A New RelationMother’s
Day – 8th May 2011. Message
by Ronny Cham A New Relation Scripture:
John 19:25-27 “25
Now there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother's sister, Mary
the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26
When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing
by, He said to His mother, "Woman,
behold your son!" 27
Then He said to the disciple, "Behold
your mother!" And from that hour that disciple took her to his own
home.” (NKJV) Loving
and caring for our mother is expected of all of us and at the same time loving
and caring for our children too is beyond doubt. However, what about loving and caring
for another’s mother? What about loving and caring for another’s
son or daughter? What happened if a
brother or sister died leaving parents or children that need looking after?
Will we be willing to lend take him or her or them to our home? “Woman,
behold your son!” and “Behold your mother!” are two distinct
last commandments just before Christ died on the Cross and were given to His
beloved mother and His beloved disciples John. The graphic description of the
logistics at that material time was that Mary, Jesus’ mother was standing
by the Cross of Jesus, so was John, His beloved disciple. First,
we see the tender love and affection of Mary to our Lord Jesus in his
sufferings. It must have been the power of divine grace in supporting Mary,
under this heavy trial. She did not wring her hands, or tear her hair, or rend
her clothes, or make an outcry of what was happening. She was with a wonderful
composure, standing by the Cross. But
what was the emotion and turmoil that was going on in her inner being? We know
from Luke 2:35, the Holy Spirit came upon Simeon who said, “yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul.”
Christ torments were her tortures and her heart bled with his wounds. There
she was, by the divine grace upon her, she had a full expectation of His
resurrection. It must have been this expectation that supported her. We must
learn to live in such great hope of resurrection at the end of this age, in the
power of the divine grace given to us. This journey is not easy but we do not
know what we can bear until we are tried, only then we know Him who said to us,
“My grace is sufficient for you.” Secondly,
we see something special about John, the Lord’s beloved disciples. In John
18:15-17, we read: 15 And Simon Peter
followed Jesus, and so did another disciple. Now that disciple was known to the
high priest, and went with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest. 16
But Peter stood at the door outside. Then the other disciple, who was known to
the high priest, went out and spoke to her who kept the door, and brought Peter in. 17 Then the servant girl who
kept the door said to Peter, "You
are not also one of this Man's disciples, are you?" He said, "I am not." (NKJV) Two
disciples John and Peter followed Jesus when He was arrested and when was taken
into the courtyard of the high priest, John went into the courtyard with the
Lord Jesus while Peter stood at the door and denied he was a disciple of Jesus.
John was with the Lord and saw Him being abused, accused and assaulted. He was
with the Lord in His suffering and torment while the other disciples have
forsaken Him. John was not deterred by the fury of the enemy nor the horror of
the sight of the torture the enemy inflicted upon Jesus. We
read from Mark 15:40-41 that: 40 There were also women looking on from afar, among whom
were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the Less and of Joses, and Salome, 41
who also followed Him and ministered to Him when He was in Galilee, and many
other women who came up with Him to Jerusalem. But
John was with Mary, stood by the cross of Jesus. It is easy for us to suppose
what an affliction it was on John to see His Lord being abused, accused and
assaulted, but again it must have been the power of divine grace which sustain
John to be attending to Jesus without fear under such extreme horror circumstances. There
was no record of the Apostle John being condemned as being a disciple of Jesus
or being questioned or punished for being one. While others went hiding and
Peter denying Jesus, John was with the Lord Jesus throughout His suffering. In
John 19:25-27, Jesus saw His mother standing by, and knew her cares and grief.
He saw John standing by and knew his unwavering love for Him, and so, in the
dying moment, by His last will, he settled a new relation between his beloved mother
and his beloved disciple. He said to her, "Woman, behold your son!"
Then He said to John, "Behold
your mother!" And so from that hour, that hour never to be forgotten,
that disciple, John, took her, Jesus mother, to his own home. On
this Mother’s Day (8th May 2011), let this new relationship
extent beyond the reading of a historic account of that dying moment of our
Lord Jesus. Do we stand by or attend to another brother or sister who is
suffering? Or will we be too busy that we have no time to do that? Or will we be too fearful of what would
become of him or her that we would stand afar and “pray” for him or
her, in fear of ‘consequences” or “liability or burden”?
So often, we turn a blind eye to the suffering of others while we proclaim our
love to the Lord. Let
us stand by somebody He loves and cares and be counted by Him as trustworthy
and be honoured to be one He calls to enter into this new relation to love one
another and behold each other as His brother, His sister by the power of His
divine grace. Ronny Cham |
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