Wednesday, March 19, 2014
John 19:27 Then He said to the disciple, "Behold your mother!" And from that hour that disciple took her to his own home.
THE CROSS: A LESSON IN LOVE
And at the cross, Mary and John witnessed the greatest expression of God's love. In the days to come they would learn the full significance of Christ's crucifixion. They would learn these events had been foretold, that this was how God would erase the sins of mankind -- by letting his Son endure the punishment for our sins while he hung on that cross.
And even while Jesus was experiencing this agony, his perfect love was still active.
When he saw his mother standing below, he summoned the strength to speak a gentle command. Mary was to see John as her own son now, and to care for him accordingly. John was to see Mary as his mother, and to care for her likewise.
In this moment, Jesus teaches us how to love. Selflessly. Seeking to benefit others, not ourselves. Not holding their sins against them, but enduring all for their benefit.
But in this moment we have far more than a good example to follow. Here we see what a great Savior we have. One who bears our sins against him with patience. One who kindly endures our daily failures. A Savior who looks through all that we are, and loves us to the end.
Satan would have us believe that there is a limit to Christ's love. That eventually, if we don't clean up our act and get it right, Jesus will abandon us. But that's ridiculous. OUR love is limited by our sinfulness. But CHRIST'S love is unlimited -- a fact which our Savior's cross teaches quite clearly.
The apostle John learned that lesson at the cross. After Jesus had been raised from the dead and all the confusion of these days explained, John wrote the following words:
"In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins" (1 John 4:10 ESV).
