Third in a series on the Seven Last Words of Jesus
by Pastor Paul Wolff
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. (John 19:25-27)
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| Jesus said, to Mary and John “Woman, behold your son.” “Son, behold your mother.” |
The work of Jesus to win salvation and pay for the sins of the world wasn’t done in a day. Good Friday was the most important day, but it was the completion of a lifetime of work. Jesus lived about 12,000 days from His birth to His death, and every day was a test. Would He love the Lord God with all His heart, mind, soul, and strength – even when it was the Lord’s will that He endure God’s wrath for sinners? Would He love His neighbor as Himself – even when those people sinned against Him, and hated Him and plotted to kill Him and took great satisfaction in doing so? If Jesus had failed just once in 12,000 days it would be all over, and our hope for salvation would have been lost.
As we consider the work of God for our salvation we ought to think about the work of Jesus in two aspects: active and passive obedience to God. The passive obedience of Christ was that He let sinners falsely accuse Him of sin and hang Him on a cross to die, and He also passively endured God’s wrath over the sins of the world, so that He could take the punishment meant for sinners, and rescue them from the righteous wrath of God. This is what Jesus was doing hanging on the cross, but His work of active obedience was not done.
The active obedience of Christ was that He actively obeyed all the commandments of God. In all of His 12,000 days, Jesus always did the good things that He ought to have done, and He never did any of the evil things that were forbidden by God’s commandments. This had to be done for our salvation so that Jesus could be the perfect obedient man who obeyed all God’s commandments, and the perfect unblemished sacrifice for the sins of all mankind. The Active obedience of Christ is why God said of Him, “This is my beloved son. In Him I am well pleased.”
In this third word that Jesus gives from the cross we see again that He is still thinking of others, and not himself. Jesus sees His mother, and the disciple who is not named in John’s Gospel, which is John himself. By saying to Mary, “Woman, behold your son” and to John, “Behold, your mother” Jesus is telling Mary to consider John to be her son and He is telling John to consider Mary to be his mother. In doing this, Jesus is keeping the Fourth Commandment, “Honor your father and your mother.”
Jesus was honoring His mother by seeing that she was provided for in her old age. Assuming Mary was in her early to middle twenties when Jesus was born, she would have been in her middle to late fifties when Jesus was crucified, and could have lived many more years before her death. Jesus would not be around bodily to take care of her, and none of her other children were there with her at the cross of Christ, but John was there. It
was the duty of the children to take care of their parents in their old
age. As the firstborn son, Jesus was most responsible to take care of
His mother. However, that was not His calling. Just as He was not called
to take a wife and raise a family, so He would not live to see His
mother grow old before He died. Jesus could have left the care of His
mother to His brothers, James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas, but where were
they? They were not there at the cross with Mary. Likewise, none of
Jesus’ disciples were there except John. Jesus had the responsibility to
see that Mary not only was provided with material needs, but also
Spiritual needs. John could be considered the most faithful of the
disciples.
John had run away with all the other disciples when Jesus was arrested, as Jesus had told them beforehand that this would happen, quoting Zechariah 13:7 saying, “You will all fall away because of me this night. For it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’” John did enter into the house of the High Priest with Peter during the trial of Jesus, yet John did not deny Jesus as Peter did. John also was there at Golgotha to witness the death of Jesus. So Jesus knew He could trust John to provide for Mary’s needs of body and soul as she grew older and moved toward her death.
Mary’s needs were not only physical, because although she had remained faithful while Jesus was with her, the evil one would surely still try to lure her away from her salvation, and get her to deny that she needed the forgiveness of Jesus to save her from her sins. John would be her pastor to call Mary to repentance when necessary, and to frequently assure her of the redemption and forgiveness of Jesus so that she would remain faithful to her end trusting in Him to save her.
Jesus was also changing His relationship as son with Mary for a couple other reasons. Jesus was the one chosen by the Father to suffer and die for the sins of the world. Jesus had to do this alone. He could not share His suffering with anyone else, especially a sinner. He had to endure the full wrath of God for all the sins of the world, so that we would be rescued from all our sin. Mary surely mourned that the son she bore and gave birth to was the one chosen by God to suffer for the sins of the world, but nothing that Mary suffered had any effect for the salvation of anyone, including herself. Mary could be comforted by the Apostle John, whom Jesus gave to be her adopted son.
These words of Jesus also point out the false teaching of those who pray to Mary in heaven because they reason that Mary’s Son must listen to His mother and obey her. The resurrected Jesus is exalted as King of kings and Lord of lords, and that includes His mother. Jesus is not obligated to obey His mother, or anyone except God the Father and the Holy Spirit, though He is in perfect agreement and unity with God in all things. Mary’s role in our salvation is nothing more than we confess in the creed. She was the faithful virgin who believed God’s Word when the angel spoke it to her, and, by the power of the Holy Spirit, the Son of God was miraculously conceived in her and she gave birth to Him so that He could live and die as a man to redeem all mankind from our sins.
Jesus was honoring His Father by remaining obedient to God, the Father, and offering His life as the atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world, but He does not do this at the expense of His mother. Jesus was again thinking of others while He was suffering and dying on the cross. He did not want to lose His mother, just as He did not want to lose even the thief who was crucified alongside of Him (see the previous word from Jesus on the cross).
Articles in this series:
Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.
I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.
Woman behold your son. Son, behold your mother.
My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?
I thirst.
It is finished.
Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.
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