IN HIS ANGUISH, HE LOVED

 John 19:26-27 KJ2000
When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he said unto his mother, Woman, behold your son! Then said he to the disciple, Behold your mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home.

Dear Believer,

When Jesus hung on the cross, His mother was there, right at the foot of the cross. Imagine for a minute the anguish of a mother seeing her first son hanging naked on a tree, covered in His own blood and groaning in pain!

Mary suffered!

Another person present at the foot of the cross was John. While Peter followed Jesus afar off and eventually betrayed Him, John inched his way forward and ended up with the mother of Jesus at the base of the cross.

Jesus was the quintessential Son. He would never leave His mother unattended to. In His anguish, He loved.

The only person close to Him that He could see was John who styled himself ‘the disciples whom Jesus loved.’

Jesus told His mother, “That’s your son!” And He told John, “That’s your mother!”

From that time forward, John took over the responsibility of Mary the mother of Jesus.

Lessons to learn from this touching scene are myriad. First, note that Jesus, even in His agony, didn’t neglect His filial responsibility. His agony didn’t blind Him to His mother’s need for protection and provision. Joseph had apparently died at this time, so Mary was pretty much alone.

But we must ask, where were the brothers and sisters of Jesus who were as much children of Mary as Jesus was her son? Four of them were mentioned in Mark 6:3, apart from His sisters who weren’t named. I can only suggest that at this time they weren’t that responsible. We know that they didn’t respect the ministry of Jesus. (See John 7:5).

James eventually seemed to turn around to be one of the chiefest disciples after Jesus had ascended, (they called him James, the Lord’s brother – Galatians 1:19) but at this time, they didn’t seem to care very much about Jesus and His ministry. They probably were ashamed of Him, which may explain why they weren’t present at the cross. If they had been present, Jesus would have had no need to commit His mother to John. It can be argued that Jesus didn’t trust Mary’s own children to take care of Mary as He trusted John to do so.

What should qualify a man to get into your innermost life is not blood, but love. Look around you…if you were dying today, who would you commit your loved ones to? That is your family.

People who abandon you when things are tough aren’t worth your trust when you are well off. Love them, but don’t commit yourself to them.

Jesus did not say ‘it is finished’ until He settled His mother, a vulnerable woman. We can learn from this. Whatever difficulty we may be going through should not excuse us from fulfilling our responsibility to our family as best as we can.

Let children not neglect their parents or take them for granted; Jesus taught us that much on the cross.

Let us follow the persecuted and those who are going through a tough time. Believers don’t abandon those who are hanging on their own ‘cross.’ We may not be hanging with them, and may not be feeling their pain, but we can protect what they cherish. A time may come when we shall be called upon to go through the crucible, and we will need others to watch our back.

Be found faithful.

Your friend,
Deon

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