John’s portrait of Jesus is anything but static. In the first chapter of the Gospel alone, I count at least ten Old Testament shaped images of Jesus. John’s rapidly morphing portrait of Jesus is striking to me tonight, but this even more so: the way Jesus’s mother features in the Gospel as the first insider, the first person to know Jesus well enough to banter with him.

John’s Jesus

Jesus is the life-giving light of creation (Gen 1) that conquered the darkness (Jn 1:4–5). He is heralded as the lamb who takes away the sin of the world (1:29). In my mind, these Old Testament images combine to portray him as the slaughtered, conquering lamb of Revelation (Rev 5:6).

Jesus is the presence of Yahweh incarnate, a human realization of the temple (Jn 1:14), the unique God (μονογενὴς θεός, Jn 1:18). John the Baptist is Isaiah’s voice crying in the wilderness, and this makes Jesus the long expected LORD, for whom John prepares the way (Jn 1:23). Jesus is the one upon whom the Spirit of God has been poured out, bringing justice and new creation (Isa 32:15; Jn 1:32). Jesus is the Teacher (Isa 30:20; Jn 1:38), the Messiah (Jn 1:41), “the one whom Moses and the Prophets wrote about” (Jn 1:45), the son of God (Jn 1:49), the king of Israel (1:49).

Finally, John closes chapter 1 with Jesus quoting Genesis 28:12, implying that Jesus is the incarnate “gate of heaven.” By putting the words of Genesis 28:12 in Jesus’s mouth, John places Jesus’s body on analogy to the place where Jacob experienced an apocalypse of God’s presence. Jesus is Jacob’s “gate of heaven” (Gen 28:16; Jn 1:51).

In fact, the language of Genesis 28:16—especially in the Septuagint—helps bring to life another part of the Gospel’s first chapter. In John the Baptist’s initial testimony about Jesus, he says, “I myself did not know him (οὐκ ᾔδειν αὐτόν), but in order that he might be revealed to Israel, for this reason, I came baptizing with water” (1:32). This is the same way the Septuagint renders Jacob’s words about Yahweh: “The Lord is in this place and I did not know (οὐκ ᾔδειν) it” (Gen 28:16).

The First Insider

In the midst of this quickly morphing portrait of Jesus, there are multiple people that recognize some aspect of who he is. John (the Baptist) heralds Jesus’s arrival (Jn 1:6; 19ff.), and multiple newfound disciples bear witness to him as the Messiah (1:35–51). There is, however, only one character portrayed as a true insider. It’s Jesus’s mother.

Chapter 2 opens with Jesus at a wedding party, and when the hosts run out of wine, Jesus’ mother turns to him and says, “They have no wine” (Jn 1:3). There is no mistaking that Jesus’s response is tongue-in-cheek and coupled with a smile: “Woman, how is this my problem?!” (τί ἐμοὶ καὶ σοί, γύναι, Jn 2:4). Sure, at first glance, a reader might think Jesus’s response is sharp, especially since he is talking to his mother. Gospel readers might even hear in Jesus’s words echoes of the way the demons talked to Jesus (τί ἐμοὶ καὶ σοί, Mark 5:7; Luke 8:28). But there’s no mistaking what John intends.

John’s next words are the key: “His mother said to the servants, ‘Whatever he tells you, do it’” (Jn 2:5). I imagine a surprised look on the face of the servants and a knowing, expectant smirk on the face of Mary as she, presumably, walks away. Once you see how Jesus’s mother responds, the next time you hear this verbal exchange you start to recognize it as banter.

Conclusion

The banter in John 2:1–5 portrays Jesus’s mother as the first true insider. Sure John was Jesus’s herald, and multiple disciples recognize Jesus’s identity, but it’s Mary that is close enough to joke and banter with the Messiah. In the first chapter of the Gospel, John and the disciples are newcomers to the revelation of Jesus’s identity. Mary has been on the inside long enough to joke with Jesus, long enough to know that he will provide, even when his first response is, “Psh! That’s not my problem!” John said, “I myself didn’t know him” (Jn 1:31), but Jesus’s mother listens to Jesus’s sass, turns, and says, “Whatever. Y’all just do whatever he says.” I love so much the thought of Jesus playfully back talking his mom, and her knowing him well enough to roll her eyes with a smirk. I can’t explain why this is so enchanting.