(Audio)
Then he said to the disciple,
“Behold, your mother.”
And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.
We know that Jesus gave Mary to be the mother not only of John, but of us as well. She is the mother of the Church. Eve was meant to be "mother of all the living." But because of the disobedience of her and her husband death was brought into the world and she became instead the mother of spiritually dead. God was not content to let things stand as they were.
I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and hers;
He will strike at your head,
while you strike at his heel.
It was many years before the promised offspring would come. The promise of the seed of the woman was obscure because the seed was usually said to be from the man. It wasn't until a virgin gave birth that the veil of this mystery was lifted. Eve had been unable to fulfill the promise of her name to be the mother of the living. Only in Jesus Christ was the curse of death finally reversed, its sting removed, its triumph ended.
I am the living one. I died, but look—I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and the grave (see Revelation 1:18).
United to Jesus his people also receive new life.
We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life (see Romans 6:4).
United to Jesus his people learn to call God Father. But we do not stop there. We also learn to call Mary our mother just as John did. Her role in salvation history was not random or arbitrary. Her own obedience undid the disobedience of Eve. It was precisely this act, her yes to God, made possible by his grace, that opened the world to receive its savior. This yes was the invitation that caused the Holy Spirit to overshadow her.
And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God (see Luke 1:35).
It is was in the by a perpetual yes to God that Mary continued to live her life. Her yes was a continual welcoming of the Holy Spirit. She was with the Church in the upper room as they devoted themselves to prayer. But it was almost as though that upper room was her own womb, bringing the Church to birth.
All these devoted themselves with one accord to prayer,
together with some women,
and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.
The old Eve was created from the side of Adam. Mary, the new Eve, was at the cross when the side of Jesus, the new Adam, was pierced and the blood and water poured forth as the source of life for her and all who would be her children. This is why Scripture itself describes "the rest of her offspring, those who keep God’s commandments and bear witness to Jesus" (see Revelation 12:17).
Certainly there is beauty in the truth that Mary is our mother. It is wonderful to know that God only permits suffering and disobedience that he may bring from it some greater good. It is beautiful to see that Eve's no to God redeemed by Mary's yes. But there is a promise here that is greater than mere sentimentality. The yes of Mary can continue to have practical consequences for us just as it did for the disciples if we, as they, rely on her as our mother. The Spirit that never ceases to overshadow her can fill us as well. Through her the image of her Son can be perfected in us. This does not stem from any ability or power of her own, but from the grace God gave her to simply speak that yes and to not get in the way of his work in her. Precisely because there would be no mistake about to whom credit for our salvation was due God was and still is delighted to do so much through her.
And of Zion they shall say:
“One and all were born in her;
And he who has established her
is the Most High LORD.”
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