When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” 27 Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home. -John 19:26
Of the seven statements that Jesus made from the cross, the first three were directed to the needs of those around the cross. Jesus was in unimaginable agony, and in His agony, He is concerned about others more than Himself. And not just those who love Him, but also those who killed Him. Dietrich Bonhoeffer described Jesus most simply and profoundly when he said, “Jesus is the man for others.” He goes on to say that Jesus' transcendence is found in His "being there for others.” We don’t know what happened to Jesus’ earthly father, Joseph. The last time we hear of him is when Jesus is twelve. It is safe to assume that by entrusting his mother to John, His father had already died. This probably happened at some point before He began His ministry at age thirty. We also don’t know when John returned to the cross after fleeing with the others and leaving Jesus alone as He had told them would happen. We know that both Mary and John were there, and Jesus was concerned that His mother would be cared for in her grief and her vulnerability. Jesus was the oldest son in the family, and it was His responsibility to care for His mother. It’s hard to imagine what Mary had experienced in her life. She was looked at with suspicion for becoming pregnant out of wedlock. Her husband died while she had a fairly young family. When they presented Jesus at the temple in Jerusalem a man named Simeon told Mary that a sword would pierce her soul. Now that was happening as she watched her Son being unjustly condemned and crucified. And Jesus, being filled with compassion, was broken hearted for her. Jesus had four biological brothers who are mentioned in Matthew and Mark, but He chose John as the one to care for his mother. In doing this, Jesus is not only fulfilling the law of honoring His mother, but He is also showing us another aspect of the Gospel. Not only does the Gospel reconcile us to God and unite us to Him, but it also reconciles us to one another and creates a bond that is as close, if not closer, than the bonds of an earthly family. Jesus is saying here that He has come to create a new family. In doing this, He is showing us how the church is to love and care for one another and the vulnerable in our society.
At one point in His ministry, He is told that His mother and brothers were looking for Him. He responds by saying: Mark 3:33 “Who are my mother and my brothers?” 34 And looking about at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.” When we become followers of Christ, we become family in the deepest sense of the word. God is our Father, Christ is our brother, and every other follower of Christ, no matter what their denominational preference, becomes family. It is pretty safe to say that the church is one big dysfunctional family that shares a common union through Christ. And because of that, we are to love and care for one another, especially the grieving, weak and vulnerable. A widow in Jesus’ day, was extremely vulnerable. When her husband died she was often left without income, property, or legal protection. Jesus showed compassion for the widow of Nain by raising her son. He condemned the religious leaders of His day for exploiting them. The early church placed a high priority on caring for widows. We can learn so much from statement of Jesus from the cross. Here are a couple that come to mind.
Every one of us who has been united to Christ through faith in His death on our behalf has been adopted into God’s family. Our common union is Jesus death for our sins and His resurrection from the grave. This new community is born and finds it’s life under the cross of Christ. Most of us who were born and raised in America love our independence. The founding document of our country is “The Declaration of Independence.” In this statement Jesus pronounces our declaration of interdependence. Before He goes to the cross He prays for the unity of His children: John 17:23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. We get a glimpse of the infant church in Acts 2:44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And now we wait for the day when our King will return and we live together for all eternity as one in the New Heavens and the New Earth. Until then we are called to be a loving family in the midst of an individualistic culture.
We are also to care for the vulnerable. In our culture, this could include not only widows but refugees, orphans, the poor and outcasts, and those with disabilities to name a few. I am sure that John was in some way inconvenienced by Jesus' command to care for His mother. But He loved Jesus and wanted to please Him. He knew that Jesus loved His mother, so “from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.” To care for the vulnerable is not easy or convenient, but Jesus loves them. This is what God calls us to do as His church. Dietrich Bonhoeffer goes on to say: “The church is the church only when it exists for others...The church must share in the secular problems of ordinary human life, not dominating but helping and serving. It must tell men of every calling, what it means to live in Christ, to exist for others.” Jesus lived and died for others and these words are a challenge for all of us to examine our own lives as they relate to our brothers and sisters in Christ and to the grieving, the weak and the vulnerable around us.