Behold Your Mother

20th Sunday after Pentecost

Gal 1:11-19
Luke 7:11-16

Some 800 years before Jesus, the Prophet Elijah was hiding out from the evil king of the Northern Kingdom, a man named Ahab.  The Lord told him to go to Zarephath, a town where a woman, a widow, had been commanded to feed the prophet.  She was running out of flour and oil, and she was about to make one last loaf of bread for herself and her son – and then they would just lie down and die.  But she obeyed the word of the Lord that came through the prophet, and for the time that Elijah was there, they always had enough to eat. 

After a time, her son got sick and died.  As the story continues in the Bible, “So she said to Elijah, ‘Why have you done this to me, man of God? Have you come to me to call attention to my guilt and to kill my son?’  Elijah said to her, ‘Give me your son.’ Taking him from her lap, he carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his own bed. He called out to the LORD: ‘LORD, my God, will you afflict even the widow with whom I am staying by killing her son?’ Then he stretched himself out upon the child three times, and he called out to the LORD: ‘LORD, my God, let the life breath return to the body of this child.’ The LORD heard the prayer of Elijah; the life breath returned to the child’s body, and he lived.”

Luke, both in the Gospel and in Acts, approaches teaching the faith through narrative, following the model of the Old Testament. That’s what he does in today’s Gospel.

Matthew’s Gospel provides insight into the thinking of the people at the time.  We read, “When Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi he asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say that the Son of Man is?’ They replied, ‘Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’” Jesus knew that people were looking for Elijah to return.

In raising this widow’s son, He proves Himself greater than the prophet they’re looking for.  Elijah lay on top of the boy from Zarephath, praying, pleading with God to raise the boy.  But Jesus? Jesus said, “Get up”.

Elijah prayed that God conquer death. Jesus commanded, and death was conquered.

But there’s more to the story.  In both accounts, we see that God is concerned with widows who’ve lost their sons.  He would not leave them destitute.

Tradition holds that Joseph died before Jesus began His ministry.  Why is there no reason to doubt that? We can see from the Gospels that Mary accompanied her Son in His ministry.  Joseph wasn’t even mentioned at the Wedding at Cana.  If he were still alive, wouldn’t he show up somewhere?

From the cross, we see Jesus showing the same concern for His mother that He shows for other widows. John tells us, “Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala. 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.’ And from that hour the disciple took her into his home”.

But don’t the Gospels talk about brothers and sisters of Jesus?  There are two things in the passage I just read. The first is that in the New Testament, brother and sister don’t necessarily mean children of the same parent. Would the Virgin’s parents give the same name, Mary, to two daughters?  That wouldn’t make sense, would it?  And where brothers and sisters of Jesus are mentioned, they are never called children of Mary. In addition to calling them children of the same parents, the terms are used to indicate close relatives. We see the same terminology in Genesis, where Laban, who is previously called the brother of Rebecca, is referred to as the brother of Jacob, Rebecca’s son.

The other thing we notice is that Jesus felt the need to give care for His mother to one of His disciples. You see, crucifixion is excruciating.  Breathing is difficult, and getting enough air in your lungs to allow speech is even more difficult.  If Mary had other children, her care would naturally go to them.  For Jesus to give her care to another would be an insult. Do you really think that, while dying, Jesus would make that effort to insult a sibling?

And, He didn’t give care of His mother to just anyone. John, the disciple who loved him, wasn’t just a disciple.  He was one of the Apostles, and not just one of the Apostles.  Time after time, the Gospels talk about the three who were closest to Jesus – Peter, James, and John. He was part of the inner circle, as it were. 

Peter had denied Jesus three times.  James – well, Scripture says that all the Apostles ran away – all but one.  John stayed by him until the end.

At that point, John represented not just the Apostles, but the entire Church.

And Jesus said, “Woman, behold your son”.  He was giving her not just John as a son, He was giving you and me.  He was giving the whole Church!

So, along with God as our Father and Jesus as our brother and redeemer, we have a mother that we share, a mother who cares, and a mother who, as mother of the King, has the authority to approach the King with our petitions, just as Bathesheba took Adonijah’s petition to her son, Solomon.

I’ve thrown a lot at you today, so let me recap.

• Jesus is God. He cares about not just widows, but all of us. As God, He can speak the words to make miracles happen.
• At the time of the crucifixion, Mary was a widow with no children except Jesus.
• Jesus gave the care of Mary to John. When He did that, He gave her to John, and by extension, to all of us as mother.
• As our mother, she loves us and has the boldness and authority to bring our petitions to her Son, the King.

So, remembering that, will you join with me as we pray….

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus.  Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us now and at the hour of our death. Amen