Jesus as Mother Jesus as Mother
Throughout the ages, mystics and saints have sometimes referred to Jesus as mother, recognizing Christ as source of comfort and nurturing love. Such references are solidly based on Biblical texts, especially this passage from prophet, Isaiah -
As a mother comforts her child,
so will I comfort you;
and you will be comforted over Jerusalem.
(Isaiah 66:13)
Listen to me, O house of Jacob,
all you who remain of the house of Israel,
you whom I have upheld since you were conceived,
and have carried since your birth.
Even to your old age and gray hairs
I am he, I am he who will sustain you.
I have made you and I will carry you;
I will sustain you and I will rescue you. (Isaiah 46:3-4)
And in the New Testament, Jesus himself says -
How often have I longed to gather your children
as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings." (Matthew 23:37)
Caroline Walker Bynum, in her important book Jesus as Mother: Studies in the Spirituality of the High Middle Ages, writes -
The idea of God as mother is part of a widespread use, in twelfth-century spiritual writing, of woman, mother, characteristics agreed to be "feminine," and the sexual union of male and female - as images to express spiritual truths.
Illustrating the use of mother-imagery, Bynum writes about Saint Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury (1033-1109) -
In an association of images that continues throughout the twelfth century, Anselm describes the consoling, nurturing Jesus as a hen gathering her chicks under her wing and suggests that mother Jesus revives the soul at her breast -
But you, Jesus, good Lord, are you not also a mother? Are you not that mother who, like a hen, collects her chickens under her wings? Truly, master, you are a mother.
Christ, mother, who gather under your wings your little ones, your dead chick seeks refuge under your wings. For by your gentleness, those who are hurt are comforted, by your perfume the despairing are reformed. Your warmth resuscitates the dead; your touch justifies sinners.
Saint Julian of Norwich
Perhaps no saint employed the imagery of Jesus as Mother more extensively than Julian of Norwich (1342-1413), one of England's greatest mystics. Thomas L. Long, in his introduction to a scholarly paper entitled Christ as Mother, says -
... Julian of Norwich's A Revelation of Love where the image of Jesus as Mother is stated or implied, suggest some possible antecedents for the image of a (trans)gendered divinity... Although there seems to exist a considerable gender fluidity in the Christian tradition from it earliest moments, medieval discourse allowed the trope [metaphor] of a female gender God. (full text available here .)
In Revelations of Divine Love, Julian of Norwich provides theological justification for her practice of looking upon Jesus as mother -
Our high Father...He willed that the Second Person should become our Mother. Our Father wills, our Mother works, our good Lord the Holy Ghost confirms: and therefore it belongs to us to love our God in whom we have our being: Him reverently thanking and praising for our making, mightily praying to our Mother for mercy and pity, and to our Lord the Holy Ghost for help and grace. (chapter 59)
In the next chapter, Julian writes passionately about Mother Jesus -
Our Kind Mother, our Gracious Mother, for that He would all wholly become our Mother in all things ...
The mother may give her child suck of her milk, but our precious Mother, Jesus, He may feed us with Himself, and does it, full courteously and full tenderly, with the Blessed Sacrament that is precious food of my life; The Mother may lay the child tenderly to her breast, but our tender Mother, Jesus, He may homely lead us into His blessed breast, by His sweet open side, and show therein part of the Godhead and the joys of Heaven, with spiritual sureness of endless bliss. (chapter 60) (full text of A Revelation of Love is available online here .)
In the journal, Catholic New Times (March 8, 2005 edition), an article by Jim Roberts about Jesus as Mother was published with the banner, Mystical tradition rich in female metaphors. In his article, Roberts gives several examples of saints who sometimes prayed to Jesus as mother -
Taking its lead from Jesus, the Christian mystical tradition is rich in female metaphors for God. Hear the third century theologian Clement of Alexandria, who goes so far as to mix his metaphor when he alludes to "the Father's loving breasts," from which we draw "the milk of the Father...." He was followed by several twelfth century Cistercian monks who often referred to "Mother Jesus."
Pope John Paul II made the tradition his own when in 1999 he referred to "God the Mother" in an address to pilgrims. His words: "The hands of God hold us up, they hold us tight, they give us strength. But at the same time, they give us comfort--they console and caress us. They are the hands of a father and of a mother at the same time."
Offering his own opinion of this tradition, Roberts concludes -
The reappearance of female and maternal imagery for God today is a welcome and needed antidote to the overly male appropriation which has grown to predominate in the church, because we have neglected our more balanced tradition. Many of us rejoice in this enrichment of our faith and prayer and yearn for its practical application in church structures and ministry. A new day is dawning. (full article available here .)
Eastern Orthodox views of Christ as Mother
In his article for the Catholic New Times, Roberts also gives an example in the Orthodox Church -
The Eastern Church is well represented in this understanding by the fourteenth century Greek Orthodox mystic-theologian St. Gregory Palamas who wrote: "Christ ... nurses us from his own breast, as a mother, filled with tenderness, does with her babies."
Scholar Thomas L. Long, quoted earlier, has this to say about Mother Jesus the Orthodox Church -
Even in early orthodox Christianity and in contesting gnostic communities we find transgendered images of the divine: God as female or God as androgyne
A religious icon depicting a distinctly female Christ can be seen on the Christian + Feminist website. Site author, Elizabeth Knuth, describes the icon -
This remarkable icon depicts Christ as Holy Silence. The inscription on the bottom border says, "Hê hagia hêsychia", that is, "Holy silence." Hesychia is much sought after in Orthodox spirituality, but this is clearly an icon of Christ, for the inscription within the icon itself reads, "Jesus Christ."
The figure in the icon has wings, a sign of heavenly origin, as in Rublev's famous icon of the Trinity. Christ is wearing red robes. Red is the color of the Incarnation, and also the color of grace. The diamond on Christ's breast is surrounded by seven jewels, seven being the number of perfection and the number of gifts of the Holy Spirit.
In iconography, Christ as Hesychia is sometimes depicted as masculine and at other times, as in this instance, in feminine form. The same can be said of the portrayal of Christ as Holy Wisdom ...In Hebrew and Greek, the Biblical languages, Wisdom is feminine. Therefore Divine Wisdom is "she".
Further comments about the icon by William Hart McNichols are found on the same site-
The first thing to notice about Holy Silence, with a pleasant sense of shock and surprise, is that it pictures a female angel with the letters "IC XC" on either side of the top of the image announcing this is Jesus Christ. Although some icons of Holy Silence are more obviously male, this one appears to me clearly female. This is not unusual, since icons portraying angelic wisdom or "Hagia Sophia" are found dating back also to the 14th century. In the Hebrew Scriptures wisdom is more often female. And in the New Testament, "The Divine Wisdom" (I Cor. 1: 30), became an appellation given to the Son of God by Byzantine theologians. (Full text available here.)
Resources:
Wikipedia includes short articles on Saint Anselm and Julian of Norwich .
Jesus as Mother: Studies in the Spirituality of the High Middle Ages by Caroline Walker Bynum, is available from amazon.com .