“Immense Passion”
(John 19:25-27)
The agony of death occurred on Golgotha approximately 2000
years ago. On the hill of the skull outside of Jerusalem, the Roman government
often crucified rebels, thieves, malcontents, murderers, and others who upset
the delicate façade of peace known as the Pax Romana. On the eve of the
Sabbath, during Passover, three men hung on the torture device. Their hands and
arms were held tight by nails and ropes. They struggled to breathe as the force
of gravity tried to push them down to the ground. Each time their bodies demanded
breaths, they would push themselves up with weary leg muscles, breathe, and
fall back into an exhausted slump. Each time they pulled themselves up the
rough, bloodstained wood would splinter their back. The agony of death tore at
their bodies.
One man, Jesus of Galilee, hung there amongst two others. The
authorities had created charges against him because they felt threatened by the
true peace he promised to bring into the world. They did not like how he
challenged their status and governance with his message of love for everyone.
So they condemned an innocent man to this horrific torture that only ended in
death.
As he hung there, he looked at the crowd's faces. He
identified strangers and friends. His heart wept for himself and those who had
betrayed him. He offered peace as he prayed for forgiveness from God for those
who had destroyed him. . . Love your enemies as yourself and pray for those who
persecute you. He saw a small group of women with one man – people who had been
his friends and companions for the last few years of his life. He saw his
mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, Mary Magdalene, and a
disciple he loved.
The women standing there each loved him dearly. They
supported Jesus and his disciples during the years in which he proclaimed the
peace of God to the people of Israel. Two of them are relatives. The third
possibly birthed two of his closest friends, James and John, the sons of
Zebedee. Mary Magdalene, according to Luke, experienced miraculous freedom from
evil spirits through Jesus’s ministry.
His mother stood there, torn by grief. Mary faithfully
followed God her whole life. She opened her life and womb to God’s work in her
life. She looked for the Messiah and willingly played a role in the Messiah’s
birth. She came from a poor family. She had other sons, including James and
Jude. She both looked for Jesus to begin the work of the Messiah and doubted
that her son could be the promised one of God. Now, she stands at the foot of
the cross, weeping and faithfully watching her beloved son die.
Jesus shows immense passion for his mother. He knows that
the laws of his culture required the oldest son to care for the mother in the
case of her being a widow, which was most likely the case as Jesus hung on the
cross. Jesus knows that his death means he can no longer fulfill the obligation
of caring for his mother. This could leave his mother in poverty, especially if
the other sons did not have the means to care for her. So, he looked at his
mother and said, “Dear woman, here is your son.” Then he looked to the disciple
he loved and said, “Here is your mother.”
This passion for family spreads from this moment through
history as Jesus, through his sacrifice and subsequent resurrection, creates a
new family: the church. The new family relationship formed at the foot of the
cross serves as a model for all of us who follow Jesus. All people who follow
Jesus throughout the ages become, through God’s amazing grace, family with one
another.[1]
People can all become children of God through the agonizing death of Jesus on
the cross.
Mary struggled through sorrow at this moment. She faced the
brokenness that now, due to humanity’s choices, defines God’s creation. She
looks at her son and sees his torn flesh. She heard her son and knew he
passionately cared for her. He provided for her in this moment. In the thick of
his mother’s pain, Jesus provided for her.
Jesus provides for all people in the thick of our pain. As
we face the trials of this world, Jesus makes us into a family that can face
the trials with us. As death encroaches upon our lives and tears apart our
dreams, our Lord places us within a community of broken people. We can hold one
another, provide for one another, and comfort one another. God’s church, in
honor of the Lord, Jesus Christ, should offer compassion to each other. Jesus
calls us family. Let us live as he has named us.
Prayer: Gracious
Father, thank you for adopting us as your sons and daughters through the work
of Jesus Christ on Golgotha. Create in us the passion to live as your family.
Give us eyes to see our brothers’ and sisters’ needs. Then enable our hands,
feet, and hearts to love. In this manner, we will show the world your peace. We
thank you for your son, Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray, Amen.
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