Good Friday — John 19:26-27

“ 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.” John 19:26-27

The Roman soldiers have just stripped Jesus away of everything, almost everything. His garments were stolen, ripped, and lots were casts for a tunic, and when it seemed like nothing was left for the Enemy to take, he could not take love. Love still abided. It was love that caused Jesus to undergo the ordeal of the cross and it was love that kept him on the tree. Though a legion of angels could have kept him from the cross and could have taken Him down, his love said, “no”. 

His love still abided as can be seen in our next words of Christ. Words of love and comfort and care. “Woman, behold your son!” to his disciple, “Behold your mother!” The love that Jesus created through his person and ministry is evident even in the crowd of supports who stand by him in his darkest hour. You can always tell how much a person is loved by who is there in their final hours. 25 Now there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. Three woman and John. Mary the mother of Jesus who has witnessed over three years of Jesus loving faithfulness as a Son. From the walks around Galilee hand by hand as a child, to his teenage years were there was no dishonor, no rebellious phase that she could speak of, and his care for her in adulthood when she needed him the most (Joseph likely experiencing death at this point). Then there is Mary who is known as both the sister of Mary and wife of Clopas, another family tie. And Mary Magdalene from who Jesus casts out several demons. Up until this point all have seen the power of Jesus love as individuals. The relationship between Jesus’ followers was purely earthy. They knew and loved Jesus: Mary was his mom, the other Mary his aunt, the last Mary was a disciple. But it was mainly vertical. There is really no strong horizontal relationship between his disciples––yet. This is our first point: The love of Jesus is first manifested in the life of an individual before it is experienced as a group. 

How many more Mary’s this side of the cross can be added to the list of those captivated by Jesus’ love. How many Johns, Matthew’s, Philip’s, Tyrone’s, who can be brought to the foot of the cross by the power of Jesus’ love. Before he faced the cross, he said, “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” First 3…4, then 5,000, then the whole world. We can feel that love because we have experienced it personally, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends" (Jn 15:13).  If you have felt the love of a father, that is a great thing, if you have felt the love an earthly family, perhaps that is even better, even the love of a Church community, that is great! But have not gone to the deepest agape love that is attainable, the only love that is eternally savable, until you meet with Jesus singularly, and personally, at the foot of the cross.

The second point I want us to see is the care that Jesus has for our earthly state. 26 When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to His mother, “Woman, behold your son!” 

Christ, in his darkest hour still managed to have the well-being of others on his mind, from those persecuting him “Father, forgive them” to his own “Women, hold your son!” This was manifested in his ministry already when day after day they would bring to him all who had various diseases, those suffering in pain, the demon-possessed, those with seizure, the paralyzed (ref. Mat 4:24) he couldn’t even eat. It was nonstop. But he showed compassion. In the grand scheme of redemption, he was thinking of You and me just as he was concerned for the earthly well-being of his mother. The sick, demon-possessed, and lame, the drunk, molested, and shamed, are still being healed today because of Christ’s compassion.

Jesus, from the cross looks down at the prophesized agony of his mother. The same agony we see today on the news whenever a mother loses her son, and even worse, her only son, and even worse still her only son who did no wrong (a graduate, promising football star). But we see this mother who unlike any mother in history, grieves over a son who truly did nothing worthy of death and Jesus has compassion on here. And in that compassion on her we find comfort because it was only a few chapters earlier that we read in Luke 8:21, “But He answered and said to them [to crowds who told him that his biological mother and brothers were seeking him], “My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it.”  To Jesus all earthly relationships are looked at through the lens of faith and obedience and any who receive Jesus’s words and practice them are adopted into the family of God. So it is not, to Jesus, those who were born to Mary and Joseph that he regards as brothers and sisters but it is everyone who trusts in him.

And if Christ can provide for his own from the position of humiliation how much more can her care for the needs of others now, from a place of exaltation? Jesus may have seemed like a mere man taking care of a single mother, but he is an actually the Lord of Glory who reigns over all the earth, the eternal omnipotent omnipresent God who is not only able to see you today and act in your life, but he is able to do so as both your Savior and brother. Which brings us to our last point and what that means for us individuals who have been saved by him. What does his care look life for us today?

The last point: Jesus gives individuals a corporate and spiritual body for their earthly and spiritual support.

He said to His mother, “Woman, behold your son!” 27 Then He said to the disciple, “Behold your mother!” And from that hour that disciple took her to his own home.

In Jesus finally words he not only cared for a soon to be bereaved parent, he also established a new relationship. “This is here is your mother.” “Here is your son.” What Jesus does with his word at Golgotha are no different than his words at Genesis, he creates something new out of something that was not there, out of darkness. This new relationship that he forged on the cross was greater than any Roman legal or cultural commitment. He created a new spiritual family, a body. 

We have seen that John is not the only person who has been ushered into this family in the gospels but those who respond to Christ in faith. So Mary and John’s new relationship this is not a one off. John does now has charge over Mary in a unique and earthly sense, but it based on an even greater spiritual reality. Union with Christ. It is God’s work that places us in union with his Son and as a result unites us together as the Church. I want to read a few verses that speak to this point.

• I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Gal 2:20)

• For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit. (1 Cor 12:13)

• 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. (Rom 8:14-17)

Christ care for his own made him look down from on high and say, “I see your agony. Here is your sister, here is your mother, here is your brother.” And just like John’s new calling lead to real life activity (he took her to his own home). So the love of Christ shed abroad in our hearts should lead to practical acts of love and mercy to all those who bear the name of Christ. I pray that we would all follow Christ who above all earthly relationships entrust his greatest care to his own. “Behold you are our sister.” Behold, you are our brother.”