We may not, however, linger upon reflections such as these, neither would we have ventured to make them, except to enhance our appreciation of the tenderness and care of Jesus for Mary in her sorrow. His cup had now been drained, for we read immediately that “Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished,” and hence, knowing also what was passing in Mary’s heart, He was at leisure to turn to her with words of solace and consolation. Was she in the darkness of desolation in these moments of her supreme trial? The light was at hand to dispel the gloom, and to assure her that the One on whom she had been looking with such unspeakable sorrow understood her grief, for He opened His lips and said, when He saw His mother, and the disciple standing by whom He loved, “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.”
In meditating on these words, attention may be called to the fact that the evangelist is led to write the word “mother,” while Jesus addresses her as “woman.” Mary was the mother of Jesus, and this favor from God led Gabriel to salute her as blessed among women. But, as we have seen, natural ties could not be acknowledged as constituting any claim upon a life of devoted and perfect Nazariteship. And now that the Lord’s death was at hand, even this tender and intimate tie would be ended, ended by His departure from the scene in which He (in incarnation) was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, and yet it is at this moment that the Holy Spirit reminds us that she was the mother of Jesus. It teaches, beyond all contradiction, that the honor which God bestowed upon Mary shall never, in its own sphere, be taken away. The error, and the deadly error, has been to transfer the honor from earth to heaven, and thus in effect to exalt her even above God’s beloved Son.
There are two things in these words of our Lord which may be plainly apprehended. In the first place, He gives to Mary in her bereavement consolation and an object. The beloved disciple who knew the Lord’s mind as none other could have (for he had laid his head upon the Lord’s breast) was henceforth to be as Mary’s son, and Mary might take him to her heart in a new way as given to her by the Lord Himself. In fact, it was a precious legacy of His heart’s affection—the greatest solace He could minister to her in the circumstances. Secondly, He transferred His own earthly relationship to John when He said, Behold thy mother and He thus singled out the disciple whom He loved for the fulfillment of all the loving responsibilities which such a relationship involved. Mary, in a word, was committed by the Lord to John’s care, who henceforward was to tend her, and provide for her with filial affection. The Lord knew what was in the heart of each, and it was according to His knowledge of and love for each that He committed them thus to one another, and thus bound their hearts together for the remainder of their earthly pilgrimage.