. In the new community she can be part of a more harmonious society where subjective considerations are overcome. The characterization of Jesus’ mother in the Gospel of John offers some ground for reflection on the issue of women’s contribution in solving conflicts and restoring harmony in the society.
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6.1.6.1 Women’s involvement in conflict resolution: insights from Jesus’ mother The characterization of Jesus’ mother, especially in the Cana story, hints at some strengths, limitations and challenges, with respect to women’s involvement in the restoration of harmony in their communities. Despite her underlined difficulties concerning blood kinship (John 1:12), Jesus’ mother displayed potential to help in resolving crises. Her willingness to transcend these ties and act as a bridge-builder enables Jesus to begin establishing the new community built on faith, the new fictive kinship, between her and the Beloved Disciple at the cross. This is the moment of his
“glory” when his hour has come and he drinks the sow wine on the cross, bows his head and “hands over the spirit” (paredwken to pneuma) – which could simply mean, “he died”, but in the context it implies much more (19:30).
6.1.6.1.1 Women’s potentialities in solving crises: awareness of the problem
In the Cana story, the mother of Jesus reports the crisis to the one she believes could solve it. She knows about the problem long before those who were supposed to be in charge, namely, the bridegroom and the master of the feast, become aware of it. This is in keeping with daily experience that confirms women’s ability to gain access to information and to share it. In the context of the Cana story, it can be noted that the servants were in a good position to know about the shortage of wine. Therefore, it can be assumed that it was very easy for this information to reach the master of the feast who supervised them. Soon or later, this man who was directly concerned was to be informed.
But before this happened, a woman knew about the crisis and initiated its solution.
For any crisis to be solved it needs to be identified. Jesus’ mother’s role in this story is mainly preventing a crisis from developing into an open cause for shame and feuding between the newly connected families. Women may face challenges preventing them from actively participating in conflict resolution in their communities, but generally they can at least notice the problem and report it as a first step. The capacity to be aware of the problem at its lower stage helps to deal with it before it causes a great deal of damage. As seen above in the chapter on theories of conflict resolution, any conflict is better understood when it is seen within its social setting at its lower stage. Thus, women’s
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awareness of the problem before its spreads in the community agrees with Vlassenroot’s opinion that the context of the conflict helps to appreciate its roots and to understand why and how people turn to it (Vlassenroot 2006:49). The mother of Jesus used that capacity and became a mediator in resolving the crisis at Cana.62
It is noticed above that Jesus’ mother was the first person to notice the threatening problem of the shortage of wine. The narrator does not say how she knew about that the situation of crisis. The focus is on the way she became instrumental in overcoming the problem. Being aware of the threatening crisis, she tried to use her influence based on her relationship with Jesus, but he disapproved of such kind of influence based on kinship.
His address to her as gunai opened her eyes to another kind of relationship, which is faith. Her willingness to comply with the ideas of transcending the influence motivated 6.1.6.1.2 Women’s potentialities in solving crises: women’s influence
In the case of the Cana story, Jesus’ mother might have appeared powerless in the presence of the crisis. But she resolved to attempt to approach someone one she believed to be in a position to do something. Women are seen to be less physically strong as men, sometimes they do not hold positions of power, but they still have ability to influence the decisions of men around them. The Bible is replete with stories of women who managed to influence the decisions of men, some for noble causes, and others for selfish motives.
The power of women’s influence over men around them is still a reality today. That influence can be used to promote harmony in the community. Jesus’ mother was certainly aware of the power of her influence on the one who had authority to accomplish what she could not do. But she was rebuked for such an approach and was encouraged to adopt another way, moving beyond the exercise of influence based on blood relationship. Jesus then revisited his consideration and honoured her request.
6.1.6.1.3 The transcendence of kinship and blood ties: Jesus’ mother at the foot of the cross
62 More details about the importance of women’s faculty of awareness of the problem at its lower level in their community will be elaborated in the next chapter during the appropriation phase.
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by human ties meant she could help to prevent conflict at the wedding, saving the hosting family and the new couple from public shame. The influence based on blood relationship was rejected because of its narrow range, which produces a very narrow result. As seen above with Rwandan culture, women exercise influence over their sons and husbands but when the conflict expands to the level of involving the whole community or the country as a whole, the results of the mother/wife’s influence are insignificant. Jesus wanted to promote a kind of influence from his mother which would help a wider range of people.
At the foot of the cross, Jesus confirmed his emphasis on the transcendence of blood ties and kinship as an effective tool for conflict resolution. Ignoring his blood siblings, he confided his mother to the sibling connected to the mother and to Jesus by faith (John 19:27), “ei=ta le,gei tw/| maqhth/|\ i;de h` mh,thr souÅ kai. avpV evkei,nhj th/j w[raj e;laben o`
maqhth.j auvth.n eivj ta. i;dia”. The author emphasizes the act of the disciple that he took her into his own, eivj ta. i;dia. This phrase may refer to the disciples own ‘people’, not necessarily to his own ‘house’ as it is translated. Since that time, Jesus’ mother became part of the other community, which may be referred to as the community of faith that the disciple is representing. In that wider community, the role of Jesus’ mother will be even greater; her influence is no longer limited to her blood relationships. She then fulfils Jesus’ wish of transcending the narrow sphere of blood ties and kinship. In this respect, Jesus’ mother mirrors the situation of many contemporary women whose role of peacemaking and reconciliation is limited because of focusing on the narrow community of their kinships. The ability to transcend the blood relationship is required for the expansion of their contribution to peace-building and reconciliation in the wider sphere of their communities and nations.