To Encourage You

John 19:24-27 “So the soldiers did these things, 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.”

Included among those who witnessed the crucifixion of Christ were not just His enemies, but also a number of His true disciples, people He loved dearly.  This included people like His own mother Mary, Mary the wife of Clopas, Mary Magdalene, and the apostle John (who always referred to himself in the gospel of John as “the disciple whom He (i.e., Jesus) loved”).  Unlike the soldiers who mocked and crucified Christ, these disciples could only watch. What must have gone through their minds as they watched this one Whom they knew to be the very Son of God, be humiliated and murdered right in front of them?  This One Whom they had grown to love and trust was now violently being taken away from them.  Interestingly, it is in these very moments of grief that Jesus says the following words: to His mother Mary He says (of John) “Woman, behold your son!” and to John He says “Behold, your mother!”  Obviously, Jesus was letting John know with these words that he was to care for Mary from that time on, and He was assuring Mary that she would not be left bereft, but that John would now love and care for her the rest of her life.  

What wonderful words these were as Jesus gave these true disciples assurance and guidance for this new period in their lives when He would no longer be present with them physically.  But in these words to Mary and John we also see words for each one of us that is a follower of Christ. Just like Mary and John, we love the Son of God although He is not with us physically in flesh and blood.  And just like Jesus gave instructions to Mary and John about a new relationship He expected between them from that time forward, we too are called to very special new relationships with other believers. We are to view each other not simply from an earthly point of view, but from the perspective of children of God and brothers and sisters in Christ.  

We see this perspective in Jesus’ words in Matthew 12:48-50 when He says “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?”  And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers!  For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”  We also see this perspective in Paul’s instructions to Timothy concerning the church in 1 Timothy 5:1: “Do not rebuke an older man but encourage him as you would a father, younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, in all purity.” And one other place we find this view is in Jesus’ words in Mark 10:29-30: “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel,  who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life.” 

In these passages we are reminded that when one is born again into the family of God he or she is born into a vast new spiritual family that includes every other child of God in the entire world regardless of race, nationality, age, or gender.  And this new family is to be viewed as not just a general concept, but as a family within which we have a responsibility to love one another deeply from the heart. This love, if it is real, will be demonstrated in our actions.  In John’s case we are told that “from that hour the disciple took her (Mary) to his own home” and we are to assume that he cared for her there.  

In the end, at the final judgment which is coming to each one of us, Jesus will examine each of us as to whether or not we too have cared for other believers as He expects us to.  In the final judgment we will either hear “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.  For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,  I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me . . . Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my BROTHERS, you did it to me” or we will hear this: “Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.  For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me. . . Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me (Matthew 25:34-45).’“  

May God help us to live in ways whereby we truly love our brothers, sisters, mothers, and fathers in Christ as the Lord clearly expects us to.