The Third Word from the Cross
Scripture: John 19:26–27
So Jesus, seeing his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing
there, said to his mother, "Woman, behold your son." Then he said to the
disciple, "Behold your mother!" And from that hour the disciple took her
into his family.
Jesus' Willingness to Care for You
There are at least three reasons that this word of Jesus to his mother and
to the beloved disciple is a tremendous encouragement to our faith. The
first reason is this: if Jesus was so eager to care for his mother in her
hour of need, how much more is he eager to care for his disciples who
hear the Word of God today and do it. Ordinarily one would reason just
the opposite: if he loved his disciples who were not his relatives, how
much more would he love his own mother. But Jesus didn't view things
in an ordinary way. With him it was strangely true: if he loved his
mother with a natural affection, how much more can his obedient
disciples bank on his love.
We know this because of an incident recorded for us in Luke 8:19–21:
His mother came to him and his brothers also, and they were unable to
get to him because of the crowds. And it was reported to him, "Your
mother and your brothers are standing outside, wishing to see you." But
he answered and said to them, "My mother and my brothers are those
who hear the word of God and do it."
That was not a depreciation of his mother and brothers, but an exaltation
of obedience. It means very clearly, those who hear the Word of God
and do it have a more ready access to Jesus' fellowship and help than do
his own family members.
In one sense it is very risky to hear and do the Word of God. For the
Word of God is always calling us to sacrificial acts of love. "He who
would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his own cross
and follow me" (Luke 9:23). But in another sense there is nothing safer
and more rewarding than to hear and do the Word of God, because Jesus
said, those who hear and do the Word of God are my mother and my
brothers. Loving obedience to the Word of God puts us in a relationship
to Jesus which is more intimate and more certain to be heard and helped
than his nearest family relations.
So you can see now what a tremendous encouragement it is to our faith
when Jesus makes provision for the needs of his mother at Calvary.
Those who hear and do the Word of God have an even greater claim on
Jesus' care than she. So if he took care of her, will he not much more
provide for all your needs, "O ye of little faith"?
Jesus' Ability to Take Care of You
The second reason that this word to Jesus' mother is an encouragement
to our faith is this: if Jesus could provide for the needs of his own in a
moment of his deepest weakness and humiliation, how much more can
he provide for your need in his present power and exaltation! Not only
are you, as an obedient disciple, in a better position than Jesus' own
mother to receive blessing at the hand of the Lord, but he is now in a
better position to give it to you than he was to her then.
According to Ephesians 1:19, 20 the greatness of God's power which is
working on behalf of us who believe "accords with the working of the
strength of his might which God generated by raising Christ from the
dead and seating him at his right hand in heaven." The satisfaction made
for our sin at Calvary was so complete that God honored this sacrifice by
raising Jesus from the dead and giving him incomparable glory and
power and wealth of all things. And so when the apostle contemplates
whether we can bank on Christ for the provision of our need, it is this
wealth of glory that gives him assurance. He says, "My God shall supply
all your needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus"
(Philippians 4:19). The risen Christ is so full of glorious riches that he
need not turn anyone away. As Paul says in Romans 10:12: "There is no
distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all,
abounding in riches to all who call upon him."
Therefore, the word of Jesus to his mother from the cross is a great
encouragement to our faith. For if he could provide for his own in the
moment of his weakness and humiliation, how much more can he meet
all our needs today from the right hand of God, full of power and wealth
and glory.
The Church as a New Spiritual Family
The third reason Jesus' word to his mother encourages our faith is that it
illustrates for us the benefits of the church, the body of Christ. Notice
that contrary to custom and expectation, Jesus did not admonish his own
brothers to care for their mother. Whatever the reason for not putting
Mary in the care of her other sons, the new relationship between Mary
and John illustrates for us the provision made for us in the body of
Christ.
You recall how Jesus told the rich man to sell all he had and follow him.
The man turned away, and Jesus said, "How hard it will be for a rich
man to enter the kingdom of God." And Peter said, "Behold we have left
everything and followed you." And Jesus said, "Truly I say to you, there
is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or
children or farms for my sake and the gospel's, but that he will receive a
hundred times as much now in the present age, houses and brothers and
sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions; and
in the world to come eternal life." Now where in this life are we going to
receive 100 children and 100 mothers? Answer: in the church, the family
of God.
When Jesus says to Mary: "Look on John as your son"; and to John:
"Look on Mary as your mother"; he is showing us how our needs are to
be met when we have left everything to follow him. Paul said in Acts
20:28 that Christ "purchased the church of God with his own blood."
Therefore, one of the gifts Jesus gave to us from the cross was the
church: a loving, caring, sustaining, encouraging family beyond family.
And it is a great encouragement to our faith that he illustrates the
meaning of the church the way he did in the relationship between John
and Mary.
So let us all take courage in the care and power and provision of our
Lord. If he was eager to care for his mother, how much more eager will
he be today to care for those who hear and do the Word of God! If Jesus
could provide for the needs of his own in the moment of his greatest
weakness and humiliation, how much more can he provide for your need
in his present wealth of power and exaltation. And if Jesus purchased the
church with his own blood and ordained that in it bereft mothers find
sons and sons find mothers, then no one should be without a caring
family today in the body of Christ. Amen.
