John 19:25-27 CSB Standing
by the cross of Jesus were his mother, his mother's sister, Mary the
wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother and the
disciple he loved standing there, he said to his mother, "Woman,
here is your son." Then he said to the disciple, "Here is
your mother." And from that hour the disciple took her into his
home.
The
Lord Jesus was in His early 30’s. His mother, Mary, was at my
guess, was 45 years old, probably older.
We
note Jesus’s concern
For
His mother
Her
physical well-being
Her
financial well-being
Her
emotional well-being
John
was the only one to write about this.
John
was asked by the Lord Jesus to take care of His mother.
Opinions
C1
Families are Scripturally required to provide for their widows: 1
Timothy 5:3-4 NLT Take
care of any widow who has no one else to care for her. But if she has
children or grandchildren, their first responsibility is to show
godliness at home and repay their parents by taking care of them.
This is something that pleases God.
C2
Mary’s other children did not believe that Jesus is Messiah. Mary
did believe.
C3
Later it is said that His brothers were present among the believers:
Acts 1:14 NLT They
all met together and were constantly united in prayer, along with
Mary the mother of Jesus, several other women, and the brothers of
Jesus.
C4
Since the brothers were not believers, it would have been
uncomfortable for Mary to be provided for by the unbelieving
children. As Bob Deffinbaugh states it: We
do not know for certain that Mary’s other sons were present in
Jerusalem (though we would expect so—see John 7:1-9), but if they
were, can you imagine what kind of comfort these unbelieving sons
would have been to their believing mother?180
I can almost hear James trying to comfort Mary after the death of
Jesus: “Mom, you know I told Jesus to give up His insane talk about
being the Messiah. He must have been out of His mind. And now, all of
this foolishness was for nothing, except to shame us.” I believe
that Jesus assigned John to care for Mary because he was the one
closest to the heart of our Lord, and because he was the first
disciple to believe (see John 20:8). He also seems to have had the
means to do so. Who better to look after Mary in the next dark and
difficult days than John?
B2
Long term care of Mary
C1
Roman Catholic
D1
Mary had no other children.
D2
Jesus would not be present physically to take care of Mary.
D3
Mary was a widow.
D4
...He took
compassion on His desolate mother, and provided for her future. If
St. Joseph had been still alive, or if Mary had been the mother of
those who are called Our Lord's brethren or sisters in the gospels,
such a provision would not have been necessary. Jesus uses the same
respectful title with which he had addressed his mother at the
marriage feast in Cana. Then he commits Mary to John as his mother,
and wishes Mary to consider John as her son.
(Source)
C2
Third
Saying of Jesus on the Cross (John 19:25-27)
(“Greyfriars Free Church of Scotland by its pastor, Malcolm
Maclean”) : But it
was not merely a temporary arrangement, for she was to live with John
for the rest of her life. One tradition says that Mary lived for
twelve more years under the care of John.
Jesus
C1
Shows
D1
Compassion
D2
Love
D3
Care
D4
Obedience to God
C2
Demonstrates
D1
Delegation
D2
Trust (of John)
D3
Responsibility
D4
The meaning of the 5th commandment: Exodus 20:12 NLT Honor
your father and mother. Then you will live a long, full life in the
land the LORD your God is giving you.
C3
What the Lord Jesus showed and experience was accomplished even while
experiencing
D1
Physical pain
D2
Spiritual pain
E1
The weight of sin’s punishment
E2
The Father’s wrath
E3
Feeling forsaken
Others
B1
J. C. Ryle writes (commenting on John 19:26): Finally,
we should mark how Jesus honours those who honour and boldly confess
Him. To John, who alone of all the eleven stood by the cross, He
gives the high privilege of taking charge of His mother. As Henry
pleasantly remarks, it is a sign of great confidence, and a mark of
great honour, to be made a trustee and a guardian by a great person,
for those he leaves behind at his death. To the women Jesus gives the
honour of being specially named and recorded for their faithfulness
and love, in a Gospel which is read all over the world in 200
languages.
B2
Pulpit commentary: The
minuteness and. tenderness of his loving care. While we contemplate
this, his last act of filial love, under the circumstances in which
it was performed, we are ready to exclaim, "How human! how
Divine! how comprehensive! how minute! how God-like! How like the
Father of all!" While he governs and sustains the vast universe,
he forgets not a single object not even the smallest. He lights the
sun and guides the stars, but forgets not the glow-worm nor to smile
on the rose and the lily. And so the Divine Son now on the cross,
while he made an atonement for sin, satisfied justice, and honored
the Law; still, at the very time, his mother is not forgotten.
We
learn
B1
The meaning of love towards believers. Let us do the same.
B2
The meaning of love in the family. This includes the physical, human
family, as well as, the spiritual family of the church.
B3
The superiority of Christianity over human systems.
B4
To give highest honor and praise to our savior, Jesus Christ.
B5
The need to show grace to our mother as well.
B6
When there is opportunity spend time with your mother, honor her,
help her, and pray for her. If your mother has died, as mine has,
still honor her. If your mother is evil, then pray for her salvation
and still be kind (avoiding her might be the kindest thing to do);
perhaps she will repent and place trust in the Lord Jesus. If she was
evil and has died, use her as an example of what not to be, not in
anger but in concern for others who may have one similar or be
similar.
B7
How to do what is right even if we are suffering.
—oOo—
https://bible.org/seriespage/44-crucifixion-john-1917-37
Bob Deffinbaugh
The
common Protestant interpretation of this incident is that Jesus,
knowing He was about to die and to return to the Father, made
arrangements for the long-term care of His mother.179This
“long-term” element does raise some questions in my mind. We are
told in Scripture that it is the responsibility of the immediate
family to look after their own:
3
Honor widows who are truly in need. 4 But if a widow has children or
grandchildren, they should first learn to fulfill their duty toward
their own household and so repay their parents what is owed them. For
this is what pleases God (1 Timothy 5:3-4).
Why,
then, would Jesus assign the responsibility of caring for His mother
to John, who is not one of her sons? The answer most would give is
that none of her other sons were believers (see John 7:5). This is
true, of course, but not for long. We know that within days or weeks,
James, Jesus’ half-brother, will come to faith and eventually
become a prominent leader in the church at Jerusalem (Acts 12:17;
15:13; 1 Corinthians 15:7; Galatians 1:19). Why would Jesus assign
the long-term care of Mary to John, knowing that James, her son, will
soon come to faith?
I
would suggest that our problems are solved if we see Jesus providing
here for Mary’s short-term care. Surely we would agree that Jesus
knew James was one of the elect. If James is one of our Lord’s
“sheep,” then Jesus would know it and would not act in a way that
was contrary to this knowledge. I would suggest to you that Jesus was
providing for the care of His mother for the next few days or weeks.
We know that John immediately began to care for Mary, because he
tells us so in verse 27 (“from that very time”—literally, “from
that hour”). There are those who believe that John (or his family)
may have actually owned a home in Jerusalem. This could explain why
John (“the other disciple”) was known to the high priest and to
the servant girl at the gate (18:16). Mary, like the disciples, could
have been in danger and would certainly need to be looked after for a
while. John would have been the one most able and willing to carry
out this task.
The
next few days were going to be pure agony. We do not know for certain
that Mary’s other sons were present in Jerusalem (though we would
expect so—see John 7:1-9), but if they were, can you imagine what
kind of comfort these unbelieving sons would have been to their
believing mother?180
I can almost hear James trying to comfort Mary after the death of
Jesus: “Mom, you know I told Jesus to give up His insane talk about
being the Messiah. He must have been out of His mind. And now, all of
this foolishness was for nothing, except to shame us.” I believe
that Jesus assigned John to care for Mary because he was the one
closest to the heart of our Lord, and because he was the first
disciple to believe (see John 20:8). He also seems to have had the
means to do so. Who better to look after Mary in the next dark and
difficult days than John?
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