Journal: Westminster Theological Journal
Volume: WTJ 84:1 (Spring 2022)
Article: Jesus’ Entrustment Of His Mother As Passover Imagery (John 19:25–27)
Author: Jonathan M. Lunde

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Jesus’ Entrustment Of His Mother As Passover Imagery (John 19:25–27)

Jonathan Lunde

Jonathan Lunde is Professor of New Testament at Talbot School of Theology and Biola University in La Mirada, CA.

John’s theological motivation for including the narrative of Jesus’ entrustment of his mother to the beloved disciple is to enhance the Passover imagery that cloaks his presentation of Jesus’ crucifixion. Accordingly, Jesus does not merely replace the paschal lamb; he does so as Mary’s firstborn. Jesus’ action also provides a “surrogate firstborn” to care for his mother, one whose presence in the family fills the physical void left after Jesus’ death. Finally, Jesus’ compassion is highlighted as he ensures his honoring of his mother, even as he (her firstborn) bypasses her will so that he (the μονογενής) might accomplish the will of the Father.

Introduction

John’s penchant for endowing his text with layers of theological significance through his use of such devices as allusion, initial misunderstanding, double entendre, and typology is well known. This awareness has induced countless students of this gospel to ponder what the evangelist was intending us to perceive beneath the surface narrative of Jesus’ provocative words from the cross in John 19:26–27: to his mother, “Woman, here is your son,” and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.”1 The ensuing theological interpretations have often been as unconvincing as they have been imaginative. In recent years, this has given way to a general avoidance of any theological interpretation of this narrative whatsoever, epitomized by J. Ramsey Michaels’s exasperated comment, “The answer is No, no, no, and no! None of these is even hinted at in the text.”2

At the risk of exposing myself to a similar rebuke, I would like to suggest yet one more theological reading of Jesus’ entrustment of his mother—a reading

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that will draw heavily on the strengths of the preceding scholarly discussion, while at the same time rooting a new theological interpretation firmly within the immediate and broader context of John 19. In the end, I hope at least some will have reason to respond with a mild inverse of Michaels’s retort: “Possibly.”

II. A Brief History Of Interpretation

To put this thesis into its proper context, we need first to survey briefly the range of interpretive approaches that have been proposed, mo...