Cana is the first sign that Saint John presents to us, in the series of signs whose purpose is to teach us to believe: “these signs were written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (cf. Jn 20:30–31). To believe, for him, is to see “the heavens opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.” (Jn 1:51) “The heavens opened,” for John, is the side of Christ opened (John 19), from which flows the “New Wine” (Jn 2:1–11), “the water and the blood” (Jn 19 and 1Jn). Altogether, in his Gospel, Saint John offers us six signs (six jars, Jn 2:1–11), which lead to the great sign, to the opening of the heavens of Christ on the Cross: his opened side (Jn 19). The challenge for us is to “ascend” (Jn 1:51), using “Jacob’s ladder”, to the level of the side of Christ in order to be able to drink of his water and his blood! But how to ascend? How to move from one sign to another?
To believe, to reach a pure faith, capable of rising to the stature of Christ, is in fact to drink from Christ himself, to drink his water and his blood! As we can see, to believe for Saint John is not an act of intellectual assent but the fact of having reached the height of the side of Christ and thus being made capable of drinking “Life”, i.e. his Spirit and the water and the blood: “by believing you have Life in his Name” (Jn 20:31). It is therefore a major issue: to be able to drink of the Divine Life that flows from the side of Christ.
Eve comes from the Side of Adam; the New Eve, every member of the “Body” of Christ (Jn 2:12f), returns to the source, to her point of birth, that is to say, the side of Christ, and drinks from the source.
How then can we ascend so high? How can we attain such purity? How can we progress from one sign to another, from one stage of purification to another, until we reach pure faith?
John names Mary “the mother of Jesus” (Jn 2:1–11). But Jesus himself names Mary: Woman! In fact, he is the new Adam and Mary is the New Eve. Mary is named Woman, Ishsha, because she was taken from Ish (Man). Mary is already the realisation of the new creation, and it is in her image that the new creation takes place. Each of us aspires to become like Mary. Mary is already situated at the level of the opened side of Christ; the heavens are already opened for her! She drinks of the new wine from the very first instant of her creation. But her concern is for her children: “they have no wine” (Jn 2), no new wine! To receive the “new wine,” for us to reach the height of the side of Christ and drink of the new Wine, we must travel an entire path. And Saint John offers us this path.
Mary speaks only once in the Gospel of Saint John, and it is at Cana that she does so. She says: “Whatever he tells you, do it.” In fact, she does not merely say: “Do what he will tell you.” What she says carries a nuance, and this nuance is important. It is an addition that must capture our attention. Indeed, the Greek text of the Gospel says: Ὅ τι ἂν λέγῃ ὑμῖν, ποιήσατε – “Whatever he tells you, do it.” This literally means: “Everything he might tell you, do it.” The little word ἂν with the subjunctive indicates absolute, unconditional openness. Mary does not merely say: “Do what he will say” (which could be understood as: “do what he will say right now”) but: “Do everything he will say to you, whatever it may be, even if it surpasses you.” This nuance, essential in the Greek, is often blunted in translations.
“Whatever he tells you”! In fact, Christ’s command is strange: the servants must prepare water when it is wine that is needed! They are to use jars intended for ablutions, not for drinking (Jn 2:5)! They must fill them to the brim, going to the limit of the absurd or of human reason.
Some exegetes say that Mary’s word is an echo of the Shema Israel: Moses transmits God’s words to us: “Hear, O Israel… You shall love the Lord your God…” (Dt 6:4–5). They see in Mary the figure of faithful Israel, who invites us to an active listening, an obedience of the heart that opens to divine action. They emphasize that this is the type of listening Jesus expects from the disciples: a listening that gives birth to action. What must rather be noted is that Mary’s words – the only ones she will speak, thus rare – are the echo of the words of the Father during the Transfiguration: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Listen to him!” (Mt 17:5) (more literally: “in whom I have found delight”). At Cana, it is neither Moses nor the Father, but Mary! What a mystery! If we go a little deeper, we realise that we are passing from the objective to the subjective. Mary does not give a command as Moses does, who is the transmitter of the Law. Mary does not give a command like the Father who gives his Son. Mary gives herself as an example, as being herself the ladder of faith, as the perfect subject and the ladder that leads up to the height of her Son. The “whatever” is her realm, the realm of pure faith in the words of Christ!
The ladder has steps, and it is this sign and the five that follow which lead us to the opened side of Christ from which flow the water and the blood! Mary’s Faith is the Ladder, her spiritual maternity is the ladder, in her we are purified, transformed by the Holy Spirit, step after step.
Mary offers herself as the perfect example of faith in the words of Christ. She also offers herself as the one who shapes our faith, helping us to reach the summit of the ladder that leads to the side of Christ. In this “whatever” she seems to say to us: do not stop along the way.
Moreover, she embraces and contains all the Words of Christ! This is profound!
She shows that she has the full experience of all the Words of Christ! There is a fullness in Mary. She has known all the Words of Christ! She speaks to us and gives us this instruction knowingly.
She wants to elevate us to her level, not only of purity but also of fullness! She has experienced all the words of Christ! This, at any rate, is how she presents herself in these words: do whatever he tells you. This is not an external instruction she gives us! She communicates something that comes from the very depths of herself, from her constant experience. Her words come from the depths of her experience, from the richness, the measure, the amplitude of her experience of the words of Christ.
She knew him for thirty years. He was subject to her. But she too was subject to him! She learned from him all the Words, all his Words! So when she speaks to us in this way, she is not merely directing us toward Christ, she is inviting us into her own experience of the Words of Christ. This is the paradox. She does not merely point us toward Christ, but toward her plenary experience of Christ, of the Words of Christ! What is astonishing is that she refers us to the Words of Christ as if they were sufficient! As if they encompassed the entire mystery of Christ.
Let us note that, strangely, the goal is not the Words of Christ themselves but what the disciples lack: the Wine, gaining access to the wine, drinking the new wine directly at the source, that is, from the open side of Christ. As if the Words of Christ (which purify, for the text of Cana speaks of the purification of our faith – the jars were for Jewish rites of purification) are meant to lead us to that goal: to drink the new wine! The Words purify, transform, elevate, refine. Putting them into practice purifies, if we believe in them with Mary’s faith. The Words elevate us, step by step, until they bring us to the height of Christ’s side – which is the height of the bride! And there, we drink abundantly of the New Wine, the love of Christ!
It is astonishing to see that the goal of the Gospel of John, in its precise structure, and the goal of Mary’s command are not the Words themselves. And yet they are part of Christ’s very being: every word that Christ gives us is a part of Himself. The Words purify, challenge us, and transform us into Christ, allowing us to ascend and to come and drink from his open side the New Wine of Love, of the Holy Spirit! The Holy Spirit is indeed the New Law of Christ!
All this – and much more – is contained in Mary’s words: do whatever he tells you, all along the way, in order to reach and drink the New Wine from his open side!
We will be shaped by the Words of Christ, in Mary our Mother. We will enter into the immensity of this transformation and rebirth of our being, in Mary. Mary is the heavenly Jerusalem, our Mother, she is Zion: “He has founded it upon the holy mountains. The Lord loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. Glorious things are spoken of you, O city of God! I will record Rahab and Babylon among those who acknowledge me—Philistia too, and Tyre, and Cush—and will say, ‘This one was born in Zion.’ Indeed, of Zion it will be said, ‘This one and that one were born in her, and the Most High himself will establish her.’ The Lord will write in the register of the peoples: ‘This one was born in Zion.’ As they make music they will sing, ‘All my fountains are in you.’” (Psalm 86 [87])
Jean Khoury
16 July 2025
Read also
“All the Predestinate are hidden in Mary’s Womb”
The one who Contains What Heavens Can’t Contain
Is John 1:14 About the Incarnation?
The Meaning of St. John’s Gospel and its Implications for the Life of the Church
The New Testament Vision of Prophecy, A Johannine Path for Every Baptised
The Central Method of Integral Theology: Lectio Divina
Jesus’ Passion in St. John’s Gospel
“The Gospel of St. John and Spiritual Life” Course. 13 Lessons each of two hours. (See here for more details) See the Page of the Course First Video (you can ask for the videos)
Blessed Are Those Who Believe Without Seeing (John 20:29b) (Difficult but worth it!)