Mary at the Cross

From Cana to the CrossThe pericope of John 19:25-27 is a notable scene, inserted within the heart of Christ’s paschal mystery. Its importance arises from the density of the text, the context of the hour, and its relationship to the episode of Cana. We will begin with the latter.The wedding scene (John 2:1-12) not only announces and anticipates, in a certain sense, the scene on the Cross, but it attains full meaning and reveals its exceptional density. These two scenes, placed at the beginning and end of the Gospel, are crucial, fundamental not only for understanding Mary’s figure and role, but also the overall Johannine message. The two scenes, carefully orchestrated, show an evident parallelism. The characters are the same: Jesus, at the beginning and in the fulfillment of his work, the Mother of Jesus, the disciples, represented at the Cross by the “beloved disciple.”In both cases, the Virgin is not mentioned by her personal name but as “the Mother of Jesus” and, later, as “a woman,” an unusual title used by a son in relation to his mother. In both passages, one speaks of Jesus’ hour, which in Cana had not yet arrived (cf. John 2:4) and on the Cross was complete (cf. John 19:27). Both episodes are followed by the same expression: “After this” (John 2:12; 19:28), a formula that reveals great importance:– John 2:12: “After this,” there is a community of faith gathered around Jesus. – John 19:27: “After this,” all things are accomplished.In general, we can say that while Cana is under the sign of the hour that has not yet come, the Cross represents the fulfillment of the hour. If in Cana there was the “beginning,” the archetype of signs, on the Cross there is the par excellence sign, the exaltation of the Son of Man, who reveals God’s glory and confirms the disciples’ faith.The Context of Jesus’ HourThe scene in John 19:25-27 gains light from comparison with Cana, but reveals its exceptional density in the immediate context of the “acts” of Jesus on the Cross (John 19:17-37). There are five episodes that make up the final phase of Jesus’ passion:

• The inscription on the cross (vv. 19-22)
• The division of Jesus’ garments (vv. 23-24)
• The words to the mother and the beloved disciple (vv. 25-27)
• The accomplishment of the work entrusted by the Father (vv. 28-30)
• The piercing of Jesus’ side (vv. 31-37).

Our pericope, as can be seen, is located at the center of the supreme events of Jesus’ hour, all highly symbolic and of exceptional theological importance. The deep unity of these scenes and their significance should be emphasized, as the evangelist presents them as the mysterious fulfillment of Scripture.They cannot be read at a superficial and phenomenological level, but must be understood as the definitive paschal revelation. It seems that our episode contains a scene of revelation, in which the true identity of Mary, the mother of Jesus, and the beloved disciple is manifested. Despite the presence of other people, at the center of the Calvary scene are, as observed, three protagonists:

• Jesus, who in his regal majesty as the Son of Man elevated on the cross, communicates supreme revelations and gives his last testamentary dispositions.
• The mother, who, unlike Cana, does not speak, but is at the center of attention as the primary repository of the Son’s will. She is mentioned four times as Jesus’ mother, once as the mother of the disciple, and once as “woman.”
• The disciple, who, although not initially mentioned among those at the cross, is subsequently identified, as Mary, as the recipient of the Master’s gift.

From the perspective of frequency, the figure most emphasized is the mother. She initially appears as Jesus’ mother, but also as woman, mother of the disciple. The disciple, in turn, is not merely someone who follows the Master and is loved by him, but precisely because he is, he is also the son of “woman.” While motherhood in relation to Jesus is traditionally accepted, the title of “woman” and motherhood in relation to the disciple require explanations.The beloved discipleAs always in the Gospel of John, and especially in these scenes of Passion, we cannot limit our understanding to the material and, therefore, superficial level of the message. The scene of John 19,25-27 does not simply represent an act of family piety on the part of a mother who would have been left alone, as is often affirmed, especially in non-Catholic contexts.This contradicts the text, which emphasizes first and foremost the presence and role of the mother (“Woman, behold your son“), and only secondarily entrusts the mother to the disciple. Furthermore, the relationships between them are not of natural nature, but of generation according to the Spirit.So, who is the disciple?He is both a person and a symbolThe words of Jesus solemnly raised on the cross have essentially the same meaning as those addressed to the Father in the priestly prayer of John 17, 20ff: “I do not pray for these alone, but for those who believe in me through their word…”. The beloved disciple expresses “the type of disciples”: the man of faith, the witness of the cross, “the son of the mother of Jesus”, that is, the representative of the disciples who, with their position towards God, also became brothers of Jesus (20:17).Note that the disciple, in our text, is mentioned three times (vv. 26-27) and always with the definite article, emphatically: “the beloved disciple” represents all those who believed and welcomed Jesus. They form the “new people of God”: the community of the “redeemed” by the sacrifice of the Lamb, whose bones must not be broken (cf. vv. 33-36). The “Church” born from the blood and water that flowed from the side of the Redeemer (v. 34), the New Eve taken from the side of the new Adam asleep on the cross.The “woman”, mother of the children of GodAs a consequence, the woman is the mother of the disciple and the disciples, of the community of all those who were scattered and for whom Jesus died. “For it was necessary for him to die… to gather into one the scattered children of God” (John 11:51f). In the thought of the Old Testament, the scattered children of God are the children of Israel exiled among the nations because of their sins (cf. especially Deut. 4:25-27. 28:62-66. 30:1-4).The Lord, who had scattered them among the nations, far from their land, will bring them back to their land and to their homes. He will make them one people from the divided kingdoms of Israel and Judah, and a descendant of David will be their shepherd (cf. Ez 34:23-24, Ez 37:24). He will make a new covenant with them, mediated by a mysterious “servant” of God (cf. Is 42:6, 49:8), who will offer his life as a ransom for many (cf. Is 53:10s). All nations will then come and gather in Jerusalem, which will become the mother of countless children (cf. Is 49:19-20, 60:1-9, Tob 32:12s).Already the wife of God, abandoned due to her infidelity and deprived of her children, she will see the return of the Lord and welcome within her walls a descendant that cannot be numbered. It will be a prodigious and universal motherhood. The city and the people are often represented by the symbol of a woman, wife, and mother, with the title of “daughter of Zion,” invited to rejoice, after much suffering, in the redemption and return of her children. To the eyes of the first Christian generation, the mother of Jesus was the ideal embodiment of the ‘daughter of Zion’. In her, as an individual person, the vocation of Zion-Jerusalem and of all Israel, the people of the Alliance, matured exemplarily.In this context, the beloved disciple represents all the redeemed, and Mary, the daughter of Zion, symbolizes the community of the Alliance, mother of the children of God once scattered and now gathered in unity. Mary is not merely a figure of the ancient daughter of Zion, in whom the splendid promises were fulfilled only partially and temporarily. The Mother of Jesus inaugurates, as firstfruits, the vocation of the new Zion, the community of the New Testament, mother of all the Lord’s disciples. Precisely because she is the Mother of Christ, the “firstborn among many brothers” (Rom 8:29).Mary is mother of all those who are reborn through faith in the Son. Her motherhood, which began with the birth of Jesus, reaches its fullness on the Cross. As can be seen, the episode in John 19, 25-27 goes far beyond a simple domestic scene, an act of filial care on the part of Jesus.The reception of the motherBefore this motherhood, a revealing gift from the Master, the disciple is called to adopt a posture of faith, a vital adherence, and a decision that arises from the depths of his freedom: a free decision, but not optional. The beloved disciple cannot refuse his Lord’s gift. The acceptance of the mother is one of the traits that characterize the true disciple of Christ. And “from that hour” (v. 27), the disciple received her into his own life.The hour of acceptance of the mother, which is not so much a chronological indication, but a theological moment of substantial significance, coincides with the fulfillment of Jesus’ hour. The expression “after this“, with which the next verse (v. 28) begins, does not seem to be a simple transitional formula, but aims to emphasize a close connection between what happened before and what follows. “After this“, as a consequence, Jesus, knowing that all things were now completed, to fulfill the Scripture, said… (v. 28).As can be seen, it is particularly solemn language, characteristic of John’s style, that places our episode at the apex of the hour established by the Father and as the seal of the salvatory work. With the present revelation of Mary as mother of the faithful and her reception by the disciple, Jesus’ work is complete. These are magnificent and grand visions that emerge from the depths of the Gospel of John.The genius of Origen (d. 254) had already intuited this: for him, no one can understand the meaning of the Fourth Gospel without bowing down to Jesus’ chest and receiving Mary from Jesus as mother. In the light of Mary’s presence at the Cross, the mysterious sign of Cana also becomes clearer. We can better understand the meaning of the wedding and the hour, as well as the role of that woman in the life of the Lord’s disciples.Deepen your studies: explore Mariology, Theology Mariana, Marian Apparitions and the Post-Graduate Studies in Mariology.Read Redemptoris Mater by Pope John Paul II, on Mary at the Cross and her participation in the Son’s redemptive mystery.