1. 26: When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother,Woman, behold thy son!

2. 27: Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home.

3. (John 19.26–7)

Catholic versus protestant

A gospel has been defined as a Passion narrative with an extended introduction. In the case of John, the central chapter in which the raising of Lazarus is described ends with the chief priests and the Pharisees taking ‘counsel together for to put him to death’ (John 11.53). The subsequent chapter describes the anointing of Christ's feet by Mary of Bethany, his triumphal entry into Jerusalem and his announcement that ‘The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified’ (12.23). After washing his disciples’ feet, he predicts the betrayal and Peter's denial, while the beloved disciple lies on his breast (13.25). Having delivered his farewell discourses (chapters 14–16) and prayer to the Father (chapter 17), which are unique to John, he accompanies his disciples ‘over the brook Cedron, where was a garden’ (18.1), and is arrested and tried. The account of the Passion, from the scourging to the burial, takes up the forty-two verses of chapter 19. Standing by the Cross of Jesus are his mother, his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene, together with the beloved disciple (19.25–6).