Jesus Is Concerned About Others John 19:25-27
Third Midweek
Lenten Service March 14, 2001
We have lived through a period of history where we have been told that you need to look out for yourself. If you don’t look out for yourself, no one else will. We have watched as people have destroyed their families, their own personal lives, as they were busy doing their own thing. They were focused on themselves, their needs and wants and no regard for others and their feelings and needs.
As we stand
at the foot of the cross of Jesus, we see a totally different picture. We see a man in great agony and pain. We watch as a man who has been unjustly
arrested, tried and condemned is now executed.
As we listen to the second words that our Lord spoke from the cross, we
see that JESUS IS CONCERNED ABOUT OTHERS. As we stand here and listen we are amazed as
our Lord I) Shows His Selfless Concern and we see our II) Our
Savior’s Mother Taken Care Of.
As we look up at that cross we see a man in great agony and pain. Before the Romans nailed Jesus to that torturous tool of execution they beat him. This was often called the second death. The soldiers used a cat-of-nine tails. This was a whip with a number of leather straps and on the end of each strap was tied either a piece of bone or a nail. When a person was whipped with that device it tore the skin of his back and exposed his internal organs. Then Jesus was nailed to that rough piece of wood. It was not sanded and varnished nice and smooth. It was full of slivers and rough. He was nailed with his legs bent so that he could lift himself up so that he could breath and then let himself down to expel the air from his lung. His beaten and bloody back was scrapping up and down that rough slivered log.
As this man is dying a slow and torturous death, you would expect to hear him crying for help and mercy. Here he was an innocent man. He did not deserve to be condemned to death. He could have been cursing those who had unjustly tried and convicted him. He could have been begging his mother and his other followers to do something for him. But Jesus is not concerned about himself. He is concerned about others.
As our Lord looks down from the cross, he sees his mother, Mary, his mother’s sister, Salome the mother of James and John, Mary the wife of Clopas and Mary Magdalene. Just think of the grief and pain that Mary must have been going through. She may have been reminded of the words of the man Simeon 33 years earlier. Remember when Mary and Joseph went to the temple in Jerusalem when Jesus was 40 days old to do what the law required? A man named Simeon came up and took the baby Jesus out of their arms and said, “I’m now ready to die for I have seen the Lord’s salvation.” (Luke 2:29-32) He then told Mary and Joseph that Jesus would cause the rising and falling of many in Israel. He then concluded by saying to Mary, “and a sword will pierce your own soul too.” (Luke 2:35c) If Mary remembered the words of Simeon, she now understood what he meant. If any of you mothers have had to bury any of your children, you know the pain and anguish that you have experienced. I remember one of our shut-ins who told me that she buried six of her seven adult children. She was in her 90’s and she had walked to the grave of six of her seven children. It is never easy for a parent to bury a child. We usually assume that the children will bury their parents rather than the other way around.
As Jesus sees his mother standing there, he is concerned. In those days there was no Social Security, no pensions. Mary was a widow. Her husband Joseph is dead. Jesus is her oldest son and it would be his responsibility to take care of his mother in her old age. The brothers and sisters of Jesus did not believe in him and so they were not there. Who was going to take care of Mary? We are told that in addition to the four women standing at the foot of the cross, there was also the disciple whom Jesus loved. This was the apostle John. He was Jesus’ cousin. John’s mother Salome and Jesus’ mother Mary were sisters.
In his concern for the welfare of his mother, Jesus looks down and says to her, “Woman, here is your son.” Then he says to John, “Here is your mother.” Why does Jesus call Mary, “woman” and not “mother”? Remember there were many of Jesus’ enemies standing here heckling and ridiculing our Lord. Mary was not from Jerusalem. She had come down from Nazareth in Galilee. Jesus did not want to direct his enemies’ attention to his mother and have her endure the ridicule and scorn of those who hated him. Most of Jesus’ disciples had run off and were in hiding because they feared the Jews, all except John who was standing with these four women. Jesus loved Mary too much to bring her more sorrow and grief. He wanted her taken care of. So in selfless love our Lord ignores his own pain and problems and sees to the care of his mother.
John tells us, “From that time on this disciple took her into his home.” (v. 27c) John did not question Jesus. He did not say, “What about your brothers and sisters? Can’t they take care of their own mother?” John did not consider or ask, “How much is this going to cost me?” He did what his Lord asked of him. He took Mary in and provided her with food, shelter and clothes. The Lord saw to it that his mother was taken care of.
Jesus does the same for widows today. He sees to it that they are provided for. Often when someone is facing death, they are concerned about their loved ones and what will happen to them after they die. We have many widows in this congregation who have not been thrown out into the streets when their husbands died. They still have a roof over their head. They have food on their tables and clothes on their backs. The Lord has seen to it that they are provided for and taken care of.
The opposite is also true that often those who are left behind by the death of a loved one begin to worry and wonder how they will survive. But remember the Lord Jesus has told us not to worry about what we will eat or drink. Why not? Because our heavenly Father knows that we have need of these things. Jesus says, “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:33)
Jesus took care not only of his mother Mary’s physical needs for the rest of her life. He also took care of a greater need that she and all of us have. He prepared for Mary and us and eternal home with him in paradise. As we heard in our reading for today, Jesus told his disciples, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God. Trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” (John 14:1-3) By his agonizing death on that tree, being forsaken by his heavenly Father and enduring the punishment of hell, he freed us from such an eternal destiny. Jesus has taken care of our eternal welfare. He has prepared a place for each of us with him and all the saints in glory.
Never forget that Jesus is concerned about you. As you hear his loving and caring words to his own mother, remember he loves you just as much. He will care for your needs here on this earth. But more importantly he has taken care of your eternal future. He has a home of peace and lasting joy waiting for you in glory.
Amen.