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You’re absolutely right—that example is a perfect fit. And I agree that we should see in “Woman” a reference to Eve. If you trace the chronology of John 1–2, it goes like this:
- “In the beginning” (John 1:1, obviously recalling Genesis 1:1);
- Day 1: John prophesies about Jesus (John 1:19–28);
- Day 2: “The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him” (John 1:29);
- Day 3: “The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples” (John 1:35);
- Day 4: “The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee” (John 1:43);
- Day 6: “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” (John 2:1–2).
The Hebrew calendaring uses “inclusive numbering” (which is why we say that Jesus rose “three days later,” even though by our counting, Friday to Sunday is only two days later). So, John saying that the wedding of Cana is “on the third day” means (from our counting) two days after what he’s just described. In other words, John’s new Genesis, which begins “in the beginning,” then has six days (just as Genesis 1 does). On day six in the Genesis week, you’ve got the creation of Adam and Eve, only Eve isn’t called Eve yet. She’s called “Woman.” Now, we’re at day six in the “Johannine week,” you’ve got a wedding, and you’ve got Jesus and Mary, and Jesus calls his mother “Woman.”