The text for this Third Word of our Lord from the Cross, is John 19:25-27, which read, “Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala. When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, ‘Dear woman, here is your son,’ and to the disciple, ‘Here is your mother.’ From that time on, this disciple took her into his house.”

Dear Friends in Christ,

“Woman, behold your son.” Those are four simple words that seem to be telling us the story of a simple loving moment between a son being executed and his mother. However, these four simple words carry a great deal of theological weight and significance. And these four simple words are also telling us the story of a simple loving moment between a God and His people. For in this third word of Jesus from the cross, we see that Jesus is truly human and that Jesus is truly God.

It is easy to see the humanity of Christ in these words, “Woman, Behold your Son.” In fact, I daresay that this is probably one of the first thing that people see when they read or hear this story. Jesus is showing His love and affection for His mother, the woman who bore Him in her womb, the woman who gave birth to Him, the woman who took care of Him as He grew from a small child into a man. No one can deny that Jesus is truly human when they hear or read this story.

And this truly is a heart-wrenching story when you think about it. My mother-in-law has often said that one never truly knows what love is until he or she has a child. And I would have to agree with her. Oh, not that one can’t truly love his or her spouse before a child is born, but rather to understand love takes a child who is totally and completely dependant upon you and loves you with that innocent love. And I am sure that it is much more intense for mothers, because they get to become attached to this child even before the child is born. Mothers have always had a special bond with their children that Fathers can only imagine.

And here in the Gospel according to St. John, we see a mother standing at the foot of the cross—standing at the foot of the very thing that is killing her son. This is a mother who has to watch her son be executed in front of her. Oh, the agony she must have felt! This is what was meant 33 years earlier on the day when Jesus was circumcised when Simeon told Mary that a sword would pierce her own soul too (Luke 2:35b).

And Jesus saw His mother suffering, and His heart went out to her. And He said the words of our text: “‘Dear woman, here is your son,’ and to the disciple, ‘Here is your mother.’” He knows that His mother is hurting. He knows that He is leaving her, and He attends to the future welfare of His mother. He assigns the disciple John to take care of her and the text says that he does. So, again it is truly easy to see the humanity of our Savior in this tender moment that occurs toward the very end of His earthly life.

But is that all there is here? Is that all we can see in this third word of Christ—a tender moment between Jesus and His mother in which we glimpse the human side of our Lord? Is that all that is here? I don’t think so. For in these two phrases of our Lord from the cross, we not only get to see the humanity of Jesus, but we also get to see the true divinity of Jesus. We do get to see the love that Jesus had for His mother, but we also get to see the love that God has for His people—the love He has for us.

The key to seeing this powerful side of this story is to look at the one simple word, “Woman.” Jesus, although He is providing for His mother and showing compassion for her by providing for her future, He doesn’t call her “Mother.” He calls her “Woman.” Some of the translations add the word “dear” to this saying of Jesus, but in the original, it is not there. He doesn’t say, “dear woman” or “mother,” He says “Woman.” “Woman, behold your son.” Why would he do that? Some have suggested that He is trying to spare her of the pain that she would have if He were to actually call her mother from the cross. Others have suggested that He is trying to keep the Roman guards from identifying her as His mother. Both of these seem unlikely because of the nature of the rest of what He said. They would know that she was her mother and she probably couldn’t be any more hurt than she already was.

No, the choice of the word “Woman” is more significant than that. How interesting it is that the only two times Jesus’ mother is mentioned in the book of John, He refers to her as “Woman” and not mother. The other one was at the very beginning of His public ministry at the “Wedding at Cana,” when Mary had suggested to Jesus that He help the bridegroom out. Both times, Jesus seems to be separating Himself from her a little. He does not deny that she is her mother, but when it comes to His work of salvation there is a more important relationship between the two of them. He was truly her son, but more importantly, He was her Lord and Savior.

We see this most clearly in the scene at the cross. It is as if Jesus was saying, “You are my mother, and I love you. So I am going to make sure you are taken care of in your future here on this earth. Here is someone to take my place and care for you. But more important than the fact that I am your son, is the fact that I am your Lord and Savior. And I love you as your Lord too, just like I love the whole world. That is why I am here after all—to die here on the cross for you and for the whole world.” You see, with that one word, “woman,” Jesus was making Mary equal with the rest of us. She was His mother, to be sure, but she was also a sinner in need of a savior, just like us. He had a special human relationship to her and He loved her, but more significantly, He as our God, has a special relationship to all of us. He is our Savior and Lord, and He loves us. He loves us so much that He died there on that cross that day in our place. He died and forgave the sins of us, of Mary, and of everyone else who has and ever will live.

This is the comfort WE have in these words of our Lord to His mother. While He was showing compassion for His mother and providing for her earthly future, He was at the same time providing for her and for all of our heavenly future.

So we see a great deal more than the human side of Jesus in these four simple words. We see words of love toward Mary, toward His disciple John, to the others who were standing by, but also to all of us. Jesus was providing for His mother by putting John in His place, and providing for His people by dying on the cross for them. In these four simple words, “Woman, behold your son,” we get a glimpse of the true humanity of our Savior, as well as the true divinity of a God who would give up all for a sinful people. Thanks be to God for the love that He has shown us in these words. Amen.