Woman, Here Is Your Son

There was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and Jesus’ mother was there. Jesus and His disciples had also been invited. When the wine ran out, Mary brought the shortage to Him. “They have no more wine.”

“Woman, why does this concern us?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.” His answer did not describe what He would do about the empty supply. Mary turned to the servants and said, “Do whatever He tells you.”

Six stone water jars stood there for the Jewish rites of purification. Each held twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus told the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” They filled them to the brim.

“Now draw some out,” He said, “and take it to the master of the banquet.” The servants did so. The master tasted the water that had become wine, but he did not know where it had come from. The servants who had drawn it knew.

He called the bridegroom aside and said, “Everyone serves the fine wine first, and then the cheap wine after the guests are drunk. But you have saved the fine wine until now!” The bridegroom received the words of surprise. The work of filling and drawing had taken place among the servants.

Mary’s last recorded words in this scene were her instruction to them. John gives no further exchange between her and Jesus after the wine was served. He calls this the first of Jesus’ signs, through which He revealed His glory, and records that His disciples believed in Him. The wedding account ends with what they saw and believed.

Later, John places Mary near the cross of Jesus. Between the wedding and this moment lies the course of His ministry; here the account narrows to the people standing nearby. His mother was there with her sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. The disciple whom Jesus loved was also standing near.

Mary is not given a speech at the cross. John records her presence and the words Jesus addressed to her. He saw His mother and the disciple nearby. Then He said to her, “Woman, here is your son.”

He spoke next to the disciple. “Here is your mother.” From that hour, the disciple took her into his home. The words spoken from the cross were followed by an action that changed where Mary would live.

At Cana, she had brought Jesus news of something missing from a wedding. Here, He saw her standing nearby and spoke about a son and a mother. John does not describe a conversation in which the arrangement was explained further. He records the two brief sayings and the home that followed.

The girl named Mary in Nazareth had once listened to Gabriel announce a son she had not expected. She had hurried to Elizabeth, returned home, borne her child, and carried Him to Jerusalem. She had searched for Him when He was twelve and kept an answer she did not understand. Now she stood near His cross, and He placed her in the care of the disciple beside her.

Long before this day, in Elizabeth’s home, Mary had said, “For He has looked with favor on the humble state of His servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed.” Those words remain in her story beside the journeys, the searching, and the things she treasured in her heart. John leaves her here with a concrete act of care: from that hour, the disciple took her into his home.