Introductory Comments
1. Today we again go back to Calvary. Again we see Jesus on the cross. And as we come near to Him, we see two groups of our four standing before the cross.
2. On the one hand we see four soldiers. The ones who had escorted Jesus to this place of crucifixion. One of the perqs or benefits of this duty was that they got to get the clothes of the victim. As every Jew, Jesus wore five articles of clothing - shoes, a turban, a girdle, a tunic, and an outer robe. And so each got one article and only the inner tunic, the undergarment was left. And rather than destroy it by cutting it into four pieces, they cast lots to see who would win it. How sad, here before them hung the Saviour of the world, the Son of God, the one who was offering them the riches of His kingdom. And they could see no further than a few articles of clothing to take home or sell. Their greed for that which was so unimportant, their indifference to the suffering of the one who hung before them. How sad?
3. Over to the other side stood four women. In contrast, to the soldiers, their eyes were not on the things of the world, they were not there to see what they could get. They were there because they loved their Lord and could not desert Him as so many others had done. It was dangerous, not a common thing to do. For Jesus had been labeled a criminal, a rebel, a heretic. To identify with Him also made you like Him. They too could have been arrested and crucified. And so there was a risk to come forward to be near Him in His time of agony, but they could not stay away for they loved Him, and trusted Him, even when all seemed hopeless.
4. Four women.
a. His mother, Mary, who had given birth to Him and who had nurtured Him. Does anyone suffer more than a mother when a child suffers or is lost?
b. His mother’s sister, Salome. As Matthew tells us, she was the wife of Zebedee, the mother of James and John. She was the one who had come to Jesus asking that her sons be given the chief places of honour in His kingdom. In response Jesus rebuked her, teaching her how wrong this ambitious attitude was. She had learned her lesson, and continued to love and follow her Lord.
c. There was Mary Magdela. All we know about her is that Jesus had cast out seven demons from her. She could never forget what Jesus had done for her, how His love had saved her.
d. And then was was Mary, the wife of Clopas, of whom we know nothing else but that she was there.
5. There they stood near the cross. Jesus saw them, and He saw His mother and near them, He saw the disciple whom He loved. All the other disciples had run away out of fear. But this disciple did not, He could not. He had a special relationship with Jesus. The love was mutual. The disciple, most scholars agree, was John. That is why John could write about this private moment by the cross.
Teaching
1. Jesus, seeing these two who He loved so much, said to them "Dear woman, here is your son" and to John , "Here is your mother." These words are very personal and they may even seem unusual. But they teach us some very important things about Jesus and about ourselves
2. Here was Jesus. The brutality of the cross was unbearable. The pain of the stripes where He had been whipped. The thorns of His crown piercing into His head. The nails which had been driven into His hands and ankles. The death He would soon go through. Not to mention the weight of the sins of the world. And the sense of being forsaken by His Father.
3. You and I have never and will never experience the suffering that our Lord went through. But we have suffered to varying degrees. There is something I notice when I or others suffer. When I feel pain, it is hard to look beyond the pain. And it is hard to care for others when my own world is falling apart. When all is well, I try to be there for othjers, to reach out in love, but when my needs and suffering is great, they become a bother. "Leave me alone, I’ve got my own problems, can’t you see."
4. But Jesus, although His pain and needs are so overwhelming, still looks beyond Himself and sees the pain and the needs of others. He sees a mother who is about to loose her oldest son. He wants to make sure that she is taken care of and looked after. Normally His younger brothers would be given the this role, passed down from their oldest brother. But perhaps the problem was that they were not there. Or perhaps because as Jesus’ cousin, John was her closest male relative that was there. But probably because His brothers were not yet believers and Jesus wanted to entrust her to a believer. Jesus entrusted her to John.
5. And so He teaches us how to give.
6. Second. Here was the Son of God, the son of Mary doing the will of His divine Father and yet caring for His earthly mother. Although it seems odd that He called her woman rather than mother, the term for mother here is not a cold, detached word, but rather a warm term of respect. In a sense Jesus was obedient to the two great commandments.
Mark 12:30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these."
7. He was showing love to both parents and to all whom He loved, to all for whom He was dying. There is an important lesson for us in this. To those in ministry and to all of us, for we are all called to serve the Lord. Our obedience must be to God first and foremost. And that may mean leaving parents behind, especially if God calls us somewhere else. From immediate aspect, best thing Jesus could have done for mother may have been to not be crucified and stay with her. But He was obedient to His Father. Jesus Himself had taught
Mat 10:37-38 "Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.
8. Notice He does not say we are not to love father and mother, but we are to love God more. And so in our serving God, we must be careful not to forget those in our families and their needs as well.
9. Whether in serving God or honouring parents, we must be willing to give up ourselves for them.
10. Seen how it becomes to easy to serve God and to overlook needs of those whom God has entrusted to our care. God first, then family, including parents.
11. How about you? Are you willing to do Father’s will? To take up your cross? And are you caring for those in your family - be it older parents, spouses, children or others?
12. Remember what Christ teaches us about this from the cross.
13. There is a third teaching that Jesus gives in the words He speaks. And perhaps this is not as evident and may even be open to discussion but I feel that it is clear. Earlier, in Mark 3 Jesus had just healed a person, we read:
Mark 3:31 Then Jesus' mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him. A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, "Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you." "Who are my mother and my brothers?" he asked. Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, "Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does God's will is my brother and sister and mother."
14. Could Jesus be using the same logic in what He is saying from the cross? Could He be telling John and His mother that our real relationships with Him and with each other is not based on the family we are born in but the family that we are born again into? Because He would die on the cross, and we would have our sins forgiven, the church of Jesus Christ was born. All who are part of this true church, all who are children of God, have a new relationship with one another. How often in the New Testament are we not called brothers and sisters in the Lord? We are spiritual relatives and we could even say we are blood relatives - related through the blood of Christ that was shed upon the cross.
15. It is important that we realize what this means for us. We are to act as one family. We are called to look after one another, to care for one another. It means that those who are older in the church are to be as fathers and mothers - to be mentors for those of us who are younger. And that we all are called to honour and to care for those who are older in the church and thsoe who have special needs.
16. Sometimes I may sound like a broken record, but I believe this is something that is happening in our midst. To see people caring for one another. This pleases the Lord.
17. And yet sometimes I see us as a group of individuals, with our individual concerns and agendas. We need to grow a s a family. We need more and more to love one another. We are the body of Christ. We are united in Him
18. This is not the way that society is going today. People stay more in their homes - whether in front of the TV or on the computer. We don’t gather to watch a movie we watch our own on our VCR. Church’s used to have movie nights, now pick up a video at the church library. People used to talk on the phone - they’d get a sense of how the other felt through their voice, etc. Email, I find, is much less personal. There is a place for it, but not to make personal contacts.
19. People in church often have other groups that are more important - social, parachurch, schooling, others. But is it not more NB that we are family.
20. Jesus hangs on cross and says to us - these are your brothers, sisters, mothers. Do we treat each other that way? Care for each other? May we share the love and closeness that Christ has for each other. May we nurture each other and grow together into the fullness of Christ.
21. Remember three things that Christ taught us just before He died, as He hung on the cross. Remember the needs of others, even as we ourselves suffer. Obey God but love and care for the needs of our families. Treat one another as brothers and sisters in the church.
22. Thank you, Lord, and enable us to live in this way.
