Read: John 19:17-27
Reflect: I was giving birth to our first son. Labor was going into the 2nd day and I had enough. At that time, Bill was working fulltime, going to college and also leading a ministry. He normally was wiped out. I remember screaming at him when he had the nerve around hour #20 of my labor to begin nodding off in exhaustion. After all, it was all about me and not him. Right?
he takes care of mom
Then we come to the passages that describe Jesus’ last hours. It should have been all about Him, not anyone else. Right? Jesus is arrested, deserted, tortured, betrayed, listens to religious hypocrites lie through their teeth. Furthermore, he’s forced to drag through the streets the cross on which he will be murdered. He is hanging there with nails through His wrists and feet, the crowds jeering at Him, and the soldiers are deciding who will get His clothes. What does Jesus do? He takes care of Mom. I think I would be thinking about everything that has just happened to me and the further agonies to come, yet He takes care of Mom. It’s not all about His own pain.
a bond deeper than genetics
Does he entrust this task with his biological half-brothers? No, He totally entrusts this with His friend, John. In Luke 8:19-21, Jesus makes clear that there is a bond deeper than genetics. My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it. If there is anyone who will faithfully take care of His believing mom, it would be the disciple who showed up at the cross and did not look away – the Apostle John.
he will provide for you
Why is this an important distinction? John Piper writes: “Those who hear and do the Word of God have an even greater claim on Jesus’ care than she (Mary). If he took care of her, will he not much more provide for all your needs? 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!”
the gift of the church
This is both a huge responsibility and benefit for those who are part of the Body of Christ, the church. Our needs are met when we have left everything to follow Jesus. Paul said in Acts 20:28, Christ purchased the church of God with his own blood. Piper continues: “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.”
to care for their own
A ground breaking prayer that Jesus prayed for both His disciples and believers in the future is recorded in John 17:20-23. He prays for complete unity among His followers, something that would shake the world. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. The product from such unity is the same type of care which Jesus on the cross entrusted John with regarding Mary. This is what the church is supposed to do better than any other agency on earth – to care for their own.
how is your caring?
So, the question is, if you profess to be a believer, how are you caring for other believers? Bishop Wescott wrote, “Great occasions do not make heroes or cowards, they simply unveil them to the eyes of men. Silently and imperceptibly, as we wake or sleep, we grow strong or we grow weak, and at last some crisis shows us what we have become.” What have the recent crises in your life, your country, and your world, demonstrated about your love for other believers? Is it sacrificial love, the kind that will run to the very end? It is not all about you. It is about Christ.