"Woman, Here is Your Son"

Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, “Woman, here is your son,” 27 and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home. John 19:25-27

One of the many things that capture even a casual reader of the way Jesus embraced, carried and hung on the cross are the things Jesus said while he was brutally and unjustly hanging there. From the many choices of reactions available to the average human being – hatred, bitterness, cursing, prayer for vengeance – we see him choose the path of eternal and unfailing love. That same love that is immutably and inseparably part of who He is in eternity – God who is love. That same love with which he had created human beings. That same love that led him to consecrate himself even before the foundations of the world as the sacrificial lamb for humanity’s sin problem.

Yes, it was love.

They say you can observe the true nature of a person when they are under pressure. And what can be said of Jesus hanging on the cross. What can be said of the justice in it? Of the evil unleashed upon him. Of the brutality with which the Lord of creation was betrayed, tried, beaten and ultimately led to walk that ominous road to Calvary? If there was ever a vengeful thought, ever a completely justified reason to cry out like David, “Let them be before the Lord continually that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth!” (Ps 109:15) What can be said of the Lord of Creation treated thus by those he had lovingly beheld in creation?

If there was one who is completely justified in His wrath, it would be Jesus. Innocent, righteous, holy in every sense of the word. But how does he choose to respond?

We find him responding in compassion towards the soldiers by praying for them, in grace towards the thief hanging beside him by promising him paradise and in care by committing his mother to his beloved disciple.

When Jesus saw his mother there and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Dear woman, here is your son,” and to his disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on this disciple took her into his home.

We are of course not given a name for this beloved disciple. Many scholars believe it to be John himself who authored the Gospel of John. But as Jesus looked upon his grieving mother, he knew that nothing on earth could have prepared her for what she was witnessing. Mary was just a teenage girl when the angel appeared to her and told her she was going to give birth to the Saviour of the world. Mary’s response was amazing. Se neither doubted the word of the angel nor argued with Him. She simply listened and believed that God would work through what she could not comprehend. Little did she know that she would be witnessing the crucifixion of the child she bore. But as has been the case since day 1 for Mary, she always submitted to God’s plans for her life. “May it be to me as you desire”. Those words of complete surrender have been the hallmark Mary's life.

Addressing one’s own mother as “woman” may seem out of place from our vantage-point. Almost disrespectful. The Greek word Gune used here was a term of dignity used of women and even mothers. It has been translated “Dear Woman”. Affection and dignity. Things that Mary ought not to have been deprived of. One wonders where the other brothers of Jesus are at this time. Why are they not there by her side comforting her? Have they too rejected him and also branded their mother a fanatic for following Jesus to his death? Have they, as in many occasions prior to this, said “He’s out of His mind!” and almost concluded that this is what he had coming to him? Or were they afraid that they too would be crucified alongside Jesus? Whatever the case maybe, Mary finds herself in her pain and sorrow with a few friends around her.

Jesus looks at her, and in that one look thinks of someone who can care for and comfort her in this most trying time. He looks to his beloved disciple, one who Jesus would trust in this time, and entrusts them with the care of His mother.

Many things come to the fore in this one act of Jesus. Firstly, Jesus ensured that he fulfilled his earthly responsibilities as an earthly son even in his trying moments.

Secondly, in remembering that she needed comfort in her pain and almost understanding what His mother would be going through, we understand that this Jesus, alive today, knows and sees each of us today. In moments when those nearest to us don’t seem to understand us. When those we expect to stay close in our most trying times are somehow absent, we hear God’s word loud and clear today. “I see you where you are. I know the pain you are going through. I’m going to walk by your side through it all. You will never be alone.”

Thirdly, in entrusting his beloved disciple with his mother, we ask ourselves the question, “Are there people around me that the Lord is entrusting me with today?”

Personal loss, pain, unjust suffering, untold sorrow all have been part and parcel of the human experience. Yet, there is a Saviour who sees and is saying to each of us to reach out and take in someone who maybe going through such. The Bible says that from that day forward, the beloved disciple took her in.

The cross is a place of many realities – sacrifice, pain, evil, redemption, victory, forgiveness and most importantly love. As we come to the cross today let’s remember the Saviour who in his darkest moments continued to pour out that boundless love that flows into our hearts through His Spirit even today.