The Heart of a Son or Daughter - John19:25-27

John 19:25–27 KJV 1900

25 Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son! 27 Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home.

Lets simply begin with the statement, Jesus cared for his mother.

I mean he really cared for her.

You see the common belief was that Mary had been following along with Jesus throughout this part of his ministry and that she was relying on them for support.

In one of Jesus’s weakest moments, just before death, he had his own mother on his mind.

So the question for us is what does it look like to be a good son or daughter to our heavenly father along with our earthly parents?

What should the parent/ child relationship really look like?

To answer these questions we need to get the root of Jesus and Mary’s exchange up Calvary

Really the root of what was happening is shown in

I. Christ’s Sincere Heart

You see, what we are seeing is the heart of our savior unfiltered. this was him pouring out completely.

Jesus’s spirit was concerned.

I imagine he wanted to know his mother would be OK.

So he looks toward the disciple whom many speculate was John then back to his mother and tells his mother.

“Woman, behold thy son!”

We can look into the depth of this conversation and see that Jesus was compassionate toward his mother.

He cared!

Jesus sincerely cared for his mother.

Look at the emotional toil that was at play while in such physical pain.

At this moment Christ was ever near to death. He had been through it in the previous days.

As he neared Cavalries mountain his mother was on his heart and he looks to the disciple to care for her.

We often think about how hard it was for Mary to watch her son be killed and it certainly was.

Though it was certainly equally difficult for Jesus

Friends, when you look at the heart of Christ have you ever considered what he did for you and I on an emotional level...

Have you ever considered that Christ’s sincere and caring heart apply to you and I.

You see, this was no easy task.

In pain, Christ cared.

Therefor in following in Christ’s example we should have the same heart for our mothers.

So what does that look like exactly.

Well, in following the example of Christ....

II. Christ cared first about the Gospel

You see, we talk about the toil it took on Mary and Jesus emotionally.

Perhaps the most difficult aspect of what was at play is Christ could have stopped it.

Yet, he did not because the lives of you and I were of more significance to him than his own physical and emotional pain.

He knew that the plan of God the father to redeem this world and give us hope for an eternity hinged solely on his blood wrenched death on a cross.

He knew the only way for the world to come back into completion with God was for him to die.

You see, this is why he said in Luke 14:26-27...

Luke 14:26–27 KJV 1900

If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.

These verses get such a bad report.

They make people feel as though Jesus said to not care for ones family.

Yet, we know that Jesus never contradicts himself.

You see, he showed on his journey to the cross that he truly cared for his mother.

Had he not cared for his mother he would let whatever happen, happen.

What Christ was simply saying in Luke was that whoever is going to live for him has to live for him completely.

That is to say we cannot put earthly father and mother ahead of the mission of Christ and relationship with God the father.

Jesus also set this in his example to the cross.

By willingly leaving his mother in the hands of the disciple and dying he proved he cared for God’s mission above the worlds.

So friends, what does this really mean?

What is really at play here is.....

III. Our two Calls as Children

You see we are all children.

Even if we are no longer blessed with our earthly mother or father we all certainly have our heavenly Father.

You see in this exchange between Mary and Jesus we see a very similar dynamic.

Jesus had his earthly mother, along with his heavenly father.

This really is significant because we love our earthly family.

It’s important by the standards of Christ that we love them.

However, some have forsaken the love of the heavenly father in order to appease those on earth.

Many of us see this dynamic in our own families.

A child who depends on their mother and father for everything.

A mother or father who refuse to let their child grow up.

These are only a couple of example, I am certain many of you have encountered others.

These are products of a world that does not care for Christ.

This begins to clarify for us, What our calls are.

Our calls are simple....

To Love Christ so much that we follow in his plan for our lives.

To love our families so much that we follow Christ’s plan on our life.

You see, we cannot really have one without the other.

We cannot really love our families until we follow Christ’s call on our life.

This leads to where we are now.

Using the dynamic of Jesus and Mary as an example of what these relationships should look like.

You see many have forsaken the call of the Gospel and therefor forsaken their Lord because they refuse to leave the very gifts in which Christ has given them.

Though he blessed us with a family, we have to be willing to give it up for him.

Though he blessed us with a house we have to be willing to give it up for him.

If we are following in the example of jesus Christ we are willing to give up all that.

You see we are called first to Kingdom work and then we can focus on the rest.

When we forsake the call of the father we are convinced we are doing so in love, yet what it really is is disobedience.

To love our family is to love God.

Because we cannot truly be helpful to them until God has all of us.

All of us should ask our self…

IV. What Does God Mean to Me?

So In our final point for today I want us to contemplate what God means to us.

You see, to Christ, God the father meant everything.

Though he loved and was thankful for those who was a part of his earthly life, they did not change his kingdom outlook.

Christ was going to follow God’s plan on his life.

In other words, we must be good children to our Heavenly Father.

In fact, I would challenge us today.

What would it look like if in our own life if we followed the example of Jesus Christ and began to act like him in both our view of the gospel and our earthly life.

For Jesus, he had a primary mission, he completed that mission first and foremost.

Yet, Jesus not being separated form the emotional side of humanity displayed the same emotions many of us do.

He cared for his family, in fact, he cared for them so much that he was willing to die for them.

If we are to follow in his example the Kingdom of the Lord must mean everything, yet we should still care for our earthly family as well.

It is not by mistake that jesus put those in our life, just as he cared for his mother Mary, we are to called to care for our earthly parents.

The only restriction, the Gospel comes first!

In all that we do the truth that when we are called to move we move.

When we are called to go we go.

and when we are called to tell we tell.

When the Holy Spirit leads our life, we act,!

We do this simply to follow the example of our savior and care for God first.

I want to ask you, Is God first in your life today?

Or are the things in this world a priority?

The truth is that when Christ is first, those within our families are blessed even more so.

Their lives will be forever changed by your willingness to sacrifice all for your heavenly Father.

You see, parents.

When a mother or father loves their r child as Mary loved Jesus they are willing to allow their child to follow God’s call upon their life.

It was certainly a painful experience for Mary to witness Jesus’s agonizing time on the cross, yet she did so.

As much as it hurt, she had to let him go.

why? Because that was God’s intended purpose on the life of Christ.

Parent’s, Grandparent’s I want to encourage you today to not forget, before they were your child or grandchild, they were God’s

He has a purpose and a will for their life and if you stand in the way of that in hopes to keep them with you then you have hindered the call of the Gospel and stood in the way of God himself.

In the same manner, If you wait to follow God in hopes that you can stay with your family.

In the likes of Jesus his love for his mother was only truly shown through his death for his mother as well as all of mankind.

As much as he desired to stay back, he must go.

God had called him.

Friends, if you are saved today one important thing to remember is God has a calling on your life.

If your family is saved, he has a calling on their life.

So I ask you today, as a son or Daughter to your heavenly father.

Where is your heart?

Toward your earthly family, where is your heart?

The most important question you can ask yourself today....

Do you really desire for God’s will and purpose on their life and yours?

If you do, you have to be willing to follow the call of Christ today.

And in the example of Jesus Christ and his dear mother Mary, are you willing to let go so that God can mold and make a masterpiece.

you see God can do something amazing in your family.

It simply begins by you being a good son or daughter to you your heavenly father.

Friends, maybe you are here today and you say, I have been holding back the lives of my family.

I thought I could keep them, but I have realized today, the only thing I am doing is standing in the way of God.

Friend’s if that is you today, come, kneel before your master, and plead that his ultimate plan would prevail.

get out of the way and let God work.

Or maybe you are here and like the Parable of Jesus, you are unwilling to forsake the life you have to follow him.

Perhaps there is sin holding you from salvation.

Or simply possessions and people holding you from his calling.

Friends, if that is you today.

Would you come, would you plea to the Father for his forgiveness.

Friends, whatever it may may be, perhaps, you feel the call to church membership, Salvation or rededication.

But would you follow God’s call today.

Would you come to the alter and lay your burdens down.

Would you follow the call of your Savior today?

The truth is, we can’t really care for our families, we can’t really love our mother or father, we can’t really do anything in this life until we care enough to follow the call of Christ.