“Behold Your Son; Behold Your Mother”
John 19:25-27
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
St. John 19:25-27 Now there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to His mother, “Woman, behold your son!” 27 Then He said to the disciple, “Behold your mother!” And from that hour that disciple took her to his own home.
Dear fellow redeemed in Christ our Lord… Tonight, we focus on the third statement of our Lord from the cross, the words He spoke to Mary His mother, “Woman, behold your Son!” And to John, the beloved disciple, “Behold your mother!”
Why did Jesus say these words? What was His purpose in doing so? We see in these words a firstborn Son honoring His mother and looking out for her welfare. We see how, even in death, Jesus is focused on others in love. As they grieve over His suffering, He gives them to one another to comfort each other.
But there’s much more to it than that. For Jesus is not simply seeing to it that Mary will be cared for and fed and sheltered. After all, that would have been done anyway. Jesus had several younger siblings, a handful of half-brothers and half-sisters born of Mary and Joseph after Jesus’ birth. The brothers would certainly have provided for their mother’s physical welfare. So why does Jesus now place Mary in the apostle John’s care instead of with the oldest blood brother, James? Why does Mary now go to live in John’s house as John’s mother?
The answer is that, with Jesus, water is thicker than blood. Earlier in His ministry, when people came to Jesus with the message that His mother and brothers were outside looking for Him, Jesus replied saying, “Who is My mother, or My brothers?” 34 And He looked around in a circle at those who sat about Him, and said, “Here are My mother and My brothers! 35 For whoever does the will of God is My brother and My sister and mother.” (Mk 3:33-35) The reality is that, prior to Jesus’ resurrection, His brothers and sisters thought He was a bit crazy. In John 7 it says that they didn’t believe in Him (v. 5). And even after His resurrection and ascension, His siblings didn’t always get it.
James, the half-brother of our Lord Jesus, did become a leader in the early church. That’s kind of cool, isn’t it? How many people can say that they are Jesus’ brother? He must have some special insight, right? But James had a hard time shaking off the Jewish requirements of the Law, requirements that Jesus had fulfilled and set aside. James tended to add these ceremonial, legal requirements back onto the free gift of God’s grace in Christ. In other words, James suggested that faith in Christ was not enough to be saved, and that certain good works were also necessary.
For instance, in Acts 15, there was a council in Jerusalem that was dealing with the new Pentecost reality that many Gentiles were now becoming part of the church. Up to this point it had been primarily Jews, those who had kept the OT laws, who were circumcised, who kept the ceremonial regulations regarding kosher food, and things like that. Some were saying that these Gentiles also had to follow the OT Jewish laws in order to be saved.
But people like Paul sharply disagreed with them. Peter spoke of the grace of God shown to the Gentiles and how God makes no distinction between Jew and Gentile in this new age fulfilled in Christ. James seemed to go along with all of this, but then made a compromise judgment. He stated that the Gentiles do not need to be circumcised but that they must still follow certain food restrictions.
This is sort of like those preachers and priests today who may say that you are saved by grace alone through Jesus, but who then cannot help themselves and add on certain works. They say that in order truly to be saved you have to make certain decisions or do certain works. And if you don’t, you’re not really a Christian. They mix the Law in with the Gospel. They never let Jesus’ work be the end of the matter. They always want to throw in some work of man to clinch the deal. But that always obscures the Gospel and steals away Christ’s glory as our Savior.
In all honesty you can see this tendency toward the Law and away from the Gospel in the Epistle of James, written not by James the brother of John, but James the half-brother of our Lord. The Epistle of James teaches us very little about Christ and a whole lot about what we must do. It is a legalistic letter, so much so that even Martin Luther called the Epistle of James a “straw epistle,” an epistle of little Christian substance or value. It is, however, still Holy Scripture, regardless of what Luther said.
But James’ influence even caused Peter to go astray. When Peter was in Antioch, he would eat with the Gentiles. But when certain men from James came up to Antioch from Jerusalem, Peter, out of fear, no longer ate with Gentiles but only with Jews. Only a stern and very public rebuke from Paul set Peter straight again
So, in view of all of this and foreknowing all of this, Jesus on the cross entrusts Mary not to James and not to any of the other half-brothers, but to John, a preacher of the unadulterated truth. It is important who has charge of Mary, for Mary is an icon or a picture of the church. From her came the Christ; and the church is the body of Christ. It is in the womb of the church that we are reborn at the baptismal font and made to be members of Christ’s body. By virtue of our baptism, Mary is our spiritual mother, the icon of the church. It is important who has charge of the church. So it is that Jesus says to Mary, “Woman, behold your son,” and to John, “Behold your mother.”
Water is thicker than blood. By water and the Word, you are made to be Jesus’ mother and sisters and brothers. Biological connections do you no good with Jesus. The truth of the Gospel is what counts in this family.
John preached that truth. He said such things as this, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (I Jn 1:8-9). And, “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (I Jn 4:10).
John drew special attention in His Gospel to the expensive garment of Jesus was which taken from Him by the soldiers. And that reminds us that just as Jesus bore our sin and shame, so we, by faith, are given to wear His holiness and honor; we are clothed with the costly garment of Christ through the suffering and death payment He made for us on the cross. John also drew special attention to the blood and water that flowed from our Lord’s side: “But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out” (Jn 19:34). This reminds us of the sacraments which cleanse us and give us new life with God.
John, you will recall, is the one who outran Peter to the tomb (Jn 20:4) and believed in the resurrection. John is the one who first recognized Jesus on the shore (Jn 21:7). John is the one who did not refer to himself by name but as “the disciple whom Jesus loved” (Jn 13:23). The love of Jesus was the key thing.
Jesus is the only one who reveals the Father and His love to us. And now, with these words from the cross, Jesus is saying that it is only through the preaching of John and those like him that you can come to know Christ. This is the Trinitarian nature of the faith – the Father sends the Son, and the Son sends the Spirit to preach the truth of the Gospel that we may be drawn to Jesus and then, through Him, back to the Father.
Therefore, these words of Jesus apply also to you, the church, “Woman, behold your son, the preacher of the Gospel.” Listen to those who are the successors of John and who proclaim the Word that he proclaimed. Do not listen to other voices that preach other gospels, even if they’re family. Do not listen to anyone who mixes in human works with the all-sufficient work of Jesus, even if that preacher wears a collar and a robe. Receive the care of your pastor who speaks the saving truth of Christ and His words. For it is through faith in that Gospel alone that you come to know Jesus. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Him.
Finally, these words of Jesus also apply to pastors, “Behold your mother!” For the pastor is given charge of the church, but He is not in charge of the church as her owner. Rather, He honors her as he would a parent. For she is the one through whom he himself was given life. The pastor is to treat the church with the same respect he gives his own Mom. He is there to serve her and care for her spiritual welfare. “Behold your mother.”
Both mother and son are given to each other from Jesus, who alone is Lord over all. And He exercises His lordship not by being served, but by serving and giving His life as a ransom for us all. And Christ has most certainly done that for you and for all mankind. He gave up His life on the cross, paid the punishment for all your sins, and continues to deliver himself to you in His Word and Sacraments, serving you through Holy Mother Church wherein you are nourished and strengthened with God’s gifts until you are called Home.
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
