ers; nor His
address to the penitent thief, for this also was quite in harmony with
His work as the Saviour. But we do wonder that in such an hour He had
leisure to attend to a domestic detail of ordinary life. Men who have
been engaged in philanthropic and reformatory schemes have not
infrequently been unmindful of the claims of their own families; and
they have excused themselves, or excuse has been made for them, on the
ground that the public interest predominated over the rights of their
relatives. Now and then Jesus Himself spoke as if He took this view:
He would not allow His plans to be interfered with even by His mother.
But now He showed that, though He could not but refuse her unjust
interference, He had never for a moment forgotten her just claims or
her true interests. In spite of His greatness and in spite of His
work, He still remained Mary's Son and bore to her an undying affection.

The words He spoke were, indeed, few; but they completely covered the
case. Every word He uttered in that position was with great pain;
therefore He could not say much. Besides, their very fewness imparted
to them a kind of judicial dignity; as has been said, this was Christ's
last will and testament. To His mother He said, "Woman, behold thy
son," [4] indicating St. John with His eyes; and to the disciple He
merely said, "Behold thy mother." It was simple, yet comprehensive; a
plain, almost legal direction, and yet overflowing with love to both
Mary and John.

It is supposed that Joseph, the husband of the Virgin, had died before
our Lord's public career began, and that in Nazareth the weight of the
household had fallen on the shoulders of Jesus. No doubt, during His
years of preaching, He would tenderly care for His mother. But now He
too was leaving her, and the widow would be without support. It was
for this He had to provide.

He had no money to leave her; His earthly all, when He was crucified,
consisted of the clothes He wore; and these fell to the soldiers. But
it is one of the privileges of those who, though they may be poor
themselves, make many rich with the gifts of truth, that they thereby
win friends who are proud and eager to serve them or theirs. In
committing His mother to St. John Jesus knew that the charge would be
accepted not as a burden but a gift.

Why she did not go to the home of one of her other sons it is
impossible to say. They were not yet believers, though soon afterwards
they