While the U3A course R09 "What the Bible is about" is on hiatus, our discussion board is still available to discuss biblical issues. As we approach Mother's Day, a?question came up in the course of some emails that I'd like to share with you.? QuestionWhy?did Jesus give custodianship of His mother, Mary, to his disciple John, instead of to his brother(s)?
One of the "throw-away" facts included in the New Testament that tends to pass without analysis is John 19:26-27 where Jesus, on the cusp of death on the Cross, directed the Apostle John, His (first) cousin, to take of His mother, Mary, despite the fact that Mary had at least four living sons per Matthew?13:55.? John, as the youngest of the Twelve, would likely have been younger than at least some, if not all, of Mary's sons.
The Roman Catholic Church doesn't have a problem with this since they declared Mary ever-virgin (this is a topic in itself) and assigned Jesus' half-brothers to a mother or mothers other than Mary, either a sister of Mary or an earlier wife or wives of Joseph. However, with their focus on sola scriptura (the Bible as the sole authority), the Protestant reformers recognized that scripture only required belief in the virgin birth, but was silent on perpetual virginity.? Some early reformers like Luther and Zwingli who had been Catholic priests held on to the idea of perpetual virginity, but Protestantism largely rejects it.
I'll address this question from the scriptural (Protestant) perspective. John 19:26-27 states, "When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to His mother, 'Woman, behold your son!'??Then He said to the disciple, 'Behold your mother!' And from that hour that disciple took her to his own home."
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English (KJV)
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Strong's
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Greek Root
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Tense
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mother
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g3384
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μ?τηρ
尘ē迟ē谤
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1)????? a mother 2)????? metaphor. the source of something
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behold
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g2400
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?δο?
idou
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behold, see,
lo
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son!
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g5207
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υ???
huios
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1)? ??a son ? ? ?d)?????
in a wider
sense, a descendant, one of the posterity of any one of, ? ? ? ? ? ?1)?????
the children
of Israel ? ? ? ? ? ?2)?????
sons of
Abraham ? ? ?e) ??used to describe one who depends on another or is
his follower ? ? ? ? ? ?1)?????
a pupil 3)? ? ?son of God ? ? ? b)? ??used to
describe those who are born again (Lk. 20:36) and of angels and of Jesus
Christ ? ? ? c)? ? ?of those
whom God esteems as sons, whom he loves, protects and benefits above others ? ? ? ? ? ? 1)?????
in the OT
used of the Jews ? ? ? ? ? ? 2)?????
in the NT of
Christians ? ? ? ? ? ? 3)?????
those whose
character God, as a loving father, shapes by chastisements (Heb. 12:5-8) ? ? ? d) ?? those who revere God as their father, the pious
worshippers of God, those who in character and life resemble God, those who
are governed by the Spirit of God, repose the same calm and joyful trust in
God that children do in their parents (Rom. 8:14, Gal. 3:26 ), and hereafter
in the blessedness and glory of the life eternal will openly wear this
dignity of the sons of God. A term used preeminently of Jesus Christ, as
enjoying the supreme love of God, united to him in affectionate intimacy,
privy to his saving councils, obedient to the Father's will in all his acts
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Rationale
The majority of Protestant commentators suggest Jesus, Mary's first-born son, established the relationship re-alignments noted in John
19:26-27 because none of Mary’s other sons were Christians at the time.? As an aside, this is supported by the Bible Codes, where equidistant letter sequence (ELS) codes that underlay Isaiah 53 (a prophecy of His trial and crucifixion) include all names noted in the New Testament to be present at the crucifixion but exclude the names of His brethren James, Joses, Simon, and Judas (Jude) (Matthew 13:55).
Mary was already a widow; it is
probable from reading the Gospels that Joseph was no longer living and that
Jesus her firstborn had been her primary support.? Thus from the Cross Jesus was transferring
His duty to maintain His Mother into the care of John, the only disciple still
standing by Him (others would return later).?
This was a tremendous honour to John, as he well knew being “the disciple whom Jesus loved.”? “Hearken unto thy
father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old.”
(Proverb 23:22)
In addition, Jesus’ brothers were not
as yet believers and thus were not suitable for assuming Jesus’ role.? Furthermore, although at least James and Jude
became believers after the Resurrection (see the Books of James and Jude and 2 John
1:4), James was to be murdered well before Mary’s death.? Witness the prophecy of Isaiah 51:18, “There is none to guide her among all the
sons whom she hath brought forth; neither is there any that taketh her by the
hand of all the sons that she hath brought up.”
In the end, Mary stayed in John’s
house, first in Jerusalem and later in Ephesus, as may be observed in the
Second Epistle of John, which is a loving letter from John to his “mother”, the
Elect Lady in Ephesus.? “Grace be with you, mercy, and peace, from
God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth
and love.” (2 John 1:3)? What comfort
these words would have been to Mary, reminding her of God’s special gift to her
those many years ago, but also reminding her of her duty to posterity.
While some speculate that Jesus knew
that John would be the only disciple (or brother) to live longer than Mary, may
I speculate that perhaps his caring role for Mary was the reason why he lived
so long?? In brief, without Jesus’ act spelled
out in John 19:26-27, the full New Testament Canon would not have been
complete, and 2 John could not have been written. Please enjoy your Mothers' Day 2022 this Sunday,
Blessings,
Ray Ray Sarlin, Tutor U3A R09
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