The horrible account of the horrible death of Jesus Christ is well known throughout the Christian world, being recorded in all four Gospels, and remembered every Good Friday...even by the pagan, as he celebrates a holiday from his work. But regardless of either your personal perspective or your personal theology, the record of this horrible event is most certainly one of the most spectacular records ever recorded, of any other in history! And of course, is incomparable to any other event in scripture, in terms of its importance in both time, and eternity. Remember that this is not merely an account of a man's death...it's the true, Holy Spirit-inspired accounting of the sacrifice of God's Lamb, for sinners, slain!
Now John gives us no information at all, of the agony that Jesus suffered there upon that horrible killing machine...those details are provided by the other Gospeleers. On the other hand, John is the only Gospel recorder who tells us of His seamless robe (19.23), His un-broken legs (vs. 33), the bloody water flowing from His pierc-ed side (vs. 34)...and only John and Luke recording the Crucified One's last words, as quoted in vs. 40..."It is finished!"
You know, many churches include in their Good Friday observation, preaching on the "seven sayings of Christ" as He hung upon His cross, and this may be a good time to look at them, if you are so inclined. I'll not quote them all, but will leave it up to you to read and to meditate upon them as Holy Spirit leads. Taken from the gospel records of Matthew, Luke and John, this is the probable order in which they were uttered...Luke 23.34,42-43; John 19.25-26; Matthew 27.46; and John 19.28,30.
But back to John 19.25. Everyone there that fateful day had a reason to be, as witnesses of Jesus' extraordinary execution...the Jews, the Romans, the curious, the bloodthirsty and the outright depraved. But there was one little group, probably unnoticed by all, other than Jesus...devoted and grieving and afraid. John records that there were five in all...four women, and only one man, John himself..."the discciple whom Jesus loved". First of the women was Mary, the Lord's mother; then there was His mother's sister, oddly enough, also called Mary; and odder still, a third Mary...the Magdalene, from a place called Magdala, located in the region of the Gallilee. The fourth was John's own mother, again oddly, mentioned only by Matthew in his gospel account.
Imagine, that in His hour of greatest need, being deserted by all but these faithful few, to share His pain and His shame, and to mingle their tears with His. And the tears, along with the blood and the sweat, flowed freely amongst the jeers and the cheers of the crowd on that day. The malignancy of hate surely spread like a cancer through the whole of that body of unbelievers! A burden, none other than the God/Man, Jesus, could could have so peaceably endured.
But then, as recorded by the apostle in vs. 26, at the foot of that altar He spied through swollen eyes and bloodied face, His mother. Think of your own mother for a minute...and then place her in the midst of your worst nightmare, along with your worst enemies, made crazy by the smell of death; and then spy her out of the crowd gathered to watch your execution for a crime you did not commit...and both of you know it. And then, with your dying breath you commit her to the care of your best friend on earth, standing shakily, with his arm about her. Imagine what Mary must have been thinking, as those few hours dragged on.
To the very end, Jesus' thoughts were of those who loved and cared for Him...just like any of the rest of us I suppose...concerned for those we leave behind. First though, He had prayed for His enemies, then He had offered salvation and assurance to the dying thief, and now, securing His faithful mother's final years. And in doing-so, He broke the last ties that He had with mortal flesh..."Woman, behold your son"; and to John, "Behold your mother!"
You know, It's a great responsibility to take on the care of someone else's aging parent. But it's also a great privilege...one to only be entrusted to the closest and most trustworthy of friends or family; one who would take your mother in and treat her as his own. Wouldn't it be "just right", to live in a just and right world! One where trust would not be an issue, and where need would not be an issue; where comfort and care for one another would be the just and the right thing, and there would be no hesitation in doing it.
That's the example that Jesus set for us as He hung there on the cross of His sacrifice...to honour our parents, even through their greatest and deepest needs. And we all know those needs are deep, and great! And Jesus' witness, and His love, and His provision, is deep, and it is great! He has provided for His own, and that provision is enough for an eternity.
So we read in vs. 27 that..."From that moment on, that disciple cared for her in his own household." There must surely be a special place in eternity indeed, for John, "the beloved disciple"!
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