“When Jesus saw his mother standing there beside the disciple he loved, he said to her, “Dear woman, here is your son.” And he said to this disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from then on this disciple took her into his home.
–John 19:26-27 (NLT)
Imagine you are at an eye doctor appointment, and you’ve just received some new glasses. Isn’t it amazing how clear everything becomes?
In the same way, we get so caught up with the cares of the world that we can’t see clearly. Therefore, God is asking you and me to put on our grace glasses, and view things from His perspective.
When I stopped and really meditated on this passage, three things stood out to me: the holiness of God, the heart of God, and the humility we need to approach God, modeled by the savior.
In order to see these things, though, we need to look at some background info. We see Jesus, who has been beaten beyond recognition and suffered incomprehensible pain for you and me. But the emotional pain when God the Father turned His back on His Son must have been a hundred times worse. Indeed, we can’t imagine how much it must have grieved the Father to do that. Not to mention what it cost the Son as He cried, “My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken Me?” Yet, Jesus went through all of that and even gave John the care of His mother, while displaying perfect holiness.
Just as God the Son exemplified holiness on the cross, the Bible tells us that you and I must live holy lives. But we must draw on His strength to do that, which means abiding in Him.
To me, abiding in Christ–or remaining in Him–means making myself at home in Him. You know how good it feels to come home after a long journey, and the realization that this world isn’t our home leads to holiness which fills the vacuum within us.
Holiness is nothing more than being set apart by Christ from everything that would ensnare us. This is the essence of true Christian freedom. It is so important that I would like to offer this analogy.
If you were having special guests over, you probably wouldn’t set out paper plates. Instead, you would use china plates that had been set apart for special company. It is much the same when we are being formed into the image of God, and set apart to do His will.
Moving on, the book of Hebrews tells us that biblical joy is another part of holiness, as joy was a by-product of Jesus enduring the cross. Then, Isaiah also tells us that the joy of the Lord is our strength.
I believe joy is one thing that the Christian church is sorely lacking today. Jesus showed us one way to get that joy is to give freely. But through His amazing suffering, we also see the heart of God–not only by reaching out, but by reaching out in sacrifice.
Jesus doesn’t just model giving for us, but also sacrificial love in action, when He asks John to take care of His mother. Can you imagine what it would be like to give over a loved one to another’s care, especially if you had gone through all that He did? Even if it was someone you knew well, you might have reservations. But in that day, Mary’s survival depended on John’s care. Therefore, if you and I are to be like Christ, we must be people who give sacrificially, even when it hurts.
Meditating on this passage of scripture calls for a response on our parts. That brings us to the third h: humility.
I like what C. S. Lewis said about this characteristic:
“Humility is not thinking less of yourself. It is thinking about yourself less.”
The humility Lewis is talking about can only be seen as we come before God in contrition. So I challenge you to put this into your own words, and pry something like this :
“God, I want to live a set-apart life for You, but without You I can do nothing. I also want to reach out to my neighbor, but neighbors are often hard to reach out to. Therefore, I need Your strength to do that, and come to You in humility. Forgive all of us for the sin of pride, and help us to depend upon You even more. In Jesus’ name, amen.”