Marriage in John: Becoming One with God (Part 3)

The flow of blood and water in John 19:34 is the culmination of a marriage motif that runs throughout the gospel of John. The significance of this event therefore can only be felt when one understands the totality of this marraige theme.

The Wedding of Cana

John’s marriage theme begins at the Wedding of Cana where John subtley presents Jesus as the Bridegroom. When the mother of Christ (Note: She is always referred to as Christ’s mother in John's gospel, never as Mary) approaches Jesus about the lack of wine, she assumes a role that in Jewish cutom is reserved for the mother of the groom. One can see by Jesus initial response that this is more than a mere request for wine. Jesus implies that she is pushing him towards His Hour (2: 3-4).

But Jesus does supply the wine and in the process moves towards this hour by taking role of the bridegroom. When the headwaiter tastes the wine, he turns and praises not Jesus but the bridegroom. In this John subtly implies that Jesus is the real bridegroom. "The hour" of which He speaks is a reference to his own wedding which has yet to take place.

It should be noted that this scene has a great deal in common with Christ's crucifxion. Among the many unique details connecting the two events are:

• The “mother of Jesus,” (2:1 - 19:25)
• Containers of wine “set there” (2:6 - 19:29)
• Someone receiving a drink. (2:8-9 - 19:29-30)
• The hour – which Jesus often uses in reference to his arrest, death and glorification (7:30; 8:20; 12:23, 27; 13:1, 17:1).

Thus in Christ's first miracle, John has subtly implied that Jesus is a bridegroom moving in the direction of his own "hour" or wedding.

The Testimony of John the Baptist

That which was implicit in the Wedding of Cana is made explicit in the Testimony of John the Baptist.

In 3:38-30, John the Baptist tells his disciples, “You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, 'I am not the Christ,' but, 'I have been sent before Him.' 29 "He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. And so this joy of mine has been made full. 30 "He must increase, but I must decrease.”

Here John clearly calls Jesus the Bridegroom while comparing himself to the best man.

Jesus and the Samaritan Woman

John’s record of Jesus' conversation with the woman by the well (only a few verses removed from John the Baptist previous statment) echoes two passages from Old Testament; the betrothal of Isaac in Genesis 24 and the rape of Dinah in Genesis 33.

John 4 possess the following unique points of similarity with the story of Isaac's betrothal

• A man travel to a foreign land where he sit down by a well of water.
• From the town a woman comes to draw water.
• The man requests a drink.
• When the woman learns the man’s identity, she rushes home to tell others.
• Her family invites the man to stay.
• Though no betrothal takes place, the inter-textual echoes suggest there should be.

Jesus’ conversation with the Samaritan Woman also, suprisingly, recalls the rape of Dinah in Genesis 34.

• John states that the place where Jesus met the woman was near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to Joseph (John 4:5). The plot of ground is only mention three times in the Old Testament. The first time it appears, it immediately precedes and leads to the rape of Dinah (Genesis 33:18:-20).
• Like the Samaritan woman, Dinah goes out…
• Like the Samaritan woman, she is met by a man who… loves her, speaks tenderly to her.
• Like Jesus disciples, the son’s of Jacob only later return to discover what has occurred.

Though John is certainly creating contrasts between Jesus’ conduct and that of Shechem’s, the desire and pursuit of a wife remains consistent with John’s marriage motif.

(to be continued...)