John 19:25Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Four Marys appear in the Gospels. One is the Theotokos, who is called the Mother of James and Joses, because they were Joseph's children, born from his first wife, perhaps the wife of Cleopas. The Theotokos is called their Mother as stepmother, for She was regarded as Joseph's wife.

Another is Magdalene, from whom the Lord cast out seven demons. The third is Mary of Cleopas, and the fourth is the sister of Lazarus.

This very cruel death on the cross somewhat turned Her away from the proper understanding of the matter. Added to this were the mockeries of the Jews, and perhaps the soldiers standing by the cross and laughing at the One who was hung. Before the eyes of His own Mother, they dared to divide His garments.

Undoubtedly She had thoughts somewhat like these: "I gave birth to Him who is mocked upon the tree. Calling Himself the true Son of God Almighty, perhaps He was mistaken and seems to have erred when He said, 'I am the life' (Jn 14:6). How was He subjected to crucifixion? How could the nets of murderers ensnare Him? How did He not overcome the plots of His persecutors? Why does He not come down from the cross, although He commanded Lazarus to return to life and struck all Judea with wonder by His miracles?"

It is very natural that, not knowing the mystery, a woman could fall into reflections like these. Those who reason correctly must understand that the events taking place were capable of troubling even a firm mind. There is nothing astonishing if a woman was partly subjected to this.

For if even Peter himself, the foremost of the disciples, was once scandalized when the Lord clearly declared and taught that He would be delivered "into the hands of sinners" and undergo crucifixion and death, so that with rash haste he cried, "Be merciful to Yourself, Lord; this shall not happen to You!" (Mt 26:45; Mt 16:22), what is astonishing if the more tender mind of a woman was drawn toward unfounded thoughts?

We do not say this by vain conjecture, as it may seem to someone. What is written concerning the Lord's Mother brings us to such a supposition. Let us remember that righteous Symeon, when he had taken the Lord as an Infant "into his arms," as it is written, gave thanks to God and said: "Now You let Your servant depart, Master, according to Your word, in peace, for my eyes have seen Your Salvation" (Lk 2:28-30).

And to the Holy Virgin Herself he said: "Behold, this Child is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign spoken against. And a sword will pierce Your own soul also, that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed" (Lk 2:34-35).

By the sword he means the sharp force of the suffering, which drew the woman's mind toward inappropriate thoughts. For temptations purify the hearts of those who suffer and reveal the thoughts present within them.

Yet from there come all the parts of the cross, visible and accessible. So also, all good in us comes from the depths of God’s grace.

Finally, as everyone knows, is not the sign of Christ the cross of Christ?

Until this sign is made, whether on the forehead of the faithful, or on the water from which they are reborn, or on the oil of anointing, or on the sacrifice that nourishes them, nothing will profit.

How, then, can it be that nothing good could be signified by what evildoers do?

Let us see what the Evangelist John next relates about what happened after the Lord’s crucifixion, after His garments were divided and lots were cast.

“So the soldiers did these things,” he says. “Standing by the cross of Jesus were His Mother, and His Mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Cleopas, and Mary Magdalene.

When Jesus saw His Mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He says to His Mother, ‘Woman, behold your son.’

Then He says to the disciple, ‘Behold your Mother.’ And from that hour the disciple took Her to his own home” (Jn 19:24-27).

This was, without doubt, the very hour of which Jesus had spoken to His Mother when He changed water into wine.

“What have I to do with you, Woman? My hour has not yet come” (Jn 2:4).

Thus He was foretelling that hour, not yet come, in which He was to acknowledge, at the threshold of death, Her from whom He had been born in mortal fashion.

Therefore, when He was about to perform divine works, He seemed to reject His Mother as though not knowing Her.

She was not the Mother of His divine nature, but of His human nature.

Now, while already enduring human sufferings, He commended in human affection Her from whom He had become man.

If Matthew and Mark had not expressly named Mary Magdalene, we might have thought that there were two groups.

One group would have stood at a distance, and the other near the cross.

How, then, are we to understand that the same Mary Magdalene both stood at a distance, as Matthew and Mark say, and was by the cross, as John reports?

It remains to suppose that the distance was such that they could both see our Lord and still stand apart from the crowd, the centurion, and the soldiers surrounding Him.

Or one may suppose that after our Lord entrusted His Mother to the disciple, they withdrew from the crowd and watched what took place from a distance.

Thus the Evangelists who do not mention them until the Lord’s death write that they stood apart. Cf. Mt 27:56; Mk 15:40.

“Woman! Behold, Your son,” He says. “Behold, your Mother!” From the Cross Christ testified to the division of piety between His Mother and the disciple.

Yet Mary was not less than what befitted the Mother of Christ. When the apostles fled, She stood by the Cross, gazing with pious eyes upon the wounds of Her Son.

But She was not looking upon the destruction of Her Offspring, but upon the salvation of the world. Or else, because that royal court knew that the redemption of the world would come through the death of Her Son, She thought She might add something to this gift for all by Her own death.

But Jesus needed no helper in the redemption of all, for He redeemed all without a helper. Therefore He says, “I am reckoned with those who go down into the pit. I have become like a man without help, cast off among the dead” (Ps 87:5-6).

Yes, He received the feeling of His Mother, but He did not seek assistance.

Imitate Her, holy mothers, who in Her only beloved Son gave the example of the greatest maternal courage. For you have no sons more dear, and the Virgin did not seek consolation by bearing another son.

The Latin aula regalis is Ambrose’s cherished expression, indicating Mary as the bearer of the divine King. Ambrose does not appear to share the later opinion that Mary became a redeemer together with Christ. The Latin expression homo sine adiutorio means “a man without help.”

He who cried at home, ‘Let us also die with Him’ (Jn 11:16), has left You. And where now are all the others, Your household and Your sons, who are to judge the twelve tribes of Your Israel?

There is no one. You alone die for all, Child. You have saved all. You have benefited all, My Son and My God.”

Jesus answered Mary:

“Therefore endure a little, O Mother, and You will see how I, like a physician, first gird Myself and hasten to where they lie, the forefathers.

Then I shall examine their wounds, cutting away the growths and hardnesses with the spear. I shall receive vinegar also, with which I shall heal their sores. Having probed the wound with the points of the nails, I shall apply My outer garment to it.

And My Cross, holding it as a vessel bearing healing, I shall use, O Mother, so that You may sing from the soul: ‘Voluntarily has My Son and My God destroyed suffering.’

Therefore put away, Mother, put away grief, and go with joy. Behold, I hasten to the work for which I came, to fulfill the will of Him who sent Me.

For this was foreordained for Me in the beginning. It was well-pleasing to My Father and to My Spirit that I become man and suffer for fallen humanity.

Therefore, Virgin, go quickly and proclaim to all that the Sufferer strikes down the hater of Adam. My Son and My God goes forth as Victor.”

When the guard of Roman soldiers, who had surrounded the place of execution, returned after the sentence had been carried out, only a few soldiers remained by the crosses. These were those who had performed the crucifixion and were guarding the crucified, together with the centurion.

Then some of those close to the Lord resolved to draw nearer to the Cross of their crucified Teacher and Lord. They were His most pure Mother, Her sister Mary the wife of Cleopas, Mary Magdalene, and the Evangelist John himself.

Here, as elsewhere in his Gospel, John calls himself the disciple whom Jesus loved.

She accompanied Him during His journeys and zealously provided Him with whatever support she could (Lk 8:3-4). Now the same holy love placed her at the cross.

Not far from the cross we also see Salome, the wife of Zebedee and mother of the Apostles James and John (Mk 15:40; Mt 27:56).

We see several other women as well, who had come with the Savior from Galilee to Jerusalem (Mk 15:41; Lk 23:49).

Was any of the Apostles at the cross of Jesus? There was the disciple whom Jesus loved, that is, John.

His love led him from the courtyard of the high priest to Golgotha. It also inspired him with firmness to stand by the cross of Jesus, despite danger from Jesus’ enemies.

Was any other disciple at the cross of Jesus? Was fiery Peter there? Was searching Thomas there? Was Judas, the lover of divine visions, there?

The Evangelists show us no one else at the cross of Jesus except John. According to Thomas’s words, one may think that he saw Jesus on Golgotha.

Yet this was already after His side had been pierced and His most pure body was without breath.

Thus, as Chrysostom observes, “the weaker sex then proved courageous.” “The disciples fled, but they were present.”

“There stood by the cross of Jesus His Mother.” More than for anyone else, it was grievous for the Mother of Jesus to see Her only Son on the cross.

Simeon the God-receiver saw in spirit the position of the Theotokos at the cross. He powerfully and precisely depicted Her state.

“And a sword will pierce through your own soul also,” he says (Lk 2:35). Sorrow, like a sharp sword, now pierced Her heart.

Her only Son, such a Son as no mother ever had, was now dishonored and mocked. His divine majesty She understood, yet kept hidden in the depths of Her meek heart.

His words She kept in Her soul, as words not earthly but heavenly. Now He endures the fierce sorrows of the cross and dies.

Her only Son, in whom lay all Her consolation on earth and all the support of Her life, hangs upon the cross.

No other mother can understand or measure the sorrow of such a Mother. And yet the Full of Grace stood by the cross.

Amid all Her cruel sorrow, She was firm. She did not faint beneath the weight of griefs, nor did She yield to weakness of soul and body.

She stood in silence. She did not complain of human injustice, fully known to Her, nor of their inhuman cruelty, nor of Her own helplessness.

She stood and did not withdraw from the cross, though it was so heavy for Her.

What gave Her such extraordinary strength? A mother’s natural love for Her Son could not have stood beneath the weight of the sorrows piercing the wondrous Mother’s heart.

She was firm through other feelings, other thoughts, and another, higher power.

She was firm through faith in the divine power of Her Son, known to Her from the manifest and hidden wonders of His life.

This faith clothed Her with heavenly power, unconquerable by anything earthly.

She was firm through faith that raised Her natural love for Her Son to the degree of spiritual love.

Nothing could separate Her heart from God. In obedient silence it bears everything appointed by the Most High.

Mary was not only immaculate, but also Mary Full of Grace.

Turn, sorrowful hearts, to the most blessed Mary, the Mother. She will teach you with what thoughts and disposition sorrows must be borne.

She will give you strength to bear the misfortunes of life with firmness. She will give you help, because Her divine Son loves Her.