Today's Gospel takes us to the cross. He was deserted by most of those who were closest to him at the darkest hour in our history! The only ones that remained by his side were His mother, 3 women and John.
The alternate gospel reading from Luke took us back to when Mary and Joseph took Jesus to be presented at the temple an they met Simeon who blessed them.
“Behold, this child is destined
for the fall and rise of many in Israel,
and to be a sign that will be contradicted
and you yourself a sword will pierce
so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”
Luke 2:34-35
I always knew intellectually what my sin cost Jesus, but this morning I was struck by how much my sin cost Mary. I am not a mother, so I can only imagine what she must have had to endure as the passion unfolds. I also wonder what she thought of all the others who deserted her son in his final hours? I will be honest, the grief and the pain she must have felt is unimaginable to me. The human side of me would also be super ticked at all those "friends" that deserted her son. I would have totally felt a special closeness to John, the only one who stuck around.
In Jesus final instructions:
When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, "Woman, behold, your son. Then he said to the disciple, "Behold, your mother." And from that hour the disciple took her into his home. ~ John 19:26-27
Literally in His final moments, he is thinking about his mother and her well being. He shows his deep love for her by making sure she is taken care of. In the same breath, he is making sure we are taken care of as well by appointing her as our Mother.
My final thought this morning has to do with those who were close to Jesus that ran and hid and those that did not! Where would I have been? I want to think that nothing would have kept me from being there with Jesus, right as his feet, but would I have been? I also wonder about the other women there. Were they there out of love and devotion to Jesus or to Mary? I know I have stood beside my friends and loved ones at very dark times, is that why they were there, to comfort her? Regardless, their love was stronger than the fear that pushed others away!
Would I have allowed fear to overtake me to the point that I ran away and hid? Would my love of Jesus allowed me to overcome my own fears and insecurities? Would my love have allowed me to push past my own selfishness in order to focus on Him?
What fears are holding you back? What insecurites are keeping you from where you are suppose to be?
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