ACC ~ John 19 v25
JESUS’ ACTIONS CONTRASTED WITH THE SOLDIERS’
CHRYSOSTOM: The soldiers did these things to him, but while on the cross, he commits his mother to the disciple, teaching us to show every care for our parents even to our last breath. When indeed she unseasonably troubled him, he said, “Woman, what have I to do with you?” [1] and “Who is my mother?” [2] But here he shows how much he loves his mother and commits her to the disciple whom he loved. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 85.2. [3]
[1] See Jn 2:4.
[2] Mt 12:48.
[3] NPNF 1 14:318**.
ONLY JOHN INCLUDES MARY’S PRESENCE
AMBROSE: Mary, the mother of the Lord, stood by her Son’s cross. No one has taught me this but the holy Evangelist John. Others have related how the earth was shaken at the Lord’s passion, the sky was covered with darkness, the sun withdrew itself [1] and how the thief was, after a faithful confession, received into paradise. [2] John tells us what the others have not told, how the Lord while fixed on the cross called to his mother. He thought it was more important that, victorious over his sufferings, Jesus gave her the offices of piety than that he gave her a heavenly kingdom. For if it is the mark of religion to grant pardon to the thief, it is a mark of much greater piety that a mother is honored with such affection by her Son. “Behold,” he says, “your son.”… “Behold your mother.” Christ testified from the cross and divided the offices of piety between the mother and the disciple. …
Nor was Mary below what was becoming the mother of Christ. When the apostles fled, she stood at the cross and with pious eyes beheld her Son’s wounds. For she did not look to the death of her offspring but to the salvation of the world. Or perhaps, because that “royal hall” [3] knew that the redemption of the world would be through the death of her Son, she thought that by her death she also might add something to that universal gift. But Jesus did not need a helper for the redemption of all, who saved all without a helper. [4] This is why he says, “I am counted among those who go down to the pit. I am like those who have no help.” [5] He received indeed the affection of his mother but sought not another’s help. Imitate her, holy mothers, who in her only dearly beloved Son set forth so great an example of maternal virtue. For neither have you sweeter children, nor did the Virgin seek the consolation of being able to bear another son. [6] LETTER 63.109-11. [7]
MARY QUESTIONS HER SON’S HASTE TO THE CROSS
ROMANUS MELODUS:
The lamb, beholding her lamb advancing to the slaughter,
Followed Him wearily with the other women, saying,
“Where dost Thou go, O my son?
Is there another wedding in Cana,
And dost Thou hasten there to turn water into wine?
Shall I go with Thee, my child, or shall I wait for Thee?
Give me word, O Word, some word, and do not pass me by in silence,
O Thou who hast kept me pure,
My son and my God. …
“Thou dost advance, my child, to an unjust death,
And no one suffers with Thee. Peter does not accompany Thee—he who said to Thee,
‘I shall never deny Thee, even if I die.’ [8]
Thomas has left Thee—he who said: ‘Let us all die with Him.’ [9]
And again the others, well-known and intimate friends,
Destined to judge the tribes of Israel, where are they now?
No one of all of them is here. But the One above all,
Thou, alone, O Son art to die in return for all whom Thou hast gratified,
My son and my God.” …
[Jesus replies] “Bear up for a short time, O Mother, and thou shall shalt see
How, like a physician, I strip and come where they lie dead
And cure their wounds,
Cutting their callousness and hardness with the spear;
And I take the vinegar and use it as an astringent on the wound;
And when I have opened up the cut with the surgical lancet of the nails, I shall use my cloak as dressing,
Using my cross as remedy,
I use it, O Mother, so that thou mayest sing with understanding: [10]
’He has redeemed suffering by suffering,
My son and my God.’
“Lay aside thy grief, Mother,
And advance with joy; for I now hasten to that for which I came,
To do the will of Him who sent me;
For, from the first this was ordained for me by my Father,
And it was not displeasing to my spirit
That I should assume human form and suffer for the fallen.
Then, O Mother, hastening, tell all people
That by suffering He strikes down the one who hates Adam
And, having conquered, He comes,
My son and my God.”
KONTAKION ON MARY AT THE CROSS 19.1, 3, 13-14. [11]
[1] Mt 27:45.
[2] Lk 23:43.
[3] A favorite expression of Ambrose emphasizing Mary as the bearer of the divine king.
[4] Ambrose here seems to speak against the idea of Mary as co-redeemer with Christ that developed within later Marian piety. For further discussion, see Paula Bowes, “Mary and the Early Christian Fathers,” Epiphany 4.4 (summer 1984):45-55.
[5] Ps 88:4-5 (87:5-6 LXX).
[6] See note 23 on perpetual virginity under Jn 19:27.
[7] NPNF 2 10:472-73**.
[8] MT 26:35; MK 14:31.
[9] JN 11:16.
[10] PS 47:7 (46:8 LXX).
[11] KRBM 1:196-97, 201-2.
MARY’S APPREHENSION ABOUT THE INEVITABLE
BASIL THE GREAT: Simeon … prophesies about Mary herself, that when standing by the cross and seeing what is being done and hearing the voices, after the witness of Gabriel, after her secret knowledge of the divine conception, after the great exhibition of miracles, she shall feel about her soul a mighty tempest. The Lord was bound to taste of death for every human being—to become a propitiation for the world and to justify all people by his own blood. LETTERS 260.9. [1]
[1] NPNF 2 8:299.
THE WOMEN REMAIN AS THE DISCIPLES FLEE
CHRYSOSTOM: The women stood by the cross [as the disciples fled], and the weaker appeared the stronger. From that point, everything was entirely transformed. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 85.2. [1]
[1] NPNF 1 14:318**.
IS MARY, WIFE OF CLOPAS, JAMES’S MOTHER?
JEROME: The Mary who is described as the mother of James the less was the wife of Alphaeus and sister of Mary the Lord’s mother, the one who is called by John the Evangelist “Mary of Clopas,” whether after her father or family or for some other reason. But if you think they are two persons because elsewhere we read, “Mary the mother of James the less,” and here, “Mary of Clopas,” you have still to learn that it is customary in Scripture for the same individual to bear different names. THE PERPETUAL VIRGINITY OF MARY 15. [1]
[1] NPNF 2 6:341**.
TRADITION’S IDENTIFICATION OF CLOPAS
EUSEBIUS OF CAESAREA: Hegesippus relates that Clopas was the brother of Joseph. ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY 3.11.2. [1]
[1] NPNF 2 1:146*.
MARY MAGDALENE IN TWO PLACES?
AUGUSTINE: If Matthew and Mark had not mentioned by name Mary Magdalene, we might have thought that there were two parties, one who stood far away and the other near. … But how can we account for the same Mary Magdalene and the other women standing far off, as Matthew and Mark say, and being near the cross, as John says? We can do so by supposing that they were within such a distance as to be within sight of our Lord and yet sufficiently far off to be out of the way of the crowd and centurion and soldiers who were immediately around him. Or we may suppose that after our Lord had commended his mother to the disciple, they retired to be out of the way of the crowd and saw what took place afterward at a distance. In this way, those Evangelists who do not mention them till after our Lord’s death describe them as standing far away. That some women are mentioned by all alike, others not, makes no difference. HARMONY OF THE GOSPELS 3.21.58. [1]
[1] NPNF 1 6:207-8**.
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