Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 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," and to the disciple, "Here is your mother." From that time on, this disciple took her into his home. (John 19:25-27)
Our verses for today record a beautiful incident amidst the clamor and hatred of the Jews and the mocking of the Roman soldiers. The tender affections of the pious women who attended our Lord’s needs throughout His ministry until His crucifixion are here amidst the taunting crowds and rough soldiers. These women were determined to stand by Jesus until the very end in a demonstration of their holy affection and gratitude towards Him. While His enemies eagerly crowned Him with thorns, these women crowned Him with their love and compassion, consoling Him with their faithfulness.
Remember that our Lord was a condemned criminal, hated by the chief priests and executed by the Romans. It was certainly courageous, admirable, and selfless of these ladies to take their place by the Lord throughout His abhorrent ordeal. They were neither deterred by the fury of the enemy nor the horror of the sight. Their actions were glorious proof of their love for their Savior. Yet all the while, their hearts were breaking under the sight of the Suffering Servant. Unable to rescue or relieve Him, their hearts must have been breaking. These women were a testimony to God’s love being made complete in them. Certainly they were strengthened by divine grace and power throughout this ordeal. I am reminded of the words penned by Paul:
But he [God] said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." (2 Corinthians 12:9)
Surely the prophecy Simeon had proclaimed to the Lord’s mother Mary when Jesus was yet an infant reached its fulfillment at this time–a sword had to be piercing her soul at the sight of her suffering Son:
Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: "This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too." (Luke 2:34-35)
And yet, at this very difficult time, Jesus did not forget His mother. He saw her deep distress and tenderly cared for her desolate condition. He commended her to the care of John, the most loving and tenderhearted of His disciples. Jesus’ love surpasses knowledge. The mighty love and affection of Jesus knows no limit.
Surely Jesus’ words from the cross served as yet another example of why these women loved Him so. Suffering and in great anguish, the width and depth of our Lord’s sympathies and affections still shone through His darkest hour. Even in this trying season of bodily and mental anguish, Jesus did not forget others. Every word He uttered from the cross benefitted His hearers.
Take It to Heart
I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge–that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. (Ephesians 3:16-19)
“His love is unfailing, His Word unchangeable, His power ever the same; therefore the heart that trusts Him is kept in ‘perfect peace’ … I know He tries me only to increase my faith, and that it is all in love. Well, if He is glorified, I am content.” (Hudson Taylor)
“Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.” (John 17:24)
It is the desire of our Savior to be in communion and fellowship with His followers throughout all eternity. He comforts us with these words earlier in John as well. He wants us to be with Him, sharing in His glory:
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” (John 14:1-3)
We are eternal beings, though our natural body is perishing and our mortal frames will one day expire. Whether we choose to believe this fact or not does not negate its truth. Our physical bodies are mortal, but we have immortal souls. One day, depending on our response to Jesus Christ, each one of us will either be with the Lord Jesus throughout eternity or be separated from Him in a place our Lord repeatedly described as a place of “weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
Those of us who cling to the truth of Christianity–that apart from belief in the Lord Jesus Christ and His redeeming work for us on the cross we remain eternally damned–should certainly be motivated to share the good news of Jesus Christ with others. The apostle Paul was a master at tirelessly presenting the Gospel. He took seriously the ministry of reconciliation that all believers have been entrusted with:
So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:16-21)
Take It to Heart
“Most of us find it very difficult to want ‘Heaven’ at all–except in so far as ‘Heaven’ means meeting again our friends who have died. One reason for this difficulty is that we have not been trained: our whole education tends to fix our minds on this world. Another reason is that when the real want for Heaven is present in us, we do not recognize it. Most people, if they had really learned to look into their own hearts, would know that they do want, and want acutely, something that cannot be had in this world. There are all sorts of things in this world that offer to give it to you, but they never quite keep their promise.” (C.S. Lewis)
After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: “Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” (John 17:1-3)
None of our Lord’s prayers are recorded as fully and as richly as what is often referred to as His “High Priestly Prayer” which begins in our verses for today. It sets forth the wonderful pattern of intercession which Jesus as our great High Priest is ever carrying on for us in heaven. Here we have a prayer offered up by the Lord on an especially interesting occasion–just after the Lord's Supper and prior to His betrayal and crucifixion.
Jesus fleshes out what He had taught the disciples in Matthew regarding prayer–He begins with “Father.” A term of endearment; an expression of closeness; a word that conveys freedom of access as well as great expectation.
Jesus also tells us here that His appointed time has arrived–the fullness of time has come. The time for His sacrificial death is upon Him–the final accomplishment of His atonement for all mankind. The hour has arrived and the Sacrifice is ready. We see the redeeming work of Christ–his death, resurrection, and ascension into heaven–bringing both the Father and the Son much glory.
Daniel had prophesied regarding the Lord Jesus’ authority years before:
“In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.” (Daniel 7:13-14)
When we read of the Father giving power to the Son, it is not as a superior giving authority to an inferior, but rather it signifies the permanent arrangement in the everlasting Trinity. The intentions and purposes of Jesus’ authority were to lead people to salvation and a restored relationship with God.
Take It to Heart
This knowledge is more than mere head knowledge. This is knowledge that dwells in our hearts and influences our lives! To know something at the heart level will direct our eyes and our tongues and our hands and our feet. We will act on what we truly know and believe. We must know God–His holiness, His purity, His hatred of sin–as well as Christ–His redemption, His love of sinners, and His mediation between God and man. To know God without Christ is to know a consuming fire that will fill us with fear. To know Christ without God is to not truly understand what the Savior has done on our behalf. We will fail to see the meaning of the cross.
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23)
“You believe at last!” Jesus answered. “But a time is coming, and has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me. I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:31-33)
Certainly our Lord’s words to His disciples must have stung bitterly. They could not have imagined forsaking their Master. Over-confidence in our actions and abilities can be our downfall, can it not? Preoccupation, distraction, lacking a fixed focus, selfish indulgences, vain conceits and fears all have a way of catching us off guard. Before we know it, we, like the disciples, find ourselves doing something we could never have possibly imagined doing. They were sure of their stick-to-itiveness, seemingly unable to comprehend that they could forsake or flee from the One they so dearly loved. Paul tells us:
These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come. So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall! No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.
(1 Corinthians 10:11-13)
Even the most committed followers of our Lord know little of their own hearts–loudly professing loyalty, yet scattering for cover as soon as difficulty strikes. The disciples simply did not know themselves–they were unaware of the shallowness of their convictions, the weakness of their flesh, and the depth of human depravity that was
buried within their hearts. Scripture tells us:
The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? (Jeremiah 17:9)
We would do well to mark this in our memories–we are all capable of a fall.
We must remember that we can do nothing of eternal value apart from Christ. It is only when we are weak in the estimation of our own abilities that we are strong in God’s perfect, all-achieving power. Paul tells us:
But he [God] said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:9-10)
Life is difficult. We can expect trouble and hardship. The word which Jesus uses for trouble in our verses for today is translated from the Greek word thlipsis meaning “to crush, press, compress, squeeze; tribulation, trouble, affliction; conveys the picture of something being crushed or squeezed as from a great weight; used to denote grievous physical affliction or mental and spiritual distress” (Hebrew-Greek Key Word Study Bible New Testament Lexical Aids). Yet, Jesus goes on to say that in Him we can have His perfect peace amid the turmoil, trials, and testings of this life. He is our only sure and continuous fountain of true and lasting comfort. Paul tells us:
“For he himself is our peace.” (Ephesians 2:14)
Take It to Heart
Jesus said:
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. (John 14:27)
As we live in close communion with the Lord–with a steadfast mind and focus on the Prince of Peace and His achieving power–we are able, like the eagle, to soar above the storm clouds. This does not mean that we will not feel the pain or the loss or a hurt, but rather that our pain can be seen with a view of “the big picture.” Whatever God allows can ultimately be used for our good and His glory.
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (John 14:27)
True peace is not derived from circumstances, people, or things; true peace is derived from Jesus. Christ’s peace is peculiarly His to give as He purchased it with His precious blood, He being the substitute for a perishing world. Jesus was commissioned to bring peace to mankind.
The peace Jesus offers is precious and dearly costly compared to the world’s transient variety. The world gives temporary satisfaction in all things. The excitement that gratifies our passions and affections and pride for a season always leaves us longing for more. The world is unable to offer what Christ’s peace affords, for it does not possess it to give–there is no rest with the world. Indeed, what Jesus bestows, the world cannot offer at all–peace of heart, peace of conscience, and a peace that comes from knowing our sin is forgiven. The peace Jesus gives results in an inward calm and rest for the soul amidst even the greatest trials and tribulations, when circumstances become stern and severe. Those who possess the peace of Jesus experience strength and hope.
Our Lord is neither unwilling nor sparing in the distribution of His precious peace to those who believe–amazingly, being far more willing to give than the world is to receive.
“Peace is Christ’s peculiar gift: not money, not worldly ease, not temporal prosperity. These are at best very questionable possessions. They often do more harm than good to the soul. They act as clogs and weights to our spiritual life. Inward peace of conscience, arising from a sense of pardoned sin and reconciliation with God, is a far greater blessing. This peace is the property of all believers, whether high or low, rich or poor.” (John Charles Ryle)
I am reminded of the prophet Isaiah’s words:
You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you. (Isaiah 26:3)
There will never be lacking anything on Christ’s part for the believer’s anguish–when we come to Him. He provides every medicine for a troubled heart and provides it in abundance–always doing more than we can ask or imagine. Scripture tells us:
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. (Ephesians 3:20-21)
This peace from Jesus is not mere formality; it is a real and true blessing–enriching the soul eternally. This is sufficient reason for our hearts not to be burdened down with the troubles of this world where sickness and death, hunger and poverty, deceit and betrayal press down upon us as heavy weights.
Take It to Heart
Jesus tells us to be courageous:
"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." (John 16:33)
The peace of Jesus provides calm in the midst of a storm. We are to be as a child in the comforting arms of our Father who remains with us. He enables us to soar above our circumstances as we take captive our thoughts in obedience to Jesus.
