Epistle:
Ephesians 2:19-20
So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the
saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the
apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone,
19
Gospel:
John 19:25-27
standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the
wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 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.
25
"Behold, Your Son!"
My dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ.
A hospice is a place to die. It is a place where those who are terminally ill can receive
the care they need to remain as comfortable as possible, to make peace with themselves
and the world, and, then, to die.
As one faces the final and ultimate reality of this life, values change. The man who
could not do without baseball now doesn't even care. The woman who kept everyone at a
distance, now wants them near. The newspaper, once so important is no longer read
because it doesn't have any application to where the minds of the dying are.
As the dying consider their impending death they tend to forget the world around them,
especially if their death is a painful one. That is part of the reason it is so striking that
Jesus noticed His mother as she stood there watching His crucifixion, and although He
certainly had enough to occupy His mind, He thought about her and provided for her
welfare even as He died, tortured to the end.
Our Gospel says "When Jesus therefore saw His mother and the disciple whom
He loved standing nearby, He said, 'Woman, behold, your son!' Then He said to the
disciple, 'Behold, your mother!' And from that hour the disciple took her into his
own household."
This word of Jesus from the cross shows our Savior's human side. He loved his
mother. He cared for her as a loving Son should, even at the point of His greatest
difficulty and distress. He had the love of a son, a first-born son. And He bore the duty
of a son faithfully.
He had other brothers. He would not have been the first first-born son in history to
have died and left his mother to the younger brothers. There would have been no sin in
that. But, Jesus not only did not sin, He did all things well. He took care even where it
would not have been unreasonable for Him not to take care.
It is often overlooked, but He also took care of John. John, the disciple whom Jesus
loved. John was losing someone very special to him too. He was always at the Savior̓s
side. He was the closest. His special friend was dying there in front of him. How could
he bear the grief?
Jesus saw John standing by Mary and answered both questions with this brief word.
He called to His mother: Woman. He didn't mean anything negative by that. She had
been "Mama." She had been the one to whom Jesus owed and paid all honor and respect.
But when He took up the mantle of His saving work, that had all changed. She had
stopped being 'Mom' and started to be "woman." A special woman, a much loved
woman, but another of those for whose sin He had come to pay. She was one of those
who would look to Him for all grace and who would pray to Him as she had to the
heavenly Father for so long.
These changes caused by His mission among us had to have had a straining effect on
their relationship. How do you treat your baby as Master? How do you treat your mother
as just another one of your followers?
What He did is He cared for her needs, and He gave John a special person to love and
care for and treasure in memory of His beloved master. He created a new family.
Just as He creates us to be a new family! We are all adopted to the family of Jesus
Christ. Look at one another. This is your family. This is your true family. You were
born into a family according to the flesh. Nevertheless, here is the family God has
adopted you to be a part of.
These people sitting around you tonight are your real family. God has made them to
be your brothers and sisters. He has called you out of the world, out of your family of the
flesh into His family of the Spirit, the Holy Spirit. Listen to our epistle again, "So then
you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow-citizen with the saints and
are of God̓s household, having been built upon the foundation of the Apostles and
the Prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone."
In a way as true as your sins are true, and as real as your forgiveness is real, this, the
congregation around you, is your true family now. You are the child of God through
Jesus Christ and these people are your brothers and sisters in Christ. Just as Jesus created
the new relationship between John and Mary, He has also created a new relationship
between us. And we are to love each other as family, and take care of each other as
family. We are to be to one another more important than anyone else, closer than anyone
else. Those in your family of the flesh who are not Christians, however dear to you they
may be, are not "family" in the truest sense.
Jesus said, "He who does the will of my Father is my Mother and my brother and
my sister." And what is the will of God? Your salvation. His will is that you might
believe that Jesus has paid for your sins, and bought you back from sin and death and
hell. And He has made you to be a part of His family. St. Paul speaks of our baptism as
being adopted. John says that God calls us "children of God", and by that calling, He
creates the reality of which His words speak.
There was no law here. There would have been no sin if Jesus had omitted to do this
thing. Jesus certainly had adequate reasons to have such things slip from His mind. But
He remembered His mother, and John, both in love. He took a moment for them out of
love, not out of need, and answered their biggest need, for comfort, care and love.
He did even this far better and far more than we could expect or need. And He does
the same for us. He is not on the cross today. He has no distractions, He can and does
take care of us. His love is focused on us, and His grace, forgiveness purchased and won
on the cross is already accomplished. He has met our biggest need, forgiveness and life,
and now He tends to all our other needs.
In your needs and in your times of trouble, this Word of Jesus stands to remind us that
He cares for us in every circumstance. If nails and humiliation and pain could not keep
Jesus from seeing and remembering and caring for Mary and John, there is nothing now
that could keep His love from us, or His attention from seeing and meeting our needs.
This word from the cross brings us comfort and confidence. This word from the cross
shows us Jesus as a human Son, and teaches us how we might also live, and comforts us
in our needs. AMEN