"Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother." John 19:25a
I've heard it said many times by parents who have had to bury a child that the agony that you experience during that time compares to no other pain known to man. They often say that it's just not natural for a child to die before the parent.
Think about Mary, Jesus' mother. She didn't just watch her son die. She was witness to one of the most brutal forms of execution and it was being carried out on her very own son. Since the events of Jesus' arrest and sentencing all happened so quickly, I can only imagine that she was in pure shock.
On top of the horror of seeing her son bleed and die, she had to hear the relentless shouts and heckling from the crowd, hear the sound of the hammers hit the nails and then the natural response of wailing from a grown man. She had to watch the torture by the Roman soldiers and then stand there, practically alone, feeling such a sense of helplessness. No mother should have to watch their child die.
I've experienced hurt and pain that doesn't ever seem to fully go away, but I've never experienced pain like Mary. We can idolize her and fool ourselves into thinking that she was capable of handling these circumstances differently than we would because thirty-three years prior, she had found favor with God and was chosen to bring Jesus into the world.
The truth is, she was a Mama and in her eyes, her baby boy was hanging on a cross.
I hope that through her pain, Mary was able to see how well she had done at the task God had given her. She had been handed a grand responsibility at such a very young age, but based on something Jesus said while on the cross, I think God had to have been proud of the job she had done.
While Jesus is suffering anguish and pain on the cross, barely strong enough to push oxygen through his lungs, He says something that shows once again how selfless He was. He called out to His mother and His good friend John and says,
"Dear woman, here is your son," and to the disciple, "Here is your mother." John 19:27a
He was concerned about the welfare of His mother even while His very own welfare was in such a detestable state. He wanted to know that His mother was going to be cared for after He was gone, so He chose the one He could rely on the most to do that. The very next verse tells us that Mary found refuge in John's home from that point on.
Jesus wasn't just God's Son, but He was a good son. He would have made any mother proud.
So although Mary's heart had been ravaged with pain, I hope her heart was full, too. I hope she could see that her influence in Jesus' life had a definite impact on the Man who was hanging on that middle cross.
Take some time today to reenact the events of Good Friday in your mind. Visualize the expressions on the faces in the crowd. Listen to the chants and cries from the bystanders. Watch what your Savior experienced in order for you and I to receive eternal life. Our sins were very expensive, yet the debt was paid anyways.
Oh God, I pray that I would never take for granted the sacrifice of Your very own Son.
I've heard it said many times by parents who have had to bury a child that the agony that you experience during that time compares to no other pain known to man. They often say that it's just not natural for a child to die before the parent.
Think about Mary, Jesus' mother. She didn't just watch her son die. She was witness to one of the most brutal forms of execution and it was being carried out on her very own son. Since the events of Jesus' arrest and sentencing all happened so quickly, I can only imagine that she was in pure shock.
On top of the horror of seeing her son bleed and die, she had to hear the relentless shouts and heckling from the crowd, hear the sound of the hammers hit the nails and then the natural response of wailing from a grown man. She had to watch the torture by the Roman soldiers and then stand there, practically alone, feeling such a sense of helplessness. No mother should have to watch their child die.
I've experienced hurt and pain that doesn't ever seem to fully go away, but I've never experienced pain like Mary. We can idolize her and fool ourselves into thinking that she was capable of handling these circumstances differently than we would because thirty-three years prior, she had found favor with God and was chosen to bring Jesus into the world.
The truth is, she was a Mama and in her eyes, her baby boy was hanging on a cross.
I hope that through her pain, Mary was able to see how well she had done at the task God had given her. She had been handed a grand responsibility at such a very young age, but based on something Jesus said while on the cross, I think God had to have been proud of the job she had done.
While Jesus is suffering anguish and pain on the cross, barely strong enough to push oxygen through his lungs, He says something that shows once again how selfless He was. He called out to His mother and His good friend John and says,
"Dear woman, here is your son," and to the disciple, "Here is your mother." John 19:27a
He was concerned about the welfare of His mother even while His very own welfare was in such a detestable state. He wanted to know that His mother was going to be cared for after He was gone, so He chose the one He could rely on the most to do that. The very next verse tells us that Mary found refuge in John's home from that point on.
Jesus wasn't just God's Son, but He was a good son. He would have made any mother proud.
So although Mary's heart had been ravaged with pain, I hope her heart was full, too. I hope she could see that her influence in Jesus' life had a definite impact on the Man who was hanging on that middle cross.
Take some time today to reenact the events of Good Friday in your mind. Visualize the expressions on the faces in the crowd. Listen to the chants and cries from the bystanders. Watch what your Savior experienced in order for you and I to receive eternal life. Our sins were very expensive, yet the debt was paid anyways.
Oh God, I pray that I would never take for granted the sacrifice of Your very own Son.
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