Jesus consoles his mother

Prayer

John 19:25-27

25 but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.

 26 When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” 

27 Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.

Jesus consoles his mother

You see Jesus gave his mother to be cared for by one of his desiples. We begin our discussion this evening on how even while hanging on the cross Jesus was thinking of those that were there to support him. Let’s think for a moment, when we look at our own life we often consider what Jesus can do for me. When what we are truly to consider, is what does Jesus want us to do for him. We never consider him in the equation. We always think of our own wants and needs. Have we ever stopped to think as Jesus was hanging from the cross not only did he forgive the thief on the cross beside him, He was concerned for those who was crucifying him and ask his father to forgive them for they know not what they do. Not to mention he was concerned for his mother and what was going to happen after he rose from the dead and returned to the right hand of God. You see I challenge everyone to find where Jesus ever thought of him self before others. I want us to look at the scene that day. At the foot of the cross stood not only soldiers zealous for profit, but loved ones grieving over their loss. With the Beloved Disciple were three or four women, including the mother of Jesus. in our scripture tonight we find out that, From the cross, Jesus transferred the responsibility for His mother’s care from himself to the trusted disciple: Jesus said“Dear woman, here is your son,” and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home (19:26b–27). You see Jesus wanted to be sure she was cared for. The great problem with the human saviors who, over the centuries, have dreamed their grand dreams and expanded their empires around the world, that, in the process, they lose sight of their own insignificance in the grand of the all-inclusive plan; the individual becomes expendable. But this king who reigns from a cross on Golgotha is different. Here is a king whose embrace is as wide as the world, the one to whom ‘all authority in heaven and on earth has been given’ this has been recorded in (Matt. 28:18), and yet who can simultaneously embrace each of us in a personal, loving commitment that is the dance of our hearts. It is perfectly illustrated in this paragraph, for as Jesus hangs there with the burden of a world’s redemption upon his shoulders, he finds time to express his personal, loving concern for his mother and one of his special friends the disciple. It is possible to overemphasize or under emphasize this event. Surely, more should be seen than the tenderness and concern of Jesus, though this must not be lost. To see the event as the elevation of Mary to a position of supremacy in the church surely is no surprise. although She has been placed under the care of the disciple, not in authority over him. It may be, rather, that this newly constituted family unit symbolizes for us the new family of God made possible through the death of Jesus: a family binding men and women together in mutual caring, a family crossing over natural family ties, a family arising out of a common faith in the One who died.[1] You see we are considered all a family in God. We are no longer separated by our ancestry boundaries. You see Jesus died on the cross for us all not just a certain group or religion. He included us all in his gift. The beggar the millionaire, the wise and the foolish, the healthy the sick. There is not a pedigree or a type or even a code we need to become one with God. We are all born children of God with all the rights and privileges. Because Jesus died for our sins all we have to do is ask for forgiveness and exclaim Jesus as our lord and savior. And the gift of reconciliation is ours, paid for by Christ on the cross. So as was the case at the foot of the cross Jesus’s mother Mary stood morning her sons death, who was in unbelievable pain. Jesus took the time to arrange for her care. Just as he was there for us to provide for us the opportunity to have eternal life beside him and his father in heaven. When we struggle through our days instead of putting God in the back seat, too go to only when its convenient or when we are in trouble, Let’s make him a priority just as he makes us a priority every minute of every second of everyday. So as we journey on towards Easter let us remember Jesus took time for his mother at the foot of the cross . Will we take time for him?

Amen.

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[1]Joseph Dongell, John: A Bible Commentary in the Wesleyan Tradition (Indianapolis, IN: Wesleyan Publishing House, 1997), 227.