John 2 v 3-5
When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.” “Woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”
I think this is one of the weirdest exchanges in the Bible. Their is no tenderness from Jesus to His mother. Unlike the end of John, where Jesus is dying on the Cross and asks John to look after Mary.
In fact, in the exchange at the wedding, Jesus is quite rude to Mary, by calling her Woman rather than mother.
A Common Interpretation
A common way of understanding this story is that Mary notices the wine has run out. She then petitions Jesus to solve the problem. He initially says ‘No’, but Mary ignores this and tells the servants to listen to Him and do what He says. Jesus then obeys His mother.
I find this strange as Jesus is obeying His mother over His own will. She appears to ignore His authority.
So as Jesus is God, we have a situation where God is submitting Himself to the authority of a human.
A Different View
A different interpretation is to view this as a rerun of the temptation in the Garden of Eden.
Mary felt compassion for the wedding party. She knew Jesus could help. She asks Him to intervene.
He responds with the phrase, ‘What has this got to do with us, Woman’. This language reminds me of the temptation of Adam and Eve. Where Adam complains to God about the ‘Woman’ God gave him.
Genesis 3 v 11-12
And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”
Whereas Adam succumbed to Eve’s request to eat the fruit of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, Jesus does not respond in the same way to Mary.
If Adam and Eve had successfully resisted the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and trusted God rather than their own desires, they would then be ready to approach and eat from the fruit from the Tree of Life.
They failed, and had to leave the Garden.
At the Wedding of Cana, Jesus resists listening to Mary. He sticks with His/God’s plan to not reveal Himself yet.
Mary recognises His authority and tells the servants to do anything He says. This was not Mary overriding Christ’s authority, but accepting her position as subordinate to Him, even though she was His parent.
Jesus then chooses to bless the wedding party and addresses their problem. He did this in secret. He did not have to provide more wine, but He showed abundant grace to them.
I need to make it clear, Mary was not tempting Jesus like Eve tempted Adam. Mary was clearly acting out of compassion. Eve, however, was acting out of selfishness.
Adam Resisted, But Eve Did Not
This is an interesting ‘What If?’.
What if Adam did not succumb to Eve’s request to eat the fruit and stayed within God’s will? How would have God and Adam reacted?
We see in Scripture how God dealt with His wayward wife, Israel. He continually showed compassion to her, hoping she would remain faithful. Would this have been Adam and Eve’s future? Would Adam have continued to love Eve and she would have continued to disappoint him and fall short of his expectations. And what of their children too? Would they have stayed faithful to God.
We see in Christ, how He sacrificed Himself to pay the bride price for the Church. Would Adam have been expected to die for His wife, in order to redeem her?
All of these are overwhelmingly excellent and I am grateful for your excellent work. I am especially pleased that you and Hugh Hunter are collaborating--you are two of my absolute favorite newsletters on this platform.
Your hypothetical at the end is very interesting! I will offer my own take on it, worth as much as you paid for it. It is good food for thought.
Adam and Eve are one flesh--"bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh," I think is the language used, and is repeated later when referring to a Kings relationship to his people. It is not one of a crushing authority, but of family--they are one flesh. God takes this to the next level with the incarnation, forming both a human/fleshy bond with his creation, but also a family relationship through Mary.
So I don't think it is possible for Eve to succumb and Adam resist--they are one flesh, Eve's temptation is a type of temptation of Adam, and if roles were reversed the outcome would have been the same because Adam and Eve are made of the same weak flesh susceptible to temptation. This is mirrored in the sovereignty aspect of "bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh"--we get the Kings we deserve, who reflect the nature of the people. A virtuous people would not elevate a vicious King, and vice versa.
So Adam turning to God and saying "Yeah, but my woman, whom you gave me, SHE was the one who was weak, not me!"--sin has caused division in his marriage to Eve, and now he blames her rather than accepting fault with her as a unit of one. Neither Adam nor Eve take responsibility for their sin--which shows their sacramental unity even as they are united in something disordered.
Just some thoughts--thank you as always for this theologically meaty and interesting article. God bless you!
"Would Adam have continued to love Eve and she would have continued to disappoint him and fall short of his expectations."
Good Question. I look to the last Adam (1 Cor 15) to give me His love even though I disappoint Him and fall WAY short of His expectations. If the first Adam did what the last one did/does, then we wouldn't know the last Adam in this way, I do not think.
As always, keep up the good work.