What did Jesus say to his mother on the cross?

But faith and love gathered near the dying Saviour some of very different mind. "Now by the cross of Jesus stood His mother, and the sister of His mother, Mary the (wife) of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala.351 Jesus, therefore, seeing His mother and the disciple standing by whom He loved, saith to His mother, Woman, behold thy Son. Next He saith to the disciple, Behold thy mother; and from that hour the disciple took her unto his own (home)" (verses 25-27). These were among the women who had followed Him in His ministry and had ministered to Him in life. There they stood in His rejection by the cross, where the Lord shows how little asceticism rises to the truth. He had been absorbed in the work for which He was sent by the Father; no honey mingled with the offering, any more than leaven: salt was never absent, nor the unction of the Holy Ghost. All had been in the consecrating power of the word and Spirit of God, and to God. But perfect human affections were there, though the work undertaken in communion with the Father had filled heart and lips and hands with the higher object to the glory of God. Yet eternal interests, when thus taken up, do not efface or dishonour Nature or its relationships according to God; and the Lord here marks this by commending in the most solemn and touching way John to His mother as son, and Mary to John as mother: a loving trust honoured from that hour. How sweet for the loved disciple to remember and record! And how strong the contrast with superstition, no less than as we have seen with asceticism! And what a testimony in all to His own entire superiority to overwhelming circumstances!

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 favour 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 honour 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 honour 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 done (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 fulfilment 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.

The Lord speaks from the cross in tender consideration for His mother, indicating to her that now John was to be her son; and to John, telling him, “Behold your mother!” (vv. 26-27). We know that she did have other sons by natural birth (Mark 6:3; Ps. 69:8), but John 7:5 tells us, “Neither did His brethren believe on Him.” How much more strong is the spiritual relationship than the natural! John took her after this to his own home. Her other sons had deprived themselves of such a privilege through unbelief. Yet after His resurrection His brothers were found in the upper room with the disciples. Apparently through His death and resurrection they were converted to God. Yet they had lost the dignity of caring for their mother.

Providing for His Mother. — The soldiers were at the cross in the path of duty. To another group are we now introduced, drawn there by affection, mourners indeed. Just five composed it, and all standing by the cross — viz. the Lord's mother, her sister Salome, Mary the wife of Cleophas or rather Clopas, Mary Magdalene, and John, Salome's son, and so the nephew of the Virgin. The Lord's mother was, it would seem, a widow, and probably had been that for some time. Fresh sorrow now befell her. Her Son was crucified. Old Simeon's words were coming true, "Yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul" (Luke 2:35). Had she wondered what they could mean, when that aged saint uttered them? All was plain now. He was foretelling her sorrow at the crucifixion of her Son. She spoke not a word to her Son at the cross that we read of. But her Son spoke to her, a lasting comfort for that mother's heart, till she should be with Him in the other world. We quote the Evangelist's account. "When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple standing by, whom He loved, He says to His mother, Woman, behold, thy son! Then says He to the disciple, Behold, thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her to his own home" (John 19:25-27). This Gospel, which tells us of the rebuke administered to her at Cana, tells us of the Lord's thought for her when dying on the cross. Natural ties had no claim on Him to guide Him in His service. Natural ties were not meant to be disowned, or considered as beneath recognition. He, about to leave the world, provided a home for her for the rest of her life.

John 19:25-27. Amidst all the sorrows of the cross, the human tenderness of the Lord shines out. The fact that, at the beginning of His pathway, He would brook no interference from His mother in His heavenly mission (John 2:3-4) does not stop the Lord from caring for her earthly needs. So now He commends her to the care of one who, above all others, was trusting in the love of Jesus — the disciple who could lean on Jesus' bosom and who five times describes himself as the disciple whom Jesus loved. From that hour John took her to his own home.

After that, we find One who has completed His blessed course; it is the Son of God. During His service here below, He did not recognise His mother. In reality His human relationships were not in question; He was the bearer of the divine word in this world, the expression of this word in His Person, and nothing else; separated from everything for this. Now that His divine ministry is ended, He recognises this relationship, not as a link with the Jews, this was over, but as human affection. He commits her to John, the disciple He loved. To have always repelled her was not a lack of natural affection, but faithfulness, whether in His position outside the Jews (Matt. 12:46), or in absolute devotedness. Now that His service is finished, His affection is free, and He shews it.

At the cross John was the only disciple mentioned as being there although there were several women including the mother of the Lord Jesus, John's mother (if Salome was indeed John's mother), Mary Magdala, and Mary the mother of Clopas and John. Then the Lord Jesus, during those first three hours, turned to His mother and said, referring to John, "Woman, behold thy son!" and to John he said, "Behold thy mother!" and we read, "And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home" (John 19:27). The Lord committed His mother to John's care and John rose to the occasion. This was a responsibility that John took on himself for the rest of Mary's life.

Our holy and ever gracious Lord, when suspended upon the cruel cross, demonstrated the perfection of His humanity, as beholding His mother standing by in the company of that disciple whom He loved, He put the stamp of His approval upon the blessedness of the natural relationship, saying, "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." Blessed consideration of our Lord! Oh! you younger believers with believing mothers, cherish them, hearken to their admonishment, for they know what is best for you.

“There stood by the cross of Jesus his mother.... when Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, 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 19:25-27)

There were appreciative feelings in the heart of our blessed Lord in regard to His mother. I will not say any more about it, I cannot, but it is true. Every human sensibility of our Lord was there in perfection. One of those perfections was His feelings for His mother. There were these feelings of holy sensibilities in our blessed Lord who appreciated His mother, and though there crucified, about to die, He looked upon His mother and He looked upon the disciple whom He loved and He said, “Woman, behold thy son”, and to the disciple, “Behold thy mother”. He cared for her, He made provision for her, and the disciple took her “to his own home”. The Lord valued the home circle. We could have spoken all night about what the home sphere is, of the Lord's entry into the home circle (there is so much to see). The Scriptural phrase “And thy house” was mentioned in the first prayer meeting, it is a principle that runs right through the word of God. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house ” (Acts 16:31). John had a home into which the mother of our Lord was happily welcomed.

Amid it all, He has still the human tenderness which shows unchanged the Man Christ Jesus. His mother, standing by His cross, He commends to the care of His beloved disciple, the spiritual link being more than the natural, even while the natural is being recognized. Here, with one exception in the first chapter of Acts, we part with Mary; she is not mentioned in the after-books. In all the doctrine of the epistles she has no place. Blessed among women as she is surely by her connection with the human nature of our Lord, the entire silence of Scripture as to her in that fulness of Christian truth which it was the office of the Spirit of truth to communicate is the decisive overthrow of the whole Babel-structure of Mariolatry which Romanism has built up upon a mere sand-foundation. She remains for us in the word of God, a simple woman rejoicing in God her Saviour, — a stone in the temple to His praise, and with no temple of her own. To use the grace of the Redeemer in taking flesh among us by her means to exalt the mother to the dishonor of Christ her Lord is truly a refined wickedness worthy of the arch-deceiver of mankind.