2025/12/08
225. The Gospel of John and the Priesthood of the New Covenant -- The Mother of Jesus
Reading the Gospel of John from the perspective of the priesthood of the New Covenant, we will notice a number of things. As discussed in the last issue, the beginning of chapter 1 of John's Gospel conveys the image of the Triune God. As the Holy Spirit descended and remained on Jesus, who later said, "I and the Father are one" (Jn 10:30), and as Jesus himself said, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am" (8:58), Jesus was the Triune God. It was because Jesus was God that the words, "No one has ever seen God; the only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known" (1:18) were realised.
In the testimony of John the Baptist, the words "baptize with water," "the Spirit descend and remain," and "he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit" appear (cf. Jn 1:33). There we see the three sacraments that our Church teaches: baptism, confirmation and holy orders. Baptism and confirmation are the pass through which those who accept Jesus and believe in His name are given the power to become children of God (cf. 1:12). They are sacraments conferred in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. And that is why there is "he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit." That is the priesthood of the New Covenant, brought to earth by Jesus, who is God, to be conferred on the Apostles in due course.
When John the Baptist was convinced that Jesus was the Son of God after witnessing the Holy Spirit descending on Him, he urged his disciples to follow Him (cf. Jn 1:35-37). The disciples of John the Baptist, who had witnessed and heard their master's experiences with Jesus at his elbow, could follow Jesus immediately. When Andrew, one of them, brought his brother Simon to Jesus, "Jesus looked at him, and said, 'So you are Simon the son of John? You shall be called Cephas' (which means Peter)" (1:42). It was at this first meeting with Simon that Jesus chose the head of the Apostles as the foundation of "my church" (Mt 16:18). The Gospel of John left a well-written account of when and where this important scene, which must not be obscured for the New Covenant priesthood, took place.
Later, Jesus also added Philip and Nathanael to his disciples (cf. Jn 1:43-51). Philip was "from Beth-sa'ida, the city of Andrew and Peter" (1:44), and Nathanael was "from Cana in Galilee" (21:2). Cana in Galilee was the place where "the first of his signs" (2:11), mentioned at the beginning of the following chapter 2, took place. Thus, men called to the priesthood of the New Covenant are placed in the hands of God's carrying and become associated with the life of Jesus Christ. Their relationship with Jesus, specially prepared for them, is then directed towards communion with the mother of Jesus. She was the one who first accepted Jesus and believed in His name in response to the angel's announcement.
In chapter 2, which begins, "On the third day there was a marriage at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there; Jesus also was invited to the marriage, with his disciples" (Jn 2:1-2), our attention is drawn to the response of Jesus' mother, who had shared her whole life with Jesus. Her request to the servants for Jesus' work continues even after the descent of the Holy Spirit, sent in Jesus' name. The mother of Jesus is still with the Apostles and their successors who were given the priesthood of the New Covenant and asks and encourages them in the same words as they listen to and follow the Holy Spirit: "Do whatever he tells you" (2:5).
At the wedding scene at Cana, Jesus performed the first sign of turning water into wine. This episode overlaps in imagery with the scene of the institution of the Eucharist, where Jesus took the cup of wine at the last table and said, "This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood" (Lk 22:20). The Gospel of John then describes the scene of the expulsion of the merchants from the temple following the wedding at Cana (cf. Jn 2:13-22) and inserts the commentary that "he spoke of the temple of his body" (2:21). These can be considered to indicate that in chapter 2 the sacrament of Eucharist is manifested.
The priesthood of the New Covenant is an office that concerns the life of God and people. God, who calls Himself "I am," desired to be born of the man who received the priesthood of the New Covenant as Eucharist and to serve the life of people, which He desired to be and is born of a woman. This is so that believers who have accepted Jesus, believed in His name and have been given the power to become children of God through baptism, may be nurtured by the Eucharist and become children of God.
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