What Did Jesus See In His Mother
John 19:25-27
Intro: A man was walking down the beach one day and he found an old oil lamp sticking out of the sand. He picked it up and saw that something was written on the side but it was so dirty that he couldn’t read it. He started rubbing the side so that he could read it and lo and behold a genie popped out. The genie looked around and said “you know, I am getting tired of you people rubbing this lamp and me having to come out and give three wishes. I am so tired of it that you will get only one wish so think carefully.” The man thought for a minute and looked at the genie and said that he had always wanted to go to Hawaii but that he was afraid to fly and that he was afraid of boats. He then asked the genie to build him a bridge over the ocean to Hawaii. The genie looked at him and told him that the task was too hard. It was almost impossible to do what he wanted him to do. The genie said that he would have to make another wish. One that wasn’t so hard. The man thought for a minute and said that he had always wanted to understand women; so could the genie give him the ability to understand women. The genie looked at the man and said “Would you like that bridge to be two lanes or four”?
. That was for us sons this morning moms. While we may not understand women, we know that we love our mom’s.
. Mother’s day is special. Other than Easter and Christmas it is the most attended Sunday of the year.
. It seems that mothers bring out the best in us.
. There’s just something about moms isn’t there?
. G. Campbell Morgan, a profound British preacher whose four sons all became pastors, influenced millions with his preaching, teaching and writing.
One day, when his young son Howard finished preaching, a reporter asked him, "Since you have five Pastors in your family who is the greatest preacher? Expecting the son to give the honor to his father, Howard surprised the reporter by saying, "My Mother!"
Often people do not realize that a mother’s love, concern and teaching are often far more influential on people than anything else. Never underestimate the power of a mother’s love.
. As I studied and prayed this week about a mother’s day message, I kept going back to the Cross.
. That’s where our scripture takes us this morning. To the Cross.
. Jesus had been betrayed, beaten, spat upon and humiliated.
. He hung on a cross, the most humiliating ways to kill someone.
. Anyone seeing Him on the cross would assume that He was either a thief or a murderer because that is who they crucified,
. As Jesus hung on that cross, all his disciples but one, John, had abandoned him. All his friends had run away and as scripture tell us were cowering in an upstairs room somewhere.
. When He looked down from the cross, He saw his mother.
. Let’s read our scripture.
John 19:25-27:
. 25Standing near the cross were Jesus’ mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary (the wife of Clopas), and Mary Magdalene.
26When Jesus saw his mother standing there beside the disciple he loved, he said to her, “Dear woman, here is your son.”
27And he said to this disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from then on this disciple took her into his home.
. As I read this, I wondered what Jesus was thinking. As He looked down at his mother. What did Jesus see in his mother?
. The first thing He saw was a Courageous Mother.
.Jesus saw a woman who had faced death in order to bring him into this world.
. The Jewish people had laws and rules and regulations that they were bound by.
. Look at Deuteronomy 22:23-24
. 23“Suppose a man meets a young woman, a virgin who is engaged to be married, and he has sexual intercourse with her. If this happens within a town,
24you must take both of them to the gates of that town and stone them to death. The woman is guilty because she did not scream for help. The man must die because he violated another man’s wife. In this way, you will purge this evil from among you.
. By rights they could have taken her to the town gates and stoned her to death.
. Mary wasn’t crying rape.
. She stood up told Joseph that she had not been raped but that her child was from God.
. What a courageous woman. She knew the law. She knew what could happen to her but she stood her ground in order to give birth to her Son.
. She could have quietly left town and told others that her husband was dead. She had options but she courageously stood her ground for her child.
. Through the years I have met many courageous mothers.
. Mothers who will stand up for their children and do what is right.
. I see single mothers who have to raise their children by themselves because the father abdicates his responsibility.
. These courageous women fight every day for their children.
. I see courageous mothers who take on the system because the things that are going on in our society today are detrimental to their children.
. John Wayne said that: “Courage is being scared to death but saddling up anyway.”
. That’s what Mary did. Don’t you know that she was scared to death.
. She had to be; but Mary did what mothers have done since the beginning of time. She faced the danger because of the love of her son.
. Mothers I salute your courage in raising your children this morning.
. I encourage you to “saddle up” and continue to be courageous for your children.
. Next, when Jesus looked at his mother from the cross he saw a mother who was committed to God.
. Mary’s commitment to God is shown in her acceptance of what God had planned for her.
. Imagine this ladies. You are a young woman and an Angel appears to you and tells you that you are going to become pregnant while you are still a virgin.
. I don’t know about you but my response would be “say what”
. In Luke 1:29 we see that Mary was confused and disturbed wondering what the angel meant.
. That could be the understatement of the century.
. Most would say are you kidding me.
. Have you lost your mind.
. The angel continued and gave her some more information and look at Luke 1:38 & 46-47 with me.
. 38Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” And then the angel left her.
. 46Mary responded “Oh, how my soul praises the Lord.
. 47How my spirit rejoices in God my Savior
. Before she understood exactly what was going on in her life, Mary was committed to God.
. She says I am the Lords servant. Whatever you need from me, I will do Lord.
. Not only was she committed to God before Jesus’ birth, she was committed to God after his birth.
. Guess what she did eight days after Jesus’ birth?
. She followed Gods command of circumcision.
. Guess what she did forty days after the birth?
. She took Him to Church. They took him to the Temple in Jerusalem and presented Jesus to the Lord.
. We read in Luke that Mary and Joseph moved back to Nazareth and that Jesus grew in wisdom.
. My theory is that He grew in this wisdom by being in the synagogues and being exposed to the scriptures.
. We know that He was taken to Jerusalem every year for Passover.
. Look at Luke 2:41:
41Every year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the Passover festival.
. Jesus’ mother had committed to raising her son in church.
. If Mary thought that the Son of God needed to go to church how important do you think that it is for your children to attend church.
. It is here that we reinforce the values and beliefs that you are teaching your children at home.
. A little old lady was amazed at how nice the young man was next door. Every day he would help her gather things from her car or help her in her yard. One day, the old lady finally asked the young man, "Son, how did you become such a fine young man?"
The young man replied, "Well, when I was a boy, I had a drug problem."
The old lady was shocked. "I can’t believe that."
The young man replied, "It’s true. My parents drug me to church on Sunday morning, drug me to church on Sunday night and drug me to church on Wednesday night."
. You have heard me refer to myself as a drug baby. Mom’s your children need to be drug babies.
. It is here that they see modeled for them the worship of our God.
. It is here that they learn the timeless stories of the bible.
. It is here where the proverb that reads train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it.
. It is here that we help you mothers ground your children in the belief of the triune God. God the Father , God the Son and God the holy Spirit.
. Mothers, you must be like Mary and be committed to God and to bringing your children to God’s house .
. Mothers you must be committed to God in your life also.
. Mothers, in order to bring your children up in a godly home, you must first know God yourself.
. Mom’s do you know the Lord this morning?
. Have you placed your faith and hope in Him.
. You can do that this morning and we will give you an opportunity to do that in a few minutes.
. When Jesus looked down at his mother, He saw a woman of courage and commitment, much like you moms that I see here this morning.
. As Mary looked up at her Son on the cross, what did she see?
. Let’s look at verses 26&27 again:
. 26When Jesus saw his mother standing there beside the disciple he loved, he said to her, “Dear woman, here is your son.”
27And he said to this disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from then on this disciple took her into his home.
. When Mary looked at her Son hanging there on that cross she saw a son that loved her and was concerned about her.
. Back in the seventies I believe it was, James brown had a hit song titled This Is A Mans World.
. Back in Jesus’ day, it really was a man’s world.
. Women had no rights, could own property in very slim circumstances. In other words they needed a man to take care of them.
. Jesus’ love and concern for his mother stands out here. He looked at his friend John, the only apostle that was brave enough to come to the cross and told him to take care of his mother.
. Jesus showed his love and concern for his mother to his dying breath.
. I know that this is mother’s day but I want to address all sons and daughters this morning.
. In his dying declaration, Jesus showed the world how much He loved his mother by providing for her after He was gone.
. Sons and daughters, your mother needs to know that you love her as much as she loves you.
. Always be concerned about them because I can guarantee you this.
. Your mother is always concerned about you.
. Mary can model motherhood for us this morning ladies.
. We need to be courageous and stand up for our children.
. We need to be committed to God and to raising our children up in the ways of the Lord.
. Children we need to love and honor our mothers.
Invitation
*** To my Christian brothers and sisters, thank you for taking the time to read this sermon. I ask that you take another second and score this for me. I am always open to feedback so that I can continue to grow in the proclamation of God’s word.
May God bless you as you continue to strive to walk worthy of His calling.
Sources: The Holy Bible, NLT
Illustrations from sermon central
