Woman, Behold Thy Son!

“When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple standing by, whom He loved, He saith unto His mother, Woman, behold thy son!  Then saith He to the disciple, Behold thy mother!  And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home.”  John 19:26-27

The next utterance that Jesus gave from the cross that we will examine is when He called on His disciple, John, one of the three of His right-hand men, the other two being James and Peter (both of whom had fled when Jesus was arrested), to take care of His mother.  I can’t imagine the torture that Mary, Jesus’ mother, must have endured as she watched her firstborn Son hanging naked and in excruciating pain before her.  (I still vividly remember the emotional pain that I suffered when my son was killed, but I didn’t see it happen.)  When Jesus was taken to the temple as an eight day old Baby to be circumcised, Simeon, a just man to whom the Holy Spirit had revealed that he would see the LORD’s Christ before he died, said to Mary, “Behold, this Child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against; (Yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also,) that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed” (Luke 2:34-35).

The sword that Mary felt was emotional and also physical because the emotions play a huge part in a person’s physical reaction to extreme stress.  She may have been so distressed that she couldn’t even cry.  She likely felt like fainting.  Perhaps she kept thinking it was all a bad dream and desired to wake up to escape the pain.  Knowing that her Son had been falsely accused, sentenced to death, and there was absolutely nothing she could do about it must have been nearly unbearable.  The irony of it was that her Son was also paying the penalty for her sins.  Regardless of what some believe, Mary had to repent and believe on Christ for salvation just like any other man or woman.  She said in Luke 1:46-47, “…My soul doth magnify the Lord, And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior.”  Matthew Henry in his Commentary wrote, “Even the mother of our Lord had need of an interest in Him as her Saviour, and would have been undone without it.”  He went on to write that Mary found happiness in being a believer more so than being Jesus’ mother.  I imagine that Mary recalled what Simeon had said some thirty plus years earlier.  That prophecy was likely in the back of her mind for all those years as she pondered what it could have meant.  A devoted parent never stops having concern for his or her children no matter how old they are.

Apparently Joseph, Mary’s husband and Jesus’ adopted father, was deceased by the time of Jesus’ crucifixion.  He was spared the agony of watching Jesus, whom he had reared and taught carpentry skills, hanging on the cross in such a cruel manner.  Even though I had to give up my husband two years before my son died, at least he didn’t have to suffer the agony of our son’s death.  Since they were both believers in Christ, they are actually together now in the glories of heaven.  My loss was heaven’s gain.  When we lose loved ones, particularly when death comes suddenly, we wonder why.  I tell folks that when tragedies happen, you don’t have to like it, but in order to have peace, you must accept it.  God certainly knows what He is doing even though we may not understand.

Why did Jesus choose His disciple John to care for Mary, His mother?  Jesus always picks the right man or woman for the task at hand, and this was no exception.  We might wonder why He didn’t pick one of His brothers or sisters (Matthew 13:55-56) to take in His mother.  We don’t know for sure why He chose John, but John called himself “the disciple whom Jesus loved” (John 21:20).  Was John favored over the other disciples?  He had also fled when Jesus was arrested, but apparently he came to Calvary and witnessed Jesus’ crucifixion.  As far as we know, none of the other disciples saw Jesus crucified.  Jesus loved all of His disciples, even Judas, the betrayer, but He and John had a special bond just like we have a special bond with others.  He trusted John to care for Mary like she was John’s own mother.  Tradition says that Mary lived another 15 years after Jesus’ death and resurrection.  Matthew 28:1 tells us that Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to the sepulchre as morning came the day after the Sabbath.  The other Mary was an aunt of Jesus, His mother’s sister, the mother of His cousins, James and Joses.  (You might wonder why two sisters would both be named Mary.  Mary is the Greek form of two names: Mariam and Maria.  Biblical scholars believe that Mary, Jesus’ mother, was actually named Mariam and that she was the younger sister of Maria.  Therefore in the Greek New Testament both names were translated into Mary.)  No where have I been able to find a specific verse when Jesus appeared to Mary, His mother, after His resurrection, but I would think that He did.  Imagine her joy.  She watched Him die, and then she saw Him alive.  Wow.

It takes a special person to take in someone else’s mother and care for her as she ages.  Some folks today won’t even take care of their own mother.  However, there are many confined to nursing homes because they require special care that families cannot provide.  Jesus was certainly a loving Son to make sure that His mother was cared for by a trustworthy man like John, and John exhibited himself to be a faithful and loyal, committed friend to Jesus.

Tomorrow:  The Repentant Thief