Bible Discussion Thread

The woman of Revelation 12 is Mary the mother of Jesus because we can consider 12 in light of another passage in the Johannine tradition: Mary at the Cross in John 19:25–27. In John 19, we see from an earthly perspective what happens on Calvary: Jesus is crucified by the Romans while His mother and the beloved disciple stand at the foot of the Cross. Revelation 12 portrays the same scene, but from a heavenly perspective, so we can see with the eyes of angels what really happens on Good Friday: Calvary is the climactic cosmic showdown between God and the devil, and the real force behind Christ’s crucifixion is not the Romans, but Satan. While John 19 presents soldiers nailing Jesus to a cross, Revelation 12 shows us the dragon waiting to devour the male child and fiercely battling the forces of heaven ( Rev. 12:4–5, 7) and the son emerging victorious, enthroned in heaven, while the devil is defeated and cast down (12:5–9). All these parallels "woman," birth pains, Satan’s defeat, the mother of Christ, and the mother of Christ’s followers—show a unity of thought about the woman figure in John’s writings. Therefore, if the woman in John 19 is clearly understood to be Mary, the woman in 12 also should be seen as Mary.