"Behold your son"

[marciebaby]

But if the "brothers" of Jesus were really just "relatives," Jesus could have sent Mary to live with one of them just as easily.

 

[Albion]

"When Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing near, he said to his mother, "Woman, behold, your son!"
Then he said to the disciple, "Behold, your mother!" And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home." (John 19:26-27)

So, why did Jesus do this from the cross? Is there any deeper meaning to the words and/or the timing? Or was He just taking care of a last little bit of business, asking John to take care of His mother (a funny place and time to do this, it seems)?

BTW, did Jesus even have a right to send His mother to live with John, if He had brothers?

There's nothing mysterious about this passage. Jesus was shortly to leave the world, so he was saying to his younger brother "Now it is up to YOU to take care of Mom." Saying "behold your son" means, essentially, look upon him.

 

[blackwasp]

Many assume he died early in Jesus's life.

So in other words, we have no idea. He may very well have been alive.

 

[marciebaby]

So in other words, we have no idea. He may very well have been alive.

I think most scholars believe he died because he is mentioned nowhere in scripture after Jesus' youth.

 

[Hadron]

I think most scholars believe he died because he is mentioned nowhere in scripture after Jesus' youth.

How come Mary is never spoken of as a widow? Simple question... no need to read anything into it.

 

[Splendor Of My Soul]

How come Mary is never spoken of as a widow? Simple question... no need to read anything into it.

No one really knows why, and perhaps isn't that important anymore. The Bible is likewise silent on Jesus' teenage years yet no one says Jesus was never a teenager.

The simple fact that Jesus entrusted his mother to his beloved disciple clearly tell us that St. Joseph was already gone at that time. Jesus would never have done so if Joseph was still alive.

Pax Vobiscum

Gerardo

 

[Splendor Of My Soul]

I think most scholars believe he died because he is mentioned nowhere in scripture after Jesus' youth.

And of course we must consider that Joseph was much, much older than Mary, and it wouldn't be surprising if he's no longer living when Jesus began his public ministry.

Pax Vobiscum

Gerardo

 

[Spence06]

To be honest, I use to not think that Jesus was giving Mary to us all, but I read and read it over and over again and changed my mind.

It just seemed so strange in my opinon on how he did it. Why do it then? Doesn't make any sense in mind, so I believe hes talking to us all when he gives us our Spiritual Mother, in the Blessed Mother.

 

[tqpix]

That passage reminds me of this passage:

[bible]Matthew 12:47-50[/bible]

 

[blackwasp]

Perhaps Jesus' other brothers didn't believe in his ministry (other than the apostle James, which you can ignore if you are Catholic {to avoid going off topic}), and therefore Jesus was telling John to mentor and minister to his mother?

 

[Albion]

To be honest, I use to not think that Jesus was giving Mary to us all, but I read and read it over and over again and changed my mind.

It just seemed so strange in my opinon on how he did it. Why do it then? Doesn't make any sense in mind, so I believe hes talking to us all when he gives us our Spiritual Mother, in the Blessed Mother.

I find that to be entirely fanciful, since the person he commended his mother to was his brother John. Even if one doesn't think John was Jesus' brother, it was he who was being addressed. There's no hint in that passage about giving his mother to the world, all generations, the Church, or so on.

 

[Iollain]

Christians do not have a 'Holy Mother', we have the Holy Spirit, i find this to be blasphemy of the Holy Spirit.

 

[Hadron]

But honoring Mary helps us to understand the beauty of what Jesus accomplished!

 

[Kepha]

http://biblia.com/christ/mary.htm

John represented US when Jesus proclaimed Mary the mother of the disciple, and the disciple the son of His Mother. We were all represented at Calvary in this "disciple". She was the Mother of Jesus, the Mother of John, the Mother of us all.

 

[Kepha]

Christians do not have a 'Holy Mother', we have the Holy Spirit, i find this to be blasphemy of the Holy Spirit.

You mean the Holy Spirit who is God, who is Jesus who's Mother is Mary?

 

[Iollain]

YOu guys can do as you please, i'm having no part in it. Jesus wanted Mary to stay with John, he took her into his house.

 

[Kepha]

YOu guys can do as you please, i'm having no part in it. Jesus wanted Mary to stay with John, he took her into his house.

I don't do as I please. I do the Will of God.

 

[Hadron]

But honoring Mary helps us to understand the beauty of what Jesus accomplished!

Just kidding. I don't believe this one bit. Eyes not on Jesus are just that... eyes not on Jesus.

 

[marciebaby]

I find that to be entirely fanciful, since the person he commended his mother to was his brother John. Even if one doesn't think John was Jesus' brother, it was he who was being addressed. There's no hint in that passage about giving his mother to the world, all generations, the Church, or so on.

I know that there are four names listed in scripture as Jesus' brothers, but John isn't one of them. Is it widely believed that John was a brother of Jesus? Where does this information come from?

 

[Albion]

But honoring Mary helps us to understand the beauty of what Jesus accomplished!

Just how does honoring Mary help us to understand that by Christ's death on the Cross for the sins of the world we may find eternal salvation? I'd say that His life is the defining event of human history and would be that even if we were not told who his mother was at all.