Behold Your Mother

The Third Word

John 19:25-27 - “But standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.”

Right before Jesus dies, he looks down and sees his mother. He also sees John, his disciple and friend. His heart goes out to them. They are about to be left alone, so he entrusts them to each other. Mother, here is a son for you. John, please take care of my mother.

In these words we see Jesus’ humanity. He was fully God, able to save, but he was also fully human, just like us.

I spent a little time learning some Mandarin Chinese. It is a wonderful language and is quite different from learning any Western or Indo-European language. The vocabulary and tones and characters are unlike anything in English. But what is the Chinese word for Mother? It’s Ma ma. Ma ma. Of course this is no coincidence. When a baby first gains the ability to make a sound with its newly formed mouth, what else could the meaning of those first syllables be? It is mother who is there caring for her baby, in the middle of the night, all through the day, every day. When each of us is born, imagine how the strange and terrifying outside world starts to press itself in on us, but there is one person who is familiar, one person who is safe, who is known. It is ma ma. Every mother is hard-wired by God’s design with a love for her children, and we are all hard-wired to love our mothers.

And Jesus loved his mother. He is just like us.

I have a vivid memory of my mother when I went off to college. I was born and raised in Minneapolis, MN, but at 18 I went off to school in Chicago. I felt like I was finally moving out, ready to prove myself and conquer the world. My parents drove the 8 hours for me to get there. My dad helped me carpet my dorm room and move a few boxes of stuff in. We walked around campus a little bit and saw a few things together. Late in the afternoon I was going to visit a Christian student group on campus and it was time for my parents to drive back home. We said our goodbyes and walked out separate ways. But then I looked back and saw my mother in tears.

And then it hit me all of a sudden. I was leaving home and I wasn’t coming back. And my mother knew it. I barely realized it, but my mother had been preparing for this for years.

What was Mary thinking at the foot of the cross? Here is her baby, Jesus. She had cared for him from infancy. She knew who he was and what he would do before anyone else did. Do you remember the words that Simeon spoke to Mary after he saw the baby Jesus? “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed…and a sword will pierce through your own soul also” (Luke 2:34-35). The sword was piercing Mary’s soul right there at the foot of the cross. Her child was dying.

Jesus saw his mother Mary standing there. He saw what she was going through and his heart went out to her. Even in the middle of doing the greatest work ever done, to be suffering the greatest pain ever suffered, to be reconciling God and man for all eternity, yet in the middle of all that, he thought of his mother.

Who is this God? And how can it be? How could God the Son have come down and become a man so much like me that his heart is so simply and so obviously bound to his mother?

Here we see the dignity of man, created in God’s image. One of the most basic elements of our existence, my own love for my mother, is a reflection of the very character of Almighty God.

We also see the love of God. Jesus taught us that when we see him, we see the Father. If Jesus loved his mother in this way, what does this tell us about who God is? It tells us that God is love. God is not an all-powerful but impersonal judge from whom we grovel for mercy. We see that God has come down to us with a heart overflowing in love for sinners.

Does this word about God’s love stir anything in your heart? We are all made for it and are in desperate need of it. Without this love from God, we really are lost and alone in a strange and terrifying world. But here at the cross, we see it. It’s almost too good to be true. But here it is, shown to us plainly in Jesus’ love for his mother and offered freely to us. Jesus’ heart goes out to us as well at the cross, to everyone who comes to him as their Lord and God.

Mark 3:31-35 says, “And his mother and his brothers came, and standing outside they sent to him and called him. And a crowd was sitting around Him, and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers are outside, seeking you.” And he answered them, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” And looking about at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.”

From The Seven Last Words of Christ, Good Friday Service, 2012, Christ Community Church