Lent Week 3

“Woman, behold your son. Son, behold your mother.” John 19:27

This is the third saying from the cross revealing a deeply secret event which we will not fully understand for many years to come. This is what John wrote about this crucifixion moment.

‘Jesus saw his own mother, and the disciple standing near whom he loved, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold your son”. Then he said to the disciple, “Behold your mother”. And from that hour, he took his mother into his family.’ John 19:26–27

One thing these words reveal is that none of those who had an intimate role in the life of Jesus, and were connected with his ultimate deed – the crucifixion on Golgotha – remained the same. The same applies to us if we enter into this event fully.

As we devote ourselves to unravelling this mystery we are transformed. These spiritual transformations are not easily understood with our earthly mind, yet we have to try to think them through. To be satisfied with a nebulous feeling about what took place will lead us down the wrong path. Again, it is not so much the final understanding, but the effort we put into understanding that will transform us.

The following words which I wrote in my series ‘Who is Jesus : What is Christ?” can assist us with our deliberations.

“This human form nailed to the cross is not the same Jesus that was born 33 years earlier. The body might look like that of Jesus, but the being occupying it is Christ, the Cosmic Christ that made a journey over eons through the Cosmos to enter into a human body to enable him to unite with this earth. His journey made possible by the nine levels of the Hierarchy, one of which is the Elohim, whose relationship with the Sun enabled them to play a major role in this vast and secret process.

Mary is not the mother of this being. The mighty spiritual being called the Virgin Sophia, who represents the Divine Wisdom of the Cosmos, is his mother. John is indeed the raised Lazarus, initiated by the Christ-ened Jesus.” Kristina Kaine Who is Jesus : What is Christ? Vol 5

Rudolf Steiner says this:

“If a person has got as far as this he comes to the fifth stage. This is the mystical death. The whole world appears as if covered with a veil. Everything around has lost its old value. While a person feels himself thus lost in darkness, suddenly the veil is rent and he begins to see the ultimate spiritual and original aim. He gazes into a quite new, world. At the same time he learns to recognize what lies at the bottom of the human soul. He becomes a second person by the side of himself and looks down on his lower self, which is separated from him. His body is the mother that he sees standing below him and the transformed lower self is the disciple who bears witness that Christ lives. Now the Higher Self can say to the lower self, “Behold thy mother!” (John, 19: 27) Gospel of St John by Rudolf Steiner February 26, 1906

Art: Crucifixion by George Kofas

From my book Secrets of the Christian Festivals https://www.amazon.com/Secrets-Christian-Festivals-Kristina-Kaine-ebook/dp/B08D6CPL8D