Non-Mother’s Day
Fitchburg Nazarene Church
May 10, 2015
Outline provided by B. Thomas (Bible Hub)
Sermon by
Rev. Charles W. Pendleton, Jr.
Read: John 19:25-27
25Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary thewifeof Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene.26When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son!27Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his ownhome.
Three things I want to point out to you today
1st
THE INFERIORITY OF HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS.
Now I know that immediately some of you are going to say,
“The pastor has lost it! He’s being a jerk!”
Not at all. I didn’t say “The unimportance of human relationships;” I said the INFERIORITY of them.
Let’s take an example of the difference between the two.
Flashlight vs. ???
Is a flashlight unimportant? NO.
It is useful for many, many purposes, and none of us want to go camping, or for a late night walk without one.
But, let’s think about going in for surgery.
Do we want the surgeon to use a flashlight on us when they are about to open up our abdomen or our chest wall?
NO!
What do we want? We want….
Surgical Lighting
A flashlight would be inferior to surgical lighting.
Human relationships belong to this world.
They belong to the natural, physical, and visible order of things.
Human relationships are the outcome of our existence, the arrangements of wise Providence, and important for the government of the human race, their social order, progress, and happiness, and capable of serving our highest interests.
B.
Christ spoke of and treated them as inferior to spiritual relationships.
We never see in scripture, Jesus being anything except the most obedient, affectionate, and exemplary of sons.
Still, he always spoke about his spiritual and Divine relationships as being superior and more important and superior to those arising from physical birth, or the will of the flesh.
Spiritual family always took precedence with Jesus. One timeJesus was told that his mother and his brothers were outside, looking for him. Listen to what he said on that occasion.
(Mark 3:31-35)
31Then Jesus’ mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him.32A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, “Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.”
33“Who are my mother and my brothers?”he asked.
34Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said,“Here are my mother and my brothers! 35Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”
C.
When we die, physical family ties get swallowed up into spiritual family ties.
Notice from our text how Jesus said, "woman," not "mother;" and, pointing to John, and not to himself, "Behold thy son!"
He was as much saying, “From now on I cease to be your Son, and you cease to be my mother."
In a very real way, Jesus wanted Mary to begin thinking of him, not as her Son, but as her Lord and Savior.
In the transition of death:
- the material is swallowed up into the spiritual,
- the human into the Divine, and
- the temporal into the Eternal.
In another place (Luke 20:27-36) Jesus talked to the Sadducees about the resurrection, and family ties.
27Some of the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Jesus with a question. 28“Teacher,” they said, “Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. 29Now there were seven brothers. The first one married a woman and died childless. 30The second31and then the third married her, and in the same way the seven died, leaving no children.32Finally, the woman died too.33Now then, at the resurrection whose wife will she be, since the seven were married to her?”
34Jesus replied,“The people of this age marry and are given in marriage. 35But those who are considered worthy of taking part in the age to come and in the resurrection from the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage,36and they can no longer die; for they are like the angels. They are God’s children, since they are children of the resurrection.”
Now there is nothing saying here that they will not know one another, but the very real truth which Jesus speaks to here is that the relationships which we have enjoyed in life, will pale in comparison to the relationship we will have with God the Father, as His children.
There will be nothing else any more important to us – no longing to be known and loved, and cherished, beyond the relationship which we will all share with God.
All that said, we still come to the very real position of Jesus regarding family here on earth. That leads us to #2 of our observations.
II.
THE PERFORMANCE OF FILIALDUTY (family duty)
A.
Our human relationships involve special duties.
Brothers have special duties to brothers, parents to children, and children to parents.
It is not a stretch for us to imagine that Christ felt that his widowed mother was dependent upon him for support and comfort, and he feels it his sacred duty to provide for her.
B.
These duties are incumbent
That means they are:
- Obligatory
- mandatory
- inescapable
Even though their relationship was about to cease,(Jesus was about to cease to be Mary's Son, in the old sense)he still felt it was his duty to provide for her.
The spiritual does not atone (compensate) for the material.
The obligations of every state of existence should be performed in that stage. Our obligations survive the relationships which gave rise to them.
C.
Christianity makes everyone under its influence more alive to the duties of human relationships.
It is not Christ-like to leave the world as thieves, leaving those who we loved and who were dependent upon us as if we are running away, or escaping from them.
Like their Redeemer, the Christian son will be the most affectionate and careful of his surviving mother (or wife).
It is good for us to note that this duty was performed by Christ under the most trying circumstances –
the most excruciating sufferings, physical, mental, and spiritual.
It was done in the very act of dying.
When uttering these words of tenderness, he was in the grip of the most painful death.
It was done when performing the most important work of his life. When providing for the spiritual wants of the world, he provided for the temporal wants of his mother.
These facts prove:
His utter self-obliviousness.
"He made himself of no reputation."
Not himself, but others.
Not his own agonies, but the comfort of his surviving and stricken mother.
His wonderful sovereignty over the most adverse circumstances of life.
In the midst of sufferings and indignities he was perfectly calm and self-possessed.
He had full control over his feelings, actions, sufferings, and even death.
He kept death at bay till he performed the last duty of love pertaining to this life.
The minuteness and. tenderness of his loving care.
And so the Divine Son now on the cross, while he made an atonement for sin, satisfied justice, and honored the Law; still, at the very time, his mother is not forgotten.
D.
This duty was performed in the best way.
(1)In the mostefficient way.
He entrusted her to the care of his best earthly friend, one with the means and the heart, the will and the way.
(2)In the mostnatural way.
What could comfort the bereaved mother as much as another son, and so loved by and so like the lost one?
John would remind her of Jesus, and their home life would be pleasant, and their conversation sweet as they reminisced about the past and looked toward the future.
(3)In the mostsuitable time.
Up to this time he was with her; there was no need of anyone else.
But now his life is past hope; his mother was in the suppressed agonies of grief and sorrow - the swordwhich was prophesied to pierce her own heart by Simeon at the time of Jesus dedication at the Temple at 8 days old,was through her heart.
Now, another son is introduced who would never stop caring for her - a very present help.
III.
THE EXERCISE OF LOVING OBEDIENCE
We see this on the part of both Mary and John.
Jesus has made His will known.
1.The new relationship is immediately ratified by Mary & John.
Neither of them fought Jesus’ words, but begins a new kinship together.
2.The sacred charge was cheerfully accepted.
There was no need of a long lecture; they immediately cling to each other, to help one another through the torment of their loss.
3.It was practically accepted.
John took her to his own home.
Loving obedience is always practical and complete.
4.It was immediately practical.
There was no delay. "From that hour."
The obedience of love is hearty and prompt.
Would not even Christ die more happily after seeing his mother cared for?
I believe I have some very special lessons for us to consider this morning.
LESSONS.
1.There are some whom Jesus loves more than others.
John was one of these. Jesusespecially loved him on account of his specially loving qualities and his likeness to him.
All throughout the gospel of John we always hear John referencing himself as “the disciple whom Jesus loved.”
It’s not that Jesus was playing favorites – it was simply the reality of life – we find ourselves with multiple friends in life, but one always stands out stronger than others for especially endearing reasons.
Accepting this is paramount for us – otherwise we risk being offended if someone has a special affinity for someone other than ourselves. We need to get over this immature stance, and realize that even for Jesus, he found one among 12 whom he loved more than all the others who were also loved.
2.Those whom Jesus specially loves he specially honors- honors with his confidence, friendship, mind, and treasures.
Jesus was confident that he could entrust John with the care of his most precious familial relation – his mother.
It was likely no secret to the other disciples that Jesus and John hit it off better than all others.
Notice – Peter was to be their leader, but even so, John was Jesus bosom buddy. Peter was loved – Peter was gifted, and charged with leadership; but Jesus “best” friend was John.
3.The greatest honor which Christ can confer upon us is to employ us in his special service.
All of Jesus disciples were employed in the work of the Kingdom for the rest of their lives.
All of the disciples EXCEPT John, were killed for their service to Jesus. For some unknown reason, only John got to die of old age.
Jesus loved each of us enough to die in our place on that cross.
He honors us now with the duties of service in the Kingdom of our God.
4.Jesus has many poor relations still in need of care.
The Scriptures bear out that those who befriend the orphan and the widow are doing Jesus special service.
There are many opportunities that Jesus will give us to serve as His ambassadors – we need to only be faithful to serve where He places us.
Remember what Jesus said to those who told Him that his mother and brothers were looking for Him – He stated,
“Here are my mother and my brothers!35Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”
If we truly desire to be that love-slave of Christ, we will still hear from the cross the words,
"Son, behold thy mother!"