‘Do whatever he tells you’ (Jn 2:5) — Mary and the Ministry of Mediation
– ‘Do whatever he tells you’ (Jn 2:5) — the enormous authority of an insider as seen in the action of the mother of Jesus
Unarguably, save for Jesus himself, the most suited person for the ministry of mediation between God and his people, is the Virgin Mary — the mother of Jesus. Also, unarguably, the best expression of the what it means to be an insider and of what authority an insider can possess, is found in the event or the sign of the transformation water into wine by Jesus, at the wedding banquet at Cana, as recorded in the second chapter of the fourth Gospel. It was a miracle made possible by the exercise of the ‘ministry’ of an insider. The insider, in this instance is the mother of Jesus herself — the closest of the insiders. Therefore, we shall briefly examine the details of the sign of water-made-wine, with the intention of drawing from it two principal lessons:
1) in general — the role or ministry and capacity or influence of an insider
2) in particular — the stature and audacity of Mary as an insider with Jesus
However, since our principal interest is the person of Mary and the power of the Marian connection, we shall prioritize the role of the mother of Jesus and attempt to show how she is the best of the insiders in the life of Jesus, our greatest insider in heaven and our utmost ‘connection’ to God. We shall attempt to show how in the event of the miracle at Cana, providence was giving us clues about the privilege of having Mary as a natural insider, a legitimate insider and a bounteous, magnanimous insider in the mystery of the Christ and indeed about the unparalleled prerogatives of the theotokos.
– The first sign by Jesus was a Marian miracle
For our purpose, a general analysis of the actions of the mother of Jesus during the wedding banquet at Cana in Galilee, clearly shows the authority of an insider — and particularly, one who is willing to let other people leverage her privileged position and knowledge, to their advantage, even without their asking of it or knowing of it. But one area that brings out the potence of this ‘insiderness’ or ‘insider-potence’ which the Virgin Mary exhibits here, is what she said to the servants or waiters who provided stewardship during the banquet. However, let us reread the ten-verse narrative of the Galilean wedding banquet that became a spectacular event of a phenomenal miracle. Let’s reread it looking out for how an insider in the life of Jesus, named Virgin Mary, leveraging on her knowledge of the powers of Jesus and her close acquaintance with him, brought about a biblical-historical event that not only announced the arrival of the Messiah, but also announced the mediatory and intercessory prowess of the Marian insider. The entire pericope reads:
“On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 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.” Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so, they filled them to the brim. Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.” They did so, and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.” (Jn 2:1–10)
Viewed from all perspectives of its literary presentation, it can only take a well-acquainted insider, that also wields enormous influence on the miracle-worker, the sign-giver, to make such a miracle come about. It can even be said that, it can only take Mary and Joseph — the parents of Jesus — who the only true inner insiders of the life of Jesus at this point, to cause such miracle.
Therefore, the first miracle of Jesus, according to the fourth Gospel, in the facts of its making, is a Marian miracle — that is, a miracle wrought by the Virgin Mary. Mary is the efficient cause of the water-to-wine miracle. It is so, furthermore, because of the centrality of the Virgin Mary in the entire narrative, the entire event and in the miracle itself. The first Johannine sign was certainly wrought by the power of Jesus, the Messiah, but it was predicated on the maternal solicitude of Mary — when she observed that there was no more wine; on her intercession — when she approached and appealed to her son for a miracle; on her informed faith — when she did not misregard the responses of Jesus; and on her discretion — when her circumspection led her to instruct the stewards of the banquet ahead of the directives they would receive from Jesus. It was the mother of Jesus who desired this miracle, prayed for it, worked for it, protected it and obtained it.
– Only the mother of Jesus can explain this to us
It is only the Virgin Mary — and of course, her divine son — can explain what actually happened — how water became wine and from whence came this ‘better’ wine. The Bridegroom and the groom cannot! The Guests cannot! The servants cannot do so fully! Nor can the apostles or companions of Jesus. No one person or group can explain what happened and how and why it happened, excerpt the Virgin Mary. This is an example of many things about Jesus’ life and mystery that only his mother can explain. There are things she knows about her son Jesus that no one else knows and no one else can ever know (and by the way, this is why I disapprove of the American song ‘Mary did You Know’, written by Mark Alan Lowry and song by Jordan Mackenzie Smith, which insinuates that Mary, the mother of Jesus was an outsider to the marvels, ministry and mystery of the life of Jesus). Jesus’ turning of water into wine is a Marian miracle, to the extent that, it was the Virgin Mary that saw the need for it, initiated it, prayed to her son for it and prepared the stewards of the banquet for it — precluding every possible human obstacle.
The Virgin Mary’s insider knowledge of Jesus enabled her to preclude every seeming obstacle to the miracle. The first such apparent or possible obstacle would have been the reactions or responses of Jesus to her: ‘Woman, why do you involve me’ and ‘My hour has not yet come’. An outsider to Jesus would have given up, counting these responses as refusal. But as an insider, Mary knows the mind of her son. She knows what her son would do! She also knows her own standing and authority before her son. She knows the weight that her prayers before her son. She knows the prerogatives of the intercessory powers that her son has granted. Surprisingly, to the outsider. She did not give when Jesus said ‘My hour has not yet come’. Perhaps or rather certainly, she knew the standards of God operations. She knew that if she asks, she would receive, if she seeks, she shall find and if she ever knocked, her son would open the door. (Mt 7:7)
Perhaps, also, she has seen Jesus do the same miracle in their home in Nazareth. So, she proceeded to also preclude the second possible obstacle for the servants who do not know who Jesus is. As an insider, she knew the action of Jesus may surprise them, so, she went and instructed them ahead of time, ‘Do whatever he tells you’. She was like warning them: don’t doubt him, don’t question him, don’t ignore him. Just do anything he says! This was how the Blessed Virgin Mary obtained the miracle of the changing of water into wine! But, indeed, what the Blessed Virgin Mary exhibited was the authority that comes from conviction, the certainty that arises out of immutable knowledge. It is the audacity of an insider. Not everyone has it. Only an insider. Maybe, only the Holy Virgin, alone. Maybe!
– More on the power of the Virgin Mary as an insider
In trying to understand and explain the Marian instruction “Do whatever he tells you”, the first thing to point out is that: the Virgin Mary remains at the centre of action, but now the context is no longer between Mary and Jesus or between Mary and the wedding couple, the context is now, between Mary and the servants, the stewards of the banquet — and it is at this point that her insider-authority in the mystery of Jesus, the audacity of her acquaintance with Jesus, comes to full expression. When Mary noticed that the couple had no more wine to serve and the wedding guests had no more wine to drink, the context of action, was between her and the wedding spouses; when she said to Jesus ‘they have no more wine’, the context of engagement was between her and her son; but when she says ‘do whatever he tell you’, the context has shifted to the stewards of the banquet. This trajectory helps us to grasp the wholistic context which confers enormous power of influence on an insider — in this case the Virgin Mary. An insider is one who fully understands the whole contexts of action as well as the peculiarities of all the actors and who is able to engage all of them to the point of a beneficial outcome. The Marian insider is of significant influence, because she has lived the human condition and has experienced the dynamics of the divine one. It is thus that she acted in favour of the wedding couple — and towards the responses of Jesus — in a manner surprising to the outsider, ordinary people.
A good way to understand the enormous power of an insider — the Marian Insider — is to analyse the meaning and implications of the action of the Virgin Mary, in that particular instance when she said to the servants ‘Do whatever He tells you’. Using this text, let us therefore, talk about the Blessed Virgin Mary vis-à-vis the power of an insider. To achieve this, let us break down the scenario into smaller, simpler nuggets of implication and meaning:
· The Virgin Mary knows her son and what her Son can do
· The Virgin Mary knows that the servants do not really know her son
· The Virgin Mary understands her son and also understands the servants
· The Virgin Mary act to become a bridge between her son and the servants
– Leveraging on acquaintance — the first task of an insider
The Virgin Mary could only have arrived at the level of certainty which informed the audacity of asking Jesus to turn water into wine, on account of her ‘insiderness’ or close acquaintance and deep connection with the person and mystery of Jesus Christ. Having lived with him and related with him as son and mother, for a historical thirty years, the Virgin Mary, for certainty, knows and understands Jesus, better than anyone else; and perhaps better than anyone else can ever do. This profound knowledge of the person, powers and procedures of Jesus, is implicated conspicuously in this narrative. At least at this point — the beginning of his public ministry according to the fourth Gospel — no one else but Mary knew that Jesus could turn water into wine. Like the other guests, Jesus was sitting in the banquet hall. But no one knew that he can cause them to drink and better wine. Mary was the only insider to Jesus, who knew that if an appeal is made to ‘this man here’, a sweeter wine can be gotten. Only Mary, an insider, knew this and only her knew how to go about it and bring it into reality. People may have Jesus with them, but yet may not know what he can do for them. Here, the Marian insider becomes very important for us.
– Handling third party factors — the second task of an insider
The second role which the Virgin Mary played in the making of the water-into-wine miracle — and which also explains the second role of the heavenly insider, the Marian insider — is her interface with the stewards of the banquet. Recall that the stewards of the banquet are third parties in this event — they are not the wedding couple, who needs the miracle, they are not Christ, who performs the miracle. But they are an important third party, necessary for achieving the desired success. Knowing the situation of human limitations, the Virgin Mary, knew that the servants may not understand Jesus and so, may ignore his directives. The Virgin Mary’s that Jesus is God and he can make water become wine. The stewards do not know who Jesus is and may not know that he can make wine out of water. So, the Virgin Mary, the Jesus insider, moves to avoid this situation. She bridges the knowledge gap understanding deficit between Jesus and the stewards. In this way, the Virgin Mary, put both parties on the same page, and so prepared the ground necessary for the miracle.
We see here an important duty of the heavenly insider -such as the Virgin Mary. The heavenly insider, not only intervenes on our behalf before God, but also intervenes on our behalf with other third-party factors that could hinder our blessing, our desires, our prayers or our encounter with God. The Virgin Mary proved this, when, after appealing to Jesus for a miracle, also went to the stewards to instruct them on what to do. If she had not instructed them before hand, they could obstruct the miracle: either by refusing to fill the ritual jars with water or by refusing to draw water from the washing and taking the risk of going to give the chairman of the occasion water in the name of wine. But they obeyed and filled the jars with water to the brim and also took the risk giving the water to the chief guest, because Mary prepared them ahead of time. There are many third-party factors that hinder or affect our brayers or blessing or desire to encounter God, which we do not see or know. Worse still, many of such third factors, even when we know of them, we may not know how best to deal with them, as to preclude their becoming obstacles or accusations, against us, before God. But if we have the aid of a heavenly insider, a Jesus insider — such as the Marian Insider — then we can be sure to overcome them, leveraging and leaning on the help of the insider.
– Bridge-building and interfacing — the exigency of an insider
A heavenly insider is like an efficient cause between people’s desires and the creative or causative power of God. A heavenly insider serves as a linking agency between people, the dynamics of their particular needs or requests and the power of God. A heavenly insider is a bridge-builder that links and reconciles all requisite factors in order to achieve the quickest and the utmost divine intervention in a given situation or need. A heavenly insider helps achieve an interface between the one in need, the one who resolves the need the procedures of engagement. An insider is necessary because he creates an intervention, an interchange, an interaction, an integration, an intersection, an intermediation, an interconnection, an intersession or liaison that best achieves our desire for or encounter with God or our needs. The privileged acquaintance and cumulative knowledge of an insider, like the eagle eye of hindsight, positions and equips the heavenly insider for more effective mediation and better results for the faithful of Christ.
Just as she was the bridge between divinity and humanity that made the incarnation of God possible, so too, the Virgin Mary was the bridge that connected all the necessary factors for the miracle of the wedding banquet at Cana. It was her interface with all requisite parties that reconciled the various dynamics needed to effectuate the miracle at Cana. Not only did she prompt them, she also propitiated the necessary factors and persons, that worked together in the changing of water into wine. This particulars and details of this miracle put together, give us a mirror of the role of what we have called the heavenly insider. Also, in a somewhat combination of both providentiality and purposefulness, coincidence and calculation, they reveal to us the person and the powers of the Marian insider. The proceedings of the first sign of the fourth gospel, the water-to-wine miracle, is a pattern, an ideal, a benchmark, of the Marian Connection.
Michael Richmond Duru
24th May 2022
https://michaelrichmondduru.medium.com/subscribe
