What happened to Mary?

THE beloved disciple, in obedience to the expressed desire of the Lord ere He bowed His head, and delivered up His spirit,* had taken Mary unto his own home. From that moment, except for one brief record, she disappears from our view. Neither at the burial of the body of the Lord, nor at the garden on the resurrection morn, is she seen; but after the Lord's ascension, which the apostles had beheld (see Acts 1:1-11), when they had returned unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, they went up into an upper room, where the apostles abode; and in this connection we find the final appearance of Mary in the sacred record. It says, referring to the eleven, "These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren."†

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.

WHEN the aged Simeon held the infant Jesus in his arms, he said unto 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 thine own soul also,) that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed." We have italicised the words which referred especially to Mary, and which surely found their fulfilment in the scene contained in this scripture. Whether she had followed Jesus to the cross is not said, nor whether she had witnessed the mocking insults and buffetings He had received when before His judges. A veil, as far as Mary is concerned, is drawn over her feelings, her suspense and agony, during the dark night of His betrayal. Although the sword must have pierced through her inmost heart during the night and day that succeeded the Passover, it is with the Lord Himself, and not with Mary, that the Spirit of God is concerned. It is His attitude, His demeanour, His meekness, His patience and humility, His words that we are called upon to contemplate. But now that His sorrows and sufferings are drawing to a close, the veil is lifted for one brief minute, that we may behold Mary at the cross, or rather, let it be said, that we may behold the perfection of Jesus in His care for Mary, now that the will of God has been accomplished in His service on the earth. Others are with Mary, her sister, Mary, the [wife] of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene; but it is to Mary and to the beloved disciple who was "standing by" that the Lord's words are addressed. We may not conjecture where the word of God is silent; still we may surely repeat that Mary could not gaze upon the crucifixion of her holy Son without unutterable agony — without having her heart rent by the harrowing spectacle. She had watched Him for more than thirty years; she could not but have been sensible of much of the moral fragrance and beauty of His devoted life, and she must have had some glimpses, at least, of the glory of His person. And now it was her lot to behold Him rejected, insulted, outraged, and crucified! That divine support was ministered to her, while passing through such a fiery trial, we may be assured; but none the less, it must have been with a bursting heart, that she watched Him upon the cross, and saw the fiendish delight of His enemies in the realisation of their wicked ends.

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.

And now we part company with Zacharias and Elisabeth and with Simeon and Anna. Joseph, too, disappears from view. John also will soon be off the scene, leaving the Lord as the object before us, during His ministry amongst men. And the only one of whom we have read, who remained on earth after the Crucifixion, Resurrection, and Ascension, was Mary, His mother. The sword did pierce through her soul when she stood by the cross. But the joy of which the world could not deprive her was hers, in common with the disciples, when the Lord was risen, and had sent, consequent on His Ascension, the Holy Ghost; for in the reception of that gift His mother must have shared in common with the rest.

Thus did these saints spend their time in the exercise of continual dependence on God. They had been the chosen witnesses of the Word of life, as He had manifested Himself here below, and in Himself the Son had shown them the Father. And now they were waiting for that divine person Who was to be in as well as with them, as the Lord had prepared them for it: 'I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter.' So now they all give themselves up with one mind to persevering prayer.

Believing women were with them. How different their place from that which Jews or afterwards Mohammedans accorded them, and from that of mediaeval flattery or superstition, even when nominal Christianity pervaded the West! There were others beside wives, and hence the general form of the phrase; and one was among them, specifically named, to whom sinful folly was afterwards to bow down in worship, professedly subordinate to, practically more absorbing than, that paid to the Son or to the Father.

It is the first mention of Mary, in this the only sure and divinely inspired history, that follows our Lord's departure to heaven. Highly favoured she had been, blessed among women, all generations thenceforth calling her blessed; yet was she found in all lowliness of mind with other women, as the apostles were with them all, waiting on God for the gift of the Holy Ghost. From the cross she had been taken to the home of the beloved disciple. After the resurrection not a word implies an appearance to the mother of our Lord. Another Mary saw Him, she of Magdala, first of all, other women shortly afterwards, of any special appearance to His mother scripture is profoundly silent. She may have seen Him risen, as five hundred did at one time, but scripture intimates not a word about it. So absolutely was Christ to be known no more after the flesh. He was dead and risen, and the glory of the Messiah born of the Virgin faded away in the brighter glory of the Beginning, the First-born from the dead.

Mary is next met with when Jesus remained at Jerusalem after the Passover, and was found among the doctors. This had caused her great anxiety, and she had to hear His mysterious reply as to being about His Father's business. She was with Him and His disciples at the marriage feast at Cana, when He uttered another mysterious sentence: "Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come." She nevertheless instructed the servants to do whatever He told them, which resulted in their having the best wine at the end (as it will be in the kingdom). Once afterwards Mary came with His 'brethren' desiring to speak with Him; but again a mysterious saying declared that those who did the will of His Father were His brother, and sister, and mother. Matt. 12:46-50.

No doubt Mary subsequently understood the depth of these sayings when she came to learn what His death accomplished. She stood near the cross and saw her Son and her Lord nailed thereto: now the sword must have pierced her soul. She was commended by the Lord to the care of John, who took her to his own home. She was with the eleven at Jerusalem waiting for the gift of the Holy Spirit, and that is the last record we have of her. Christians gladly call her Blessed, for indeed it was a high honour to be the mother of Jesus; but it is not revealed that she held any place of authority or privilege beyond other saints; indeed, the way the Lord spoke to her, and of her, contradicts any such theory. Jesus was called her 'first-born son,' clearly implying that she had other children. The crowds said, "Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us?" Mark 6:3, etc.

The three are spoken of as those whom Jesus loved. They resided at Bethany, where they were privileged to welcome the Lord Jesus as a guest. On one of these visits Mary took her place at the feet of the Lord, feasting upon the words that fell from His lips. Martha wanted her help, but the Lord declared that one thing was needful, and Mary had chosen that good part, which should not be taken away from her. Luke 10:38-42. The heart of Mary was riven at the death of Lazarus. Word had been sent to the Lord that he was sick, and yet He had not come. When Jesus arrived Mary exclaimed, as Martha had done previously, "Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died:" but Mary said it at the feet of the Lord. Jesus wept, and Mary thus learned His sympathy, and had a fresh taste of the good part which death could not take from her. To Martha Jesus said that she should have her brother back, and should see the power of death broken by the One who was "the resurrection and the life;" but Mary had Himself. John 11:1-44.

Those who esteem Mary highly do well to respect her advice: “Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it” (John 2:5). The Lord’s words to John “Behold, thy mother” (John 19:27) and the fact that, from this hour, John took her to be with himself, shows that Mary did not have supernatural powers but would have to rely on being cared for. Finally, in Acts 1:14 Mary is mentioned as one of the women who continued with the disciples in prayer. No special role is attributed to her.

We have seen Mary in various places, but perhaps the final mention of her in Scripture honours her Son, and rebukes the darkening superstitions of Mary’s worship more than any other. She had seen Jesus upon the cross, He had risen from among the dead, and He had ascended to the throne on high after He had instructed His own to wait for the gift of the Holy Spirit; and now “Mary the mother of Jesus with His brethren” were among the hundred and twenty that gave themselves to continual prayer as they waited (Acts 1:14-15). Mary thus expressed her full confidence in Jesus exalted to the right hand of God; nor was she herself an object before the hearts of those gathered together in prayer, but was in one accord with the others who were in dependence before the Lord. It is to be noticed, too, that His brethren also were present; and how confirming it is to find James afterwards speaking of himself as the Lord’s bondman (James 1:1) when he addresses the twelve tribes.

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.

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.