The Continuing Dialogue

An Investigation into the Artistic Afterlife of the Five Narratives Peculiar to the Fourth Gospel and an Assessment of Their Contribution to the Hermeneutics of that Gospel

Brian Leslie Bishop

• Publisher: Resource Publications
• Year: 2017
• Print ISBN: 9781498244060
• eBook ISBN: 9781498244053
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblical Criticism & Interpretation

The I AM statements exclusive to the Fourth Gospel are seen as the attempt of the author(s) of that Gospel to present the nature and purpose of the earthly life of Jesus by engaging the imaginative faculty of the reader. Succeeding generations of artists are considered as undertaking a similar task by engaging in an imaginative dialogue with the text.There are five narratives that are peculiar to the Fourth Gospel: The Wedding at Cana, the Woman of Samaria, the Woman Taken in Adultery, the Raising of Lazarus, and the Washing of Feet.Five paintings based upon each narrative are considered in context. These are taken from the early fourteenth century (Duccio and Giotto) to the twentieth and twenty-first centuries (Max Beckmann and the contemporary Icon writer, Constantina Wood). A sense of the loss experienced by the western church under the sanctions of the Protestant Reformation against visual imagery is conveyed. This leads to a suggestion that a reassertion of the role of the aesthetics of Christian worship might be a unifying factor for a generation jaded by the pedantry that divides the Christian Church.

1

The Wedding at Cana

John Chapter 2 King James’s Version (KJV).

1. And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there:

2. And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage.

3. And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine.

4. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come .

5. His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.

6. And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece.

7. Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim.

8. And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it.

9. When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew ;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom,

10. And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now.

11. This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him.

New Revised Standard Version (NRSV).

1. On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there.

2. Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding.

3. When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.”

4. And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come.”

5. His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”

6. Now standing there were six stone water jars for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons.

7. Jesus said to them, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim.

8. He said to them, “Now draw some out, and take it to the chief steward.” So they took it.

9. When the steward tasted the water that had become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward called the bridegroom

10. And said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until now.”

11. Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.

The narrative is dealt with briefly in eleven verses and yet it is clearly of enormous importance. In spite of Jesus stating rather brusquely that his hour had not yet come, the logic of the narrative quite clearly suggests that it has, whatever we understand by that phrase. The miraculous events of the story challenge the “real” world of our daily experience and, as Culpepper suggests, “it is the implicit purpose of the gospel narrative to alter irrevocably the readers’ perception of the real world.”45 Frank Kermode, in his foreword to Culpepper’s text, directs our attention to Shakespeare where Richard attempts to “people” his isolated prison cell with “still-breeding thoughts.” He finds little comfort as the thoughts contend with one another like courtiers plotting and counter-plotting in the everyday world that has brought him to such an impasse. One thought is challenged by another bringing about confusion or, in the King’s own words, “no thought is contented the word (is set) against the word.”46 Kermode capitalizes the first letter of “Word”47 thus alluding to the logos of the opening verse of the gospel—the Word of God or ultimate truth that challenges the inadequate truth of our mundanity. The challenge of Christian ministry in Kermode’s view, is to distinguish the “Word” of spiritual truth from the “word” of the storyline The latter, here, is very straightforward: Jesus, his mother, and his followers are invited to a wedding where the wine runs out. Jesus gives them water. That really is all we “know.” The only indication that something inexplicable has taken place is the word of the steward at verse 9. Perhaps, as has been suggested by some, the steward is being ironic—going along with the joke. The miracle that is confirmed by the word of the storyline is recorded in verse 11: “and his disciples believed.” This is the miracle towards which the whole gospel drives: the miracle of belief.

The Word of spiritual truth is conveyed by the manner and style of the author’s address to the reader. For example, we are not told in the first verse that Jesus went to a wedding in Cana. This would be the natural way to introduce an event in the life of a protagonist. What we are, in fact, told is, “the mother of Jesus was there.” This is the information that the author chooses to lead with so, clearly, it is of great significance. Later, we are told that Jesus was also there.

The KJV states that Jesus was “called” whereas the NRSV chooses “invited.” The imperative force of “called” sets a distinctive tone to the whole passage: it renders it purposeful. It suggests that what is being referred to is that which may not be denied. This sense of what, from the secular perspective, is tragic inevitability drives right the way through the Fourth Gospel, that is, from a spiritual perspective, a divine comedy. But to be aware of it as such requires the miracle of belief. It is the declared purpose of the Gospel to bring about this miracle.

The exchange between Jesus and Mary at verse 3 and 4 is privileged information for the readers’ attention only as it is clearly a private conversation. The response of Jesus to his mother puzzles the reader. It is, on the face of it, blunt and unkind. In particular, it shocks the reader of the Protestant tradition where the focus has been on the humanity of Jesus and therefore the “motherness” of Mary. The words, however, force us to focus on the “otherness” of Jesus and therefore on Mary as the Theotokos, the God bearer of the eastern tradition. The NRSV translation tones down and crucially alters the impact of the KJV’s, “Woman, what have I to do with thee?” The implication of the older version is that Jesus is subject to a higher imperative than that of a son’s duty to a mother. Mary, who has encountered that higher imperative herself at the Annunciation is not offended by the words of Jesus as a mother might be expected to be by the words of her son. The issue appears to be whether or not this is the significant moment—the “hour”—when Jesus reveals who he is. It is upon this that Mary focuses as she instructs the servants: “Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.” It is at this point that the author makes it clear why Mary’s attendance at the wedding is the keynote of the narrative. Her response to God’s messenger recorded in Luke—“Behold the handmaid of the Lord: be it unto me according to thy word”48—is a surrendering to the unfolding of God’s plan. Here, at Cana, she is instrumental in initiating the final somber phase of that plan. The translation in the NRSV: “Woman, what concern is that to you and me?” has the idiomatic shrug of “it’s none of our business” about it that undermines the potency of the moment. There is a mystery and tension about the confrontation. It has an ominous weight. We sense that it is crucial to the progress of the story and that the “hour” when it comes will mark a point of no return.

“When men have well drunk,” at verse 10 (KJV) rather irritatingly becomes, “after the guests have become drunk” in the NRSV translation. The purpose of this rendering seems to be the eradication of the gender specific subject but the effect is to introduce the rather puritanically disapproving tone of “drunk.” The purpose, presumably, is to bring the passage up-to-date. In so doing there is a danger of losing the focus on the Word. The implication that Mary is prompting Jesus to make sure that everybody becomes drunk is a distraction. The essential point seems to be that Jesus is initiating a “New Order.” The “Old Order” is represented at verse 6 by the “six water pots of stone, after the manner of the purification of the Jews.” The “New Order” disturbs. It is this disturbance to which the governor of the feast refers when he questions the order in which the bridegroom appears to have served wine. Jesus is turning things upside down. The author of the Gospel is at pains to clarify that the governor “knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew).” Thus the word establishes that the governor’s reaction is authentic. The servants, on the other hand, know the source of the wine. Servants gossip. News of these events will spread.

“I am the vine, ye are the branches.”49 Here, in the story, Jesus is the Vine—the vital source of power—and the servants are the branches that bear the fruit of the Gospel, the Good News. As all Christians declare themselves the servants of God, the implication for the catholic church to which our creeds pledge us is clear. The focus upon the Word—the Gospel of Jesus Christ—is our obligation. We have to be careful that the focus upon the politics of the organization that has been entrusted to deliver the Gospel does not distract us from this purpose.

I first turn to Giotto’s painting from the first decade of the fourteenth century (Fig. 3). As an introduction to that depiction, I briefly refer to two other portrayals of the same narrative. A mosaic from fourteenth-century Constantinople illustrates the Byzantine ic...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Foreword
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: The Wedding at Cana
• Chapter 2: Jesus and the Woman of Samaria
• Chapter 3: The Woman Taken in Adultery
• Chapter 4: The Raising of Lazarus
• Chapter 5: Jesus Washes the Disciples’ Feet
• Concluding Remarks
• Bibliography