When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved,
he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son.”
Then he said to the disciple,
“Behold, your mother.”
It is of course touching that among the last acts of Jesus was to ensure that his mother would be cared for by the beloved disciple. To the very end he was a faithful Jew who kept the commandment to hold his parents in honor. More than that, he clearly loved her with love beyond all telling, just as she did him. Yet this event was about more the next few years or decades of her earthly life. It was also archetypal. He addressed her as Woman because she was to be the fullness of what womanhood was meant to be, as Eve had been meant to, but failed to achieve. Eve was meant to pass on her maternal blessing to all subsequent generations, she the mother of the living, and they her children. But to do so required faithfulness to the promise and plan of God, faithfulness which she rejected. But things did not end there. The blessings that were meant to come through Eve were not so much negated as they were delayed.
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.
Jesus not only gave Mary to be the mother of John, but also to every beloved disciple, in whom all of us are meant to see ourselves. This was clearly about more than ensuring that she would be comfortable for the rest of her earthly life. She was to convey maternal blessings, far exceeding those vouchsafed to Eve, to all of her children. In a real way she would be a mother to them, helping bring to birth the image of her son in them. Eve chose death when prompted by the serpent and thus was never truly the mother of the living she was meant to be. But Mary chose to be faithful to the call of the angel and to the mission of her son and thus became the mother of those who truly live, who "keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus" (see Revelation 12:17). Her motherhood is not merely decorative, or a saccharine story we tell ourselves to make ourselves feel better. Jesus decided that it was through her that the blessing of life would be given to the world. And he still chooses her to convey to us the blessings with which he intends to fill his Body, the Church.
Jesus said, “I thirst.”
There appears to be a connection between the gift to the Church of the Mother of God and that of the Holy Spirit. We remember the other time Jesus said he was thirsty to the Samaritan woman at the well which led to his promise of streams of life-giving water (see John 4:1-36). Here on the cross, after giving Mary as mother to John, he mentioned this thirst again. And it was not long that his thirst would be sated, not so much by the wine he was offered, as by the flow of water unleashed from his side. Whereas the pierced side of Adam brought forth Eve who, together with him, chose death, the wounded side of Jesus unleashed the Spirit upon the world and brought forth the Body of which Mary was both mother and exemplar.
All these devoted themselves with one accord to prayer,
together with some women,
and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.
As the disciples prepared to receive the gift of the Spirit themselves they did so together with Mary, who had already experienced being overshadowed by the Spirit. She knew how to welcome him and could convey that to those in one accord with her. We may know have a sense of the way that bringing a spirit-filled individual with us to a prayer gathering of those with less experience can elevate the atmosphere. This would be like that, but infinitely greater. This gift was not just for John, nor for those early disciples, but is meant for us well. Like John we are meant to make room for Mary in our lives and in our homes. Like the disciples we are to join ourselves to her in our prayers so that we may be as open as possible to receive the Holy Spirit. Like Jesus, we are to prioritize our love for her above almost everything else, knowing our love for her won't stop with her, but redound to the glory of God and the good of our neighbor.
And of Zion they shall say:
“One and all were born in her;
And he who has established her
is the Most High LORD.”
Songs In His Presence - Bright As The Sun
No comments:
Post a Comment