Respect for all

Jesus’ mother comes to him at a wedding when the wine cellar at the party has gone dry and says, “Son, they have no wine.” And his response to her? “Woman. What concern is this to you and to me? My hour has not yet come.” It doesn’t matter how many commentators I read on this passage and who try to explain away his words I find it strange he used the word “woman”. Despite all I have read the fact remains, Jesus calls his mother, “Woman,” he asks, “What business is it of yours?” And then he tells her “My time hasn’t come yet.”

I confess that these days I find that this text comes across to me in a non-positive way. It seems to me that Jesus might be joining in with the chorus of other well-meaning men who have told women to be silent and to be polite in various situations. Recent examples from the sporting and political fields in Australia lead us to believe that this sort of response to women still exists and needs addressing. I still find it hard to believe that in this day and age, some men still treat woman with such disrespect.

So, Jesus says, “Woman. What business is it to you and me?” Years of church history have kept people silenced, which is bad enough. But then we read this text and remember the silencing is embedded in the Bible itself. “Woman. What is this to do with you?” The text does not end, however, with a silencing, for which we thank God. Jesus’ mother, I imagine, had heard such comments before from men. Perhaps she had even heard such comments from her son.

And Mary doesn’t say what I would want her to say, which is, “What did you just call me?” I notice she doesn’t say anything at all to Jesus after he calls her woman and tells her it doesn’t concern her. Because what can you say to a comment like that? You can’t engage it. You turn away from it. And by turning to the servants, and not to Jesus, she calls Jesus to rise above the culture in which he finds himself and be better.

I find the passage at one level challenging to me as a male. A challenge to be aware of and respect all of God’s creation. And by this I mean ALL. The passage also reminds me of God’s presence and God’s abundance. As we read further in scripture we see Jesus encompassing women as equal and acknowledging their God given gifts. Sometimes I reflect upon the development of the early Church and wonder how much our practices and understanding has been formed by the response of men to women who seek to exercise their gifts at all levels.   

Yet, when the mother of Jesus (never called “Mary” in John) appears again at the foot of the cross, the only other time in the narrative, we are reminded as here in this passage that first and foremost God provides presence, that God’s love, demonstrated by the mother of Jesus, brackets our present life and secures our future abiding in God. Abundant life is possible now and forever because of God’s love and in fact eternal life is to know God.