There are many interpretations of this sword, some too spiritual or theological. I prefer to see in this prophecy the pure human suffering of Mary. "In war, hunting and love, you suffer a thousand pains for one pleasure". So it was for Mary: Jesus gave her more pain than joy, from conception to his death and resurrection.
The birth, life and death of Jesus were for Mary a continuous passion of pain and suffering. It all started on the day when it was no longer possible for her to hide and explain her pregnancy.
Jesus’ Christmas, Mary’s Passion
On her return from the visit to her cousin Elizabeth, which lasted several months, Mary appeared pregnant. What could she say? How could she explain what really happened? Becoming pregnant by the work and grace of the Holy Spirit was unprecedented, it was a unique event in the history of mankind; it had never happened before and would never happen again. The Messiah, whom the people of Israel awaited and are still waiting, was expected to come in the usual natural way from the house of David.
Jesus' Christmas was Mary’s Passover or Passion. The Passion of the Lord was also Mary's Passion. Even today, in a society that is not puritanical or sexist, a sex scandal delights the mouths of many people. It seems that our self-esteem grows when we see other people’s sink. There is nothing more degrading and stigmatizing than a sex scandal: everyone points the finger at you, and you live without honour or a good name, it is like dying in life.
"If you throw enough mud, some will stick" says a Spanish proverb; cast doubt on someone in areas of sexual behaviour and that person's bad reputation will accompany him or her to the grave. It may even turn out to be a lie, it doesn’t matter, the public will always be in doubt, they will cling to the first report as being true and any denial as being a lie. These scandals open television news and make the front page of newspapers, while the denials appear as a lost square inside the newspaper that no one reads.
Physical death by stoning also came very close... Mary was considered an adulteress because she was betrothed to Joseph, and although they did not yet live together, for the purposes of the law they were considered married. Such a relationship was no longer separable except through a divorce. We know well what was the punishment for adulteresses... (John 8: 1-11) they were stoned to death.
What used to happen in Israel on a regular basis is still happening in some Muslim countries today, where Sharia law applies; there are videos on certain Internet sites that document these sad facts even in the 21st century.
Already many, thirsty for blood, had stones ready in their hands, waiting for Joseph, the one offended, to cast the first one. Throwing the first stone was a right of the offended party. Throwing the first stone was, at the same time, a declaration of the verdict by the injured person and the first act of execution of the sentence that the bloodthirsty hypocrites gladly carried out.
For Jesus, in the episode of the woman caught in adultery (John 8: 1-11), the right to cast the first stone, that is, to judge and pass the death sentence, is not the right of the injured nor of the one who has the authority by delegation or election, but of the one who has the moral authority, that is, the one without sin.
Jesus does not believe in retributive justice, because it is just a legalized revenge, it is the old “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth" justice. Jesus believes in restorative justice, the kind that God practices, because he does not want the death of the sinner, but that he converts and lives. (Ezekiel 18:23-32)
Jesus, the Son of Mary
Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart (Luke 2:19), suffering in silence, not being able to defend herself from the slander... The suffering lasted her entire life, as is natural in this type of cases.
Here and elsewhere in the gospel, this stigma comes through; for example, in one of the arguments that Jesus has with the Pharisees in John’s Gospel. At one point they say, "We are not illegitimate children" (John 8:41) with the unspoken "like you are" implied.
‘Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?’ Mark 6:3
In a patriarchal society, no one is known as his mother's son, that is, no one is known by reference to his mother, but by reference to his father. Let us remember that Jesus, when he addressed Peter in a personal way to ask him if he loves Him, he calls Peter by his family name, by reference to Peter's father and not his mother: "Simon (Peter), son of John... (John 21:15-19).
The evangelist Mark, despite being a Hebrew from Jerusalem, writes his Gospel in Rome for the Romans and he does not go about it half-heartedly: he relates the truth as it is. Jesus is called by reference to his mother, not his father. Even if the father is already dead, a Hebrew would never be called by reference to his mother; if people did that then it was because Jesus was, for those of his time, the son of an unknown father, to the shame of his mother and Himself.
Matthew, in his Gospel written for the Jews, corrects and says, "Is not this the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas?” (Matthew 13:55-56). Luke, in his Gospel, also mentions the episode of the Lord's visit to his hometown, but out of respect for the Lord he does not copy Mark, but he also does not tell a lie like Matthew, as he omits what Jesus’ countrymen called him.
Mary and the widow of Nain
Soon afterwards he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went with him. As he approached the gate of the town, a man who had died was being carried out. He was his mother’s only son, and she was a widow; and with her was a large crowd from the town. When the Lord saw her, he had compassion for her and said to her. ‘Do not weep.’ Then he came forward and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, ‘Young man, I say to you, rise!’ Luke 7:11-14
It is one of the few miracles that Jesus did without being asked, and without inquiring about the faith of the person who will be graced with the miracle. Jesus' great capacity for empathy makes him understand that the suffering of this poor widow was so great that she could not bear to speak to anyone. We see in this Gospel Luke's empathy in the way he describes the scene. He concentrates the maximum suffering with the minimum words:
“…a man who had died was being carried out. He was his mother’s only son, and she was a widow…” There is no greater suffering than that of a mother who loses one of her children, for it goes against the nature of life. Children are expected to bury their parents and not the other way around. A mother who is willing to die for her child, to have to watch the child die without being able to do anything, is the worse type of psychological suffering.
Within this context, this woman's suffering is further aggravated by the fact that she is already a widow and that he was her only child. He was her only surety to stay alive in that society, because women in those days could not live alone since they could not own property. Therefore, her only son was also her guarantee of life.
Jesus gives the boy his life back... I have always seen in this episode a personal projection of Jesus; Jesus saw in the widow of Nain his own mother, who would soon also bury her only son, since she, Mary, was already widowed.
Conclusion: For the sake of her son, Mary's entire life was a continuous passion and death. It all started on the day she could no longer hide or explain her pregnancy. There is no slander in the world worse than the one Mary suffered her entire life.
Fr. Jorge Amaro, IMC