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Mary Through Jewish Eyes, Part 4: Why Is Mary Called Our Spiritual Mother?

At the foot of the Cross, Jesus entrusted His mother to the beloved disciple. Was He simply providing for Mary's care, or revealing something much deeper?

Previously in this series

Why Is Mary Called Our Spiritual Mother?

As Jesus hung upon the Cross, He spoke seven final sayings. One of them has shaped Christian reflection for two thousand years.

"Woman, here is your son."

Then he said to the disciple, "Here is your mother."

— John 19:26–27 (NRSVA)

Many Christians understand these words simply as Jesus ensuring His mother's care after His death. Catholics agree that this practical concern was present, but believe John's Gospel is inviting readers to see something more.

John tells us he selected these events so readers would believe Jesus is the Messiah (John 20:30–31). Every detail has theological significance.

This perspective is explored in Father Daniele Russo's presentation:

Mary Through Jewish Eyes – Father Daniele Russo

Remember the New Eve

In Part 2, we explored how John's Gospel deliberately calls Jesus' mother "Woman" rather than "Mary," inviting readers to look back to Genesis. There Adam's wife is repeatedly called "the woman" before she is given the name Eve.

Now, as John's Gospel reaches its climax at Calvary, he uses that same title once again.

The New Eve stands beside the New Adam as God's work of the new creation reaches its fulfilment.

The Beloved Disciple Represents Every Disciple

John never names himself. Instead he calls himself "the disciple whom Jesus loved."

By leaving the disciple unnamed, every Christian can stand in his place.

Jesus says:

"Woman, here is your son."

Then:

"Here is your mother."

John records:

"And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home."

— John 19:27 (NRSVA)

Catholics understand this as the formation of a new spiritual family.

Eve, Mary and a New Humanity

Genesis calls Eve:

"The man named his wife Eve, because she was the mother of all living."

— Genesis 3:20 (NRSVA)

Eve became the mother of humanity according to the flesh.

Yet humanity inherited not only life, but also the consequences of Adam's sin.

At the Cross, Jesus begins a new creation.

Mary now stands beside the New Adam as the New Eve.

Catholics therefore see her motherhood extending beyond natural life to the new life of grace given through Christ.

Born from the Side of the New Adam

Genesis tells us that God created Eve from the side of Adam.

"And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man."

— Genesis 2:22 (NRSVA)

As we discovered in Part 1, biblical typology reveals how events in the Old Testament often point forward to a greater fulfilment in Christ.

The creation of Eve is one such pattern.

The first Adam sleeps, his side is opened, and from his side comes Eve—the mother of all living (Genesis 3:20).

John's Gospel deliberately echoes this imagery.

Unlike the other Gospel writers, John alone records what happened after Jesus had died:

"Instead, one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once blood and water came out."

— John 19:34 (NRSVA)

John could have simply told us that Jesus had died.

Instead, he records the piercing of Christ's side in remarkable detail.

Why?

Because throughout his Gospel, John has been presenting Jesus as the New Adam, bringing about a new creation.

The opening words, "In the beginning...", echo Genesis.

The opening chapters unfold across a symbolic seven-day pattern.

Jesus repeatedly refers to His mother as "Woman," recalling Eve.

Now, as the New Adam sleeps in death, His side is opened.

The similarities are too deliberate to ignore.

The Church Born from Christ's Side

The early Church Fathers immediately recognised this connection.

Writing in the fourth century, St Augustine of Hippo reflected on John's Gospel and wrote:

"This second Adam bowed His head and fell asleep on the cross, that a spouse might be formed for Him from that which flowed from the sleeper's side."

— Tractates on the Gospel of John 120.2

For Augustine, the blood and water flowing from Christ's side symbolised the birth of the Church.

Just as Eve came from Adam's side, the Church comes forth from Christ, the New Adam.

The Church becomes the Bride of Christ, receiving divine life through the sacraments, especially Baptism (water) and the Eucharist (blood).

The New Eve Revealed

Yet there is another person standing at the foot of the Cross.

Mary.

She is not born from Christ's side as Eve was literally formed from Adam.

Rather, this is the moment when her vocation as the New Eve reaches its fulfilment.

Only moments before the soldier pierces Jesus' side, Christ says:

"Woman, here is your son."

Then He says to the beloved disciple:

"Here is your mother."

— John 19:26–27 (NRSVA)

As we saw in Part 2, John deliberately calls Mary "Woman," inviting readers to think back to Genesis.

Now, at the very moment the Church is born from the side of Christ, Jesus entrusts the New Eve to the beloved disciple—and the beloved disciple to her.

This is not merely a practical arrangement for Mary's care.

It is a theological revelation.

The New Adam gives life to His Church.

The New Eve is revealed as the spiritual mother of all who belong to Christ.

The Witness of the Early Church

This understanding is not a medieval development.

Nearly two centuries before Augustine, St Irenaeus of Lyons—who learned the Christian faith from St Polycarp, himself a disciple of the Apostle John—described Mary as the New Eve.

He wrote:

"The knot of Eve's disobedience was loosed by the obedience of Mary; for what the virgin Eve had bound through unbelief, the Virgin Mary set free through faith."

— Against Heresies III.22.4

Irenaeus recognised that Eve's disobedience had been answered by Mary's obedience.

Augustine later recognised that the opening of Adam's side found its fulfilment in Christ's pierced side.

When these two insights are read together, John's Gospel comes into sharper focus.

Standing at the Cross are the New Adam and the New Eve.

From the New Adam's side comes the birth of the Church.

The New Eve is entrusted with a new motherhood—not according to the flesh, but according to grace.

Seen through Jewish eyes, the Crucifixion is not only the moment of redemption.

It is also the beginning of God's new creation.

Why Catholics Call Mary Their Mother

By now the biblical pattern has become clear.

Part 1 introduced typology.

Part 2 showed Mary as the New Eve.

Part 3 showed the New Eve leading people to Christ.

Read on its own, John 19 may appear to be nothing more than a son ensuring his mother's care.

Read alongside Genesis, however, a much richer picture emerges.

The New Adam accomplishes redemption.

The Church is born from His pierced side.

The New Eve is entrusted to every disciple as a spiritual mother.

What began in Eden reaches its fulfilment at Calvary.

Seen through Jewish eyes, the Cross is not only the place where Christ dies for the world.

It is the place where God's new creation begins.

Next in the Series

In Part 5 we will examine why Luke presents Mary with striking parallels to the Ark of the Covenant.

Further Reading

Series: Mary Through Jewish Eyes