Mary's Role in Heaven as Seen in John 2

 

The Catholic Church focuses a great deal on Mary.  There are a number of specifically Marian doctrines and Marian practices taught and held by the Church.  This area of Catholicism is most often the one which is causes Protestants the most discomfort.  Such a strong emphasis on Jesus’ mother, along with doctrines like the Immaculate Conception, the Assumption, perpetual virginity, and Mary’s role as Advocate, Co-Redemptrix, Mediatrix, and Queen of Heaven are very unsettling to many.  These are all important concerns to address.  However, it is in this case, as it so often is, easier to understand the specifics by first coming to a general understanding of the topic.  In this case, John provides one particular insight into Mary’s role which, while not addressing any specific doctrines (except perhaps that of her role as Mediatrix), is helpful in understandings the Church’s  emphasis on her in general.  John 2:1-11 reads:

On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there.  Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples. When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him,  "They have no wine." And Jesus said to her, "Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come." His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you." Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, "Fill the jars with water." And they filled them up to the brim. And he said to them, "Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast." So they took it. When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him, "Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now." This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.

There are several very key points here. First, note how it begins:

On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples.(1-2)

John introduces this scene by placing the emphasis on Mary. He sets the scene by indicating the occurrence of the wedding and that Mary is there. Then he says, "Jesus was also invited," as though it were an afterthought. This of course does not mean that Jesus is not important, yet the apostle does begin by making certain that the reader is paying attention to Mary. In general, readers are naturally inclined to focus upon Jesus, and the fact is that Jesus is prominent in this passage as well would only further this inclination; without this unusual introduction, Mary would simply receive little notice here. However, John wants to make sure there is attention on her by immediately putting her in the forefront in the beginning before the narrative does move the focus to Christ. This way the reader will not pass her over, whereas if it began by saying "On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and Jesus was there. His mother was there also," Mary would fall into the background too quickly and the reader would not pay any attention to her.  There is something happening here with Mary that John wants to make sure is not missed.

After this introduction, Mary intercedes for the wedding guests so that Jesus will grant them something, which ends up being wine. At a minimum, this passage depicts us Mary in an intercessory role.  However,  there is something far more interesting about this passage. Returning for a moment to John chapter 1, a summary is given of Christ’s calling the apostles. It is not as thorough as the other gospel’s provide, but John wishes to convey in these verses that Christ is beginning to build His kingdom. The last line of John chapter 1 says:

And he said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man."(1:51)

There are no chapter divisions in the Scriptures themselves.  They were added later on by monks for the sake of easy reference.  Thus, immediately after recording Jesus saying "you will see heaven opened," in this verse, John writes in the first verse of chapter 2, "On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there."  In other words, John writes that the kingdom of Heaven will be opened, then moves to discussing a wedding on the third day.  The profoundness of this is difficult to overemphasize.  Again and again and again Heaven is described by Jesus as a wedding.  John, who wrote this very passage, uses the image of a wedding in Revelation where he describes Heaven as the "marriage supper of the lamb." What’s more, Heaven was opened to all believers on the third day after the crucifixion.  If, then, the passage is read as a whole, John describes Jesus building His kingdom, then writes that Heaven will be seen opened up and proceeds to describe was a wedding on the third day. This happens to be the only wedding in the entire New Testament, a New Testament filled with the use of weddings as images of Heaven. The wedding at Cana is yet another depiction of Heaven, this time as a tangible and real example as opposed to a mere parable. The beginning of John’s gospel is a description of Christ building His kingdom before opening Heaven on the third day in and bringing His disciples there.

Going further back in John, to the beginning of the gospel, it seen that John begins his gospel by paralleling Genesis 1:1, when he says, "In the beginning..." He then describes the creation, saying, "all things were made through him..." He then mentions the Mosaic Covenant, saying "For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ."(17) He then mentions Isaiah and John the Baptist, two of the prophets, when he quotes John saying, "He said, "I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, 'Make straight the way of the Lord,' as the prophet Isaiah said."(23) John the prophet is leading the way to Christ. Then Jesus appears as the apostle declares "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" (29) Finally, John mentions the coming of the Holy Spirit in verse 32. After this Jesus gathers disciples, points to the opening of Heaven, and attends a wedding feast on the third day.

Thus, in the first chapter of his gospel, John summarizes:

1) The Creation
2) The Law
3) The Prophets
4) The coming of Christ (the Nativity)
5) The descent of the Holy Spirit (Pentecost)
6) The Building of Jesus' Kingdom

John is paralleling his account to the entire history of the world. At the end of this history, he says Heaven will be seen opened and describes a wedding on the third day.  It is worth repeating that the wedding at Cana is the only description of an actual wedding in the New Testament, even though many New Testament authors, Jesus, and John himself frequently use wedding imagery and parables to describe Heaven, and that he presents this immediately following the statement that Heaven will be seen opened, and that he places it on the third day which is the day when Heaven was opened up. There is no question that the wedding at Cana is a description of Heaven.

And in that description, John calls attention to Mary. In that description, Mary intercedes and Christ performs a miracle at her request involving wine, an image which connects directly to the concept of the Eucharist. In this description, the master of the feast rewards the bridegroom because the wine the bridegroom has provided is the good wine, the best wine, wine that is better than the previous wines. This is a description of the Father rewarding the Son for His good blood. This miracle, we are told, manifested Christ's glory.  All of this was prompted by Mary, who interceded for those invited to the wedding.

After this, John introduces a new scene, this time keeping Christ in the forefront by introducing it, “After this he went down to Capernaum, with his mother..." (12) He returns the focus to Jesus after having placed it upon Mary.  The gospel is a gospel of Christ, and attention rightly belongs on Him.  After this, Mary returns to the background for the most part.  On earth, there was not much more for her to do.  However, in Heaven, her role was great.

Of course if you try to take John 1-2 as a literal timetable of the history of the world, it won't work, because He's already shown up in John 1 before Moses and Isaiah and so forth. The point is that John is drawing a parallel, not giving a summary. Many Protestant commentators have also noticed this parallel. The same is true of the wedding. The analogy is not perfect, but Jesus' parables aren't either. Parables and analogies are things which are similar to other things; by their very nature, they are also dissimilar, or else they would be the things they represent, which they are not. 

Nonetheless, it is clear from John’s gospel that Mary’s role in Heaven is significant.  The Church teaches that Mary constantly prays for the graces men receive on earth, a truth depicted beautifully and powerfully by John.  She, as a righteous person made perfect (Heb 12:23), has great power in her prayers (Jam 5:16). Whatever considerations one makes of Mary, beginning by remembering this can lead to greater understanding and appreciation of our mother in Heaven. 

God bless,


Shane Coombs 2006