5/8/11- Mother's Day John 20:25-27

²⁵ Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. ²⁶ When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, “Woman, here is your son,” ²⁷ and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.

See my previous blog on this passage: http://devotionalonjesus.blogspot.com/2010/11/112410-john-1925-27-mary-at-cross.html with a picture of Mary's house in Ephesus.

Thoughts: Jesus, as the eldest son, sought to care for his mother, even as he lay dying on the cross.  He entrusted her to his youngest disciple, John.  John, though young, came from a wealthy family that did business with the high priest (he got Peter into Caiaphas's courtyard (Jn. 18:15).  Jesus did not call out to his mother in pain and misery as some sons might do.  He perhaps eased her hurt not by complaining, but by helping her even when he was on the cross.  The sacrifice He was making there was not only for all the world- it was also for His mother.  So, we should seek to be blessings to our mothers, if they are alive, and seek to support the calling of our children if we are mothers. Calvin said the commandment to honor fathers and mothers is a command to respect authority of those God has placed over us. 

Prayer: Lord, help me to honor my mother as you honored Mary.  Help me to give of myself sacrificially for her as you gave of yourself for Mary.

John Calvin abridged: While Christ obeyed God the Father, he did not fail to perform the duty which he owed as a son, towards his mother. True he forgot himself, and he forgot everything, so far as was necessary for the discharge of obedience to his Father. But having performed his mission, he did not neglect what he owed to his mother. So we can learn how we should discharge our duty toward God and people. Sometimes families call us to do something in the opposite direction of God's call for us. If we place people in the same status as God, we misjudge. Though Christ was suffering unbelievable torture, grief, mockings, blasphemies and spiritual struggle with the devil, yet none of these things kept him from being concerned about his mother. John's obedience to Christ teaches us to revere him as well. Jesus probably called her "woman" instead of a more endearing term because he did not want to make it harder for her, and because he was leaving this world with its human relationships. That John was able to take her into his home shows that he was able to afford a house and may have had other means of employment and family. It also shows that John did not give up all of his property as some say we should do.

(Mary at cross- William Blake 1805)