Woman, Behold Thy Son!

John 19:25-27

Here in the midst of a very sorrowful scene, when Jesus was suffering unto death, he brings in the sweetness of a home atmosphere. He could not forget the home in which he grew as he lived with His mother. Now it was an extraordinary time of suffering and trial of faith. But Jesus' mind was composed. Milton says about the mind, "It can make a hell of heaven and a heaven of hell." Jesus was in the pangs of hell but he was with the Father. Soon he was to lose the Father's presence and cry the desperate cry, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"

You can spoil the sweetness and harmony of a home and make the members of the home very miserable, or you can make them very happy. In a place full of cruel people and in pain he was looking at his mother. He loved his mother. Why was he dying? Why could he not live for her? Why could he not create a home for his mother and make her comfortable? Some missionaries were restrained from obeying the call of God to serve in foreign lands because of their attachment to their mothers. But some overcame those ties and went forward. Only if Jesus died, his mother would be in heaven with him. By giving birth to Jesus she was not going to be saved, but only by believing in her own son. Jesus was dying for his mother and for the whole of humanity too. He loved all mothers like his mother. When he rose from the dead he would not be the simple Jesus who walked on earth. He would be an unlimited power to bless many mothers with a divine vision for their children. He was demonstrating the fact that one who lived the truth of God could not be killed. Once the resurrection life comes into man, he will be an eternal creature. One who believes the truth and lives it in every cell of his being cannot be killed. Out of the blood of Stephen rose one mightier than him. When the sword of persecution comes upon a Christian, the sword of the spirit goes out with mighty power. Very often the love of homes--the love of a father or mother pulls us down. They limit your work to a small area, while God has vast fields of service for you. The affections and beauty and discipline of a home should be maintained. You must control the home. The home must not control you. You are made for God. You do not know how much your home is pulling you down. Pray for your home. Jesus was mindful of his duty even on the cross. But he was putting the will of God first, and dying.

Love you father and mother, but love God more. Love God's will more- His purposes more. As you do the will of your Father in heaven you will be a greater blessing to your home. Even though he was dying he had not lost his sense of duty towards his mother. But he was not despairing either. He was thinking of the great victory over sin, that was going to be available to men by his death. Jesus was harmonising his duty to God and duty towards his home. There was sweetness in his death because the sting of death was being taken away and the victory of the grave is being extinguished.