When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Dear woman, here is your son,” and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.
John 19:26-27
I love my mum. She’s given me so much over the last thirty years – starting with the painful process of giving birth to me, then teaching me to read and write, going out to work to pay for my school fees, and showering me with love and support throughout my life. I don’t know where I would be without my mum.
Jesus clearly loved his mum, too. In our current Mark Marathon article, we see Jesus’ mother and brothers looking for him, and Jesus seeming to reject his mother in favour of the believers he had gathered around him. Looking at these verses in John, however, we can see the love between mother and son.
Mary was at the foot of Jesus’ cross, weeping at the sight of her first born being executed in this most horrible of ways. Far from rejecting her love, Jesus shows us just how much he loves her. We can see that straight away in his language – he refers to her as “dear woman.” He then instructs John, the apostle, to treat his mother as his own, and to look after her. Jesus, whilst dying on the cross, thinks not of himself but of his mother. He wants to ensure that she is looked after, and so entrusts her to the care of one of his closest friends.
I find it very reassuring that Jesus continues to love and cherish his mother, and does not turn his back on her whilst fulfilling God’s destiny for him. It’s good to know that I can continue to enjoy the love of my own mother whilst seeking out God’s will for my life.
There’s also a powerful lesson for us here, though. Jesus looks after his mother, and wants to ensure that she is cared for. Do we pay as much attention to our own families as Jesus does to his? Do we follow Jesus’ example and think of our own families before ourselves?