The Gospel reading for Good Friday was the Gospel of John chapter 18 and 19. This reading deals with the passion of Jesus Christ. One passage that some would do well to heed is chapter 19:26-27(KJV).
When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son!
Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own [home].”
This passage has so many layers to it. The first layer of interest is that Jesus gives his mother to the Apostle John. This is interesting because if Mary had other children, Jesus would not have given his mother to a non family member. Giving his mother to the Apostle John would have been incredibly insulting to his “brothers”. Jesus would have broke Jewish tradition if he had blood brothers and had done this. I have heard the argument that Jesus holds tradition in low esteem. This is not true. He held traditions of men that nullify the word of God in low esteem. This would not have been the case in this situation.
The second aspect that I find intriguing is that there is more than one level of meaning for Jesus giving his mother to the “disciple he loved”. On one level, this is the Apostle John. On another level, this is all of us who are disciples of Jesus Christ. Jesus loves all his disciples and he has given us his Mother. She is now the Mother of the whole Church. Catholics recognize this, it is about time that all Christians do the same. Mary is truly a treasure of the Church. She intercedes on our behalf. She loves us like her own children. She is the Mother of the Church. Jesus truly has made her blessed!
Here is a link to a project that will be a series of hour long interviews fully based on the writings of the first century Apostles.
http://www.apostleinterview.com
Imagine if our twenty first century broadcast media technology was available in the first century reporting on the events and famous people of the day. Herein is the concept. A modern style in-depth interview of the first Apostles. The interview will allow the Apostles to speak the doctrine they wrote for the viewer to hear first hand.
The first interview is with the incarcerated Paul and conducted by Josephus, a secular historian of the day known by Paul.
Please offer your comments.