THE WEDDING AT CANA:
The next story that includes
Jesus and his mother is that of the Wedding at Cana.
The part that
is pertinent is what Jesus replies to Mary after she tells Jesus there
is
no more wine left. It appears she wants him to solve the problem.
Most likely she
has already become aware of his divine powers, and
is urging him to "go public."
But Jesus appears to rebuke her sharply.
Let's read the story first:
"And the third day there was a marriage
in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus
was there: And both Jesus
was called, and his disciples, to the marriage. And when
they wanted
wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine. Jesus
saith
unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not
yet come. His mother
saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith
unto you, do it. And there were set there
six waterpots of stone,
after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or
three
firkins apiece. Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water.
And they
filled them up to the brim. And he saith unto them, Draw
out now, and bear unto the
governor of the feast. And they bare it.
When the ruler of the feast had tasted the
water that was made wine,
and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which
drew the water
knew;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom, And saith
unto
him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and
when men have well
drunk, then that which is worse; but thou hast
kept the good wine until now. This
beginning of miracles did Jesus
in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory;
and his disciples
believed on him." (John 2:1-11)
It appears from this translation in
the King James Version of the Bible, that Jesus
spoke rather rudely
to his mother -- it doesn't sound as if he "honored" her very
well.
What are we to make of this? Was Jesus disobeying the Fifth Commandment?
Thank goodness for Bible scholars. Once again I turn to my current
favorite,
William Barclay, for his commentary on this passage:
"The
Authorized Version translation of Jesus' reply makes it sound very
discourteous.
It makes him say: 'Woman, what have I to do with thee?'
That is indeed a translation
of the
words, but it does not in any
way give the
tone. . . . The phrase, 'What have I
to do with you?'
was a common conversational phrase. When it was uttered angrily
and
sharply it did indicate complete disagreement and reproach, but when
it was
spoken gently it indicated not so much reproach but misunderstanding.
It means:
'Don't worry; you don't quite understand what is going on;
leave things to me, and I
will settle them in my own way.' Jesus was
simply telling Mary to leave things to
him, that he would have his
own way of dealing with the situation. . . . The word
'woman (
gunai)'
is also misleading. It sounds to us very rough and abrupt. But it
is
the same word that Jesus used on the cross to address Mary as he
left her to the care
of John. In Homer, it is the title by which Odysseus
addresses Penelope, his well-
loved wife. It is the title by which
Augustus, the Roman emperor, addressed Cleo-
patra, the famous Egyptian
queen. So far from being a rough and discourteous way
of address,
it was a title of respect. We have no way of speaking in English which
exactly renders it; but it is better to translate it
lady, which gives
at least the
courtesy in it." (WB,
The Gospel of John, pages 114-115)
There are a number of insights to be found in this episode at Cana.
Give thought to
what must have gone on in the life of Jesus before
his public ministry that would
cause his mother to turn to Jesus to
solve the problem of the lack of wine. How
many "miracles" had Mary
already witnessed? Had Jesus been timid about using this
power in
public? Is this why it appears Mary may have felt a need to push him
into
action? Is this a quality of true motherhood, that of "leading"
children; or was there
a false sense of motherhood, that of anxious
ambition or pushiness? These could be
questions to ask in Sunday School
to get a discussion started on "honoring" mother-
hood.
With this
episode in mind, Mary Baker Eddy writes in
Science and Health: "May
Christ, Truth, be present at every bridal altar to turn the water
into wine and to give
to human life an inspiration by which man's
spiritual and eternal existence may be
discerned." (S&H, pg. 65)
It was Mary's purity and spirituality which enabled her to first discern
the Christ,
and so perhaps it was natural for her to want others to
share in this inspiration? That
discernment and conception of our
true spiritual nature should always be honored
wherever found and
shared.
JESUS HONORS TRUE KINSHIP:
We read the following episode in
Matthew 12:46-50: "While he yet talked to the
people, behold, his
mother and his brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him.
Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand
without, desiring
to speak with thee. But he answered and said unto
him that told him, Who is my
mother? and who are my brethren? And
he stretched forth his hand toward his
disciples, and said, Behold
my mother and my brethren! For whosoever shall do the
will of my Father
which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother."
That story is also briefly related in Mark 3:31-35 and Luke 8:19-21.
Taken out of
context from the rest of Jesus' teachings and life, it
might appear from these verses that
Jesus was being disrespectful
of his mother, and, therefore, was not honoring her
according to the
Fifth Commandment. But we know from his other actions and state-
ments
that he loved Mary, and he urged others to fulfill their duties to
their parents,
except when there is a clear conflict with performing
our duty to God. In the instance
above, Jesus is showing us the spirit
of true kinship -- that when we share common
interests, experience,
goals, and obedience with others, we can rightly call them
family.
Note, he does not offer the term "father" to such kinsmen; that term
was
reserved only for God.
In a similar vein, we read later in Mark
10:28-31: "Then Peter began to say unto him,
Lo, we have left all,
and have followed thee. And Jesus answered and said, Verily I
say
unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters,
or father, or
mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake,
and the gospel's, but he shall
receive an hundredfold now in this
time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and
mothers, and children,
and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal
life."
Again, would it be breaking the Fifth Commandment to walk away from
our respon-
sibilities of caring for our family, including, perhaps,
a needy father or mother, for the
sake of following Jesus and his
"good news"? Why would Jesus say this, if it appears
to be in disobedience
to God's law? In this story, what Peter wanted to know was
whether
or not he and the other disciples who had left their homes and jobs
to follow
Jesus, would receive any kind of reward for their sacrifice.
Jesus is telling him that,
yes, they would receive much more, albeit
with persecutions. It is true that when God
directs us into new paths,
our family members may not be ready to come along with
us, or are
not able to walk at our speed. They may be vehemently opposed to our
new
religious beliefs. Therefore, a separation may be necessary --
either mentally or
physically. But, Jesus is not telling us here to
abandon our legal and moral duties.
This is another example to show
that while our legal and biological families may
reject us for our
religious beliefs, we have a family in Christ to turn to, and we will
not lose anything needful, but gain "an hundredfold" now and in eternal
life.
In Christian Science, where we learn that
consciousness is really
"our world," the
above statement of Jesus can also be seen as saying
we should not be afraid of giving
up our old beliefs that we have
been living with. We must have the courage to let go
of any long ties
to false systems, material beliefs, superstitions, beliefs in heredity
or traditions, etc. By letting go former beliefs, and trading them
for the further
enlightenment that comes with the appearance of Christ,
Truth, we can fully expect
to be well compensated for our sacrifice.
With regard to "honoring our father and
our mother," why not take
time, especially when friction occurs, to re-evaluate your
beliefs
about fatherhood, motherhood, and "sonship." Letting go of the false
sense of
our relationships can bring a new sense of freedom and make
room for God to take
a greater role in our lives.
The Book of Luke
also shows us Jesus reminding his followers that the Christ may
cause
divisions in families: "Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on
earth? I
tell you, Nay; but rather division: For from henceforth there
shall be five in one
house divided, three against two, and two against
three. The father shall be divided
against the son, and the son against
the father; the mother against the daughter, and the
daughter against
the mother; the mother in law against her daughter in law, and the
daughter in law against her mother in law." (Luke 12:51-53)
On the
road to Jerusalem, Jesus said something similar to the above: "And
there
went great multitudes with him: and he turned, and said unto
them, If any man come to
me, and hate not his father, and mother,
and wife, and children, and brethren, and
sisters, yea, and his own
life also, he cannot be my disciple." (Luke 14:25-26)
William Barclay
comments on the latter episode: "We must not take his words with
cold
and unimaginative literalness. Eastern language is always as vivid
as the human
mind can make it. When Jesus tells us to hate our nearest
and dearest, he does not
mean that literally. He means that no love
in life can compare with the love we must
bear to him." (WB,
The Gospel
of Luke, pg. 196)
It is also possible that Jesus is saying we must
let go of a false, mortal sense of family
before we can understand
his spiritual teachings. That false sense is what is meant to
be hated
and rejected -- not our brothers and sisters in Christ.
I like the
explanation given by Mary Baker Eddy, as recorded in the
Notes on
the
Course in Divinity on February 16, 1904: "The Bible says, 'Honor
thy father and thy
mother that thy days may be long,' etc; then when
it says, Luke 14:26, 'If any man come
to me, and hate not his father
and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and
sisters, yea,
and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.' This would look
like a
direct contradiction of the words just quoted but is not; after
we have honored our
father and mother, then comes the next step --
forsaking the flesh for Christ."
It is that sense of "flesh," as opposed
to Spirit, that is to be hated and forsake. But,
we lose nothing real
or permanent.
Click here to continue with the Fifth Commandment
