26 When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, "Dear 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. John19:26
As we saw yesterday, the physical suffering of the cross was totally eclipsed by the spiritual suffering and yet the words Jesus spoke while He was on the cross show us that He was in control in spite of the agony and that He was thinking about us.
Think about some of the things He said:
"Father forgive them - they don't know what they're doing"
"Today you will be with me in paradise"
"Dear woman, here is your son"
"My God, my God why have you forsaken me"
"I'm thirsty"
"It is finished"
"Into Your hands I commit my spirit"
Of these seven utterings:
* three are completely geared toward us. ("Forgive them", "today you'll be with me", "Here is your son")
* three are about the process - He is telling us what is happening to Him ("Abandoned", "It is finished", "Into your hands")
* one is about Himself, but only sort of, because He's making sure that the Scripture about being given wine-vinegar to drink is being fulfilled and He's also reminding us that He "hungers and thirsts for righteousness" (one of the beatitudes.)
But, for me, His word to Mary and John epitomises His incredible love for us in that while He is suffering incredibly, He takes the time to sort out domestic arrangements for Mary and meet her and John's emotional needs.
We know John lived right up to 95AD and it probably indicates that he was just a teenager when Jesus was crucified and that's probably the reason that John is the only male disciple at the cross - he was too young to be arrested by the Romans.
Jesus sees a young John's devastation and Mary's heartache and He gives them to each other for comfort and purpose. (A responsibility for John to man up to and youngster for Mary to mother)
In the midst of His suffering, He was thinking about them and He was thinking about us!
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Theo Groeneveld theo @ emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at emmdev[dot]blogspot[dot]com/
