Homilies from the Anglican Church of the Good Shepherd

“When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother.” +In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

At the end of the 19th chapter of Saint John’s gospel, Jesus makes settles an earthly matter before taking his last breath, and it is about his mother. Just before he gives up his spirit, Jesus puts the Blessed Virgin Mary in the care of the Beloved Disciple, saying to Holy Mary, “Behold, your son.” A few questions arise from this remarkable act of love.

Firstly, why? Why did Jesus put the Blessed Virgin Mary in the care of the Beloved Disciple? Did she need assistance from day to day? Was she ill or elderly, requiring the help of others? Perhaps Jesus did this to protect her from any possible societal peril that could come her way as a widow. On the surface it might seem like a practical move; to put his mother into the care of a trusted disciple. A hasty reading of this passage might lead us to believe that Jesus was simply acting pragmatically.

The second question we must consider is why Jesus chose the Beloved Disciple. Jesus had eleven qualified candidates that could care for his mother. Any one of the eleven could have taken Holy Mary into their home to care for her, but Jesus chose the one whom the scriptures call the Beloved Disciple. Who is this Beloved Disciple?

Frustratingly, Holy Scripture does not tell us the precise identity of the Beloved Disciple. Scholars have speculated and attempted to answer this question, and yet, Scripture mentions him several times only by the moniker of the Beloved Disciple or, at times, the one whom Jesus loved.

On the one hand, we know that Jesus loves us all enough to die for our sins so that through faith in his blood we might have eternal life with him. It is not the case that the Beloved Disciple is the only person whom Jesus loved. On the other hand, Holy Scripture tells us that Jesus specifically chose the Beloved Disciple to care for the Mother of God even though he had other options.

The final decision that Jesus makes, of putting Holy Mary in the care of the beloved disciple, is not merely a practical consideration for his mother. His decision, therefore, leads me to a conclusion about God. That conclusion is that God loves people, and he loves people so much that he welcomes them into his Divine family: the Family of God.

Scripture states that “God is love” (1 John 4.8). It does not say that God is loving, or that he loves on occasion, or that he loves us only when we’ve been good; rather it says, “God is love.” He loves because it is who he is. He cannot help but love. Jesus chose the Beloved Disciple not because he was the best suited for the task at hand, but because God is love. The Beloved Disciple, therefore, is beloved because Jesus cannot help but love him. He loves the disciple not because of the disciple’s outstanding attributes or his unhesitating obedience, but simply because the disciple drew near to Christ. In his boundless love, God does not desire the death of anyone,  but he desires that all people would turn from their wickedness and live (Ezekiel 18.32). Just as he welcomed the Beloved Disciple into the family of God, He also he calls us to be adopted into his family by the knowledge of truth, which is Jesus Christ.

What I desire more than anything for your life and mine, is that we humbly draw near with faith to the one who is our propitiation; and that in drawing near with faith we might hear the words of our savior, in proclamation of our adoption into his family, “Behold, your mother.”

+In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

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