A poll was recently conducted to discover the top 5 things Mom’s say on a daily basis. Here’s the top 5.
#5- “Don’t make me turn this car around.”
#4- “ Hey, take it down a notch.”
#3- “How many times do I have to tell you”
#2- (It’s a tie) “Because I said so” and “Go back to bed.”
#1- “I love you.”
Being a parent is a God-sized task. LR Knost said: “We are imperfect human’s, raising imperfect humans in an imperfect world and that’s perfectly o.k.”
Yet, there was once exception to that statement and Mary, the mother of Jesus knew it because she actually raised the only perfect child.
Sometimes kids can be hard on the imperfect parent. Alden Nowlan said: “ The day the child realizes that his parents are not perfect he becomes an adolescent. The day he forgives them, he becomes an adult, the day he forgives himself he finally becomes wise.”
The interesting thing about Jesus was that not only did He forgive Mary for the unwritten Parenthood mistakes that don’t appear in the Bible; He became her forgiveness on the cross as He died for her and all the rest of us who were desperate for forgiveness.
Today, that’s where we find Jesus. We find Him on the cross. In John 19, we read about one of the tenderest moments in Jesus life. Here we get a glimpse of the heart of Jesus.
As he is gasping for His final breaths, and as utters his final seven statements from the cross, one statement includes a statement about the care for his Mother.
In this statement we discover how to love Mom’s Jesus’ way.
Transitional Sentence: To love our Moms like Jesus where do we start? We start by:
I. Honoring Her Sacrifice
vs. 26- “But standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother.....
Explanation:
As we meet Mary at the foot of the cross, we see her sacrifice go full circle. Can you imagine what life was like for Mary?
She was espoused to a highly respected man. Mary and Joseph’s marriage, according to Jewish custom, would have been arranged. The whole family would have been involved in the agreement. This would have been a happy time for Mary.
Yet, imagine as a 13-year-old Middle Eastern girl suddenly experiencing a visit from an angel dispatched from heaven to bring you a message.
Now, she’s heard about angels from her parents and from services in the synagogue. She knows that angels are messengers from God. She’s heard about Abraham and the three messengers (Genesis 18). She knows that angels bring news of new life (Genesis 18:10) and of destruction (Genesis 18:20). What will this angel tell her?
The angel says, “Hail! The Lord is with you!”
The Lord is with you, what is that supposed to mean?
“Don’t be afraid,” the angel adds, “you have found favor with God. You will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
Mary had heard of the Lord opening wombs that are barren (Genesis 18:10, Genesis 25:21, Genesis 29:31, Genesis 30:22, Judges 13:3, 1 Samuel 1:19), but to make a virgin pregnant? She asks, “How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?”
“The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.”
Do you realize how disruptive and disturbing this would have been for Mary? To be found pregnant out of wedlock in those days had a sentence: The sentence was death.
Furthermore, Nazareth was a very small village that had a mixture of Jews common laborers. Outside of Nazareth is a stone quarry that has been recently discovered that dates back to Jesus day. Without a doubt, this was the place where Joseph got stones for his work.
His title was “Tekton” which means: “Stone worker, construction worker, worker with tools.” Massive towns nearby were being built. Joseph would have steady income for a longtime. Yet, straight out of childhood; God called her to carry His child, the Messiah, born to be the Savior of the world.
From the beginning God defined motherhood for Mary with one word: Sacrifice. Her first sacrifice started with the call to a cradle.
Throughout Jesus life and ministry she was sacrificing. When the enemies of Jesus spoke of Him they would say things like: “We were not born of fornication.” John 8:41
Mary would have desperately wanted people to know that her son was the Savior, as well as, believe in the Virgin birth. (John 7:5)
John 7:5 tells us: “For not even His brothers were believing in him.” (The children born after Jesus)
Can you imagine what that was like for her? They would have asked things like, “Mom, level with us, who is Jesus’ actual Daddy?”
No wonder at Cana she wanted Jesus to do a miracle to prove He was Messiah. After all, this was a family wedding. A family gathering. It was an opportunity to set the record straight and turn the families curses of “adultery” to the families “blessing” of her being the favored one; but that would have to wait.
Fast forward to the cross. Mary is older now. Her hair at her temples have turned gray. Wrinkles have replaced her youthful skin. She’s now in her 40’s. She’s raised a houseful of children, and now is making the sacrifice of her life; the cradle was not easy, the delivery was hard, but now Jesus delivering the world from sin is the hardest moment of her life. The cross was her greatest sacrifice.
Gabriel (the angel) described it in this way: “a sword will pierce your soul.”(Luke 2: 34-35) She was emotionally bleeding, as she saw the physical bleeding of her son.
Mary’s life was a life of sacrifice; and Jesus paused in the 7 statements (the third to be exact) to take note of her sacrifice.
Perhaps in this we learn how and why to honor our Mom’s the most; we should honor them by taking note of their sacrifice.
Illustration: Letter from a Sacrificial Mom
Being a Mom is not easy is it? I was reading something that a Mom sent to her local newspaper the week before Mother’s Day about how she wanted to be honored. She wrote: “ For mother’s day I want to be a bear.”
Here’s what followed:
If you’re a bear, you get to hibernate. You do nothing but sleep for six months. I could deal with that.
If you’re a bear, before you hibernate, you’re supposed to eat yourself stupid. I could deal with that, too.
If you’re a mama bear, everyone knows you mean business. You swat anyone who bothers your cubs. If your cubs get out of line, you swat them, too. I could deal with that.
If you’re a bear, your mate EXPECTS you to wake up growling. He EXPECTS that you will have hairy legs and excess body fat.
“For Mother’s day, I wanna be a bear."
Application:
Sacrifice sometimes gets a little heavy and Jesus knew it.
Jesus hung from the cross and even in His sacrifice; he prioritized hers. He shifted focus off his own sacrifice and took time to honor hers.
I am thankful for Mother’s day because it reminds us to do the same. It reminds us to give honor – specifically for the sacrifices of our Mom’s just like Jesus did.
Transitional Sentence: To love you Mom like Jesus where do we start? We start by:
II. Being Sensitive To Her Needs
vs. 26-27- “So when Jesus saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He said to His mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” 27 Then He said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her into his own household.”
Explanation:
Jesus and His Mom were close. If you read the gospels you will figure this out pretty easily.
Have you ever noticed how often we see Jesus attending to the needs of Mary, or her being near to Him?
a) She saw Jesus do miracles- Her journey with Jesus started with a miracle. The miracle of the virgin birth would be only the first. Yet, isn’t it interesting that when Jesus did the first miracle of His ministry she was directly involved. When He turned the water into wine, it blessed and benefited Mary as it proved Her Son was who she said He was- the Messiah come to earth.
b) She was more aware of who He was than anyone- From day one she knew Jesus was the “Son of God”—she experienced the miracle of the conception. What she experienced was unique. She saw “God in the flesh” grow up in front of her eyes. She knew Jesus like no one else. She knew Jesus. She carried him 9 months and treasured in her heart the experience of seeing God grow in wisdom, stature, and in favor with His Heavenly Father and man.
c) She is mentioned often. 12 times in the Gospel of Luke, five times in the Gospel of Matthew, once in Mark and even once in Acts. To put this in perspective, there are several disciples that are only mentioned once; yet they were with Jesus His entire ministry.
d) She was present for a lot of His ministry - Most notably was present when he died on the cross. From beginning to end; God allowed Mary to experience His gospel story first hand.
Yet, the most obvious proof that Mary was very close to Jesus is seen in His third statement from the cross as he was suffering; a priority on His mind was the future case of His mother.
Now think about this: If Jesus had not been directly taking care of Mary, why would he give that same assignment to John?
Notice the detail of what He says: “So when Jesus saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He said to His mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” 27 Then He said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her into his own household.” vs. 26-27
Tradition tells us that John took Mary and ultimately they went to Ephesus where Paul was and this is the home where she lived nine years before she died and then returned to Jerusalem shortly before her death and was buried near the Mt. of Olives in Jerusalem- close to the place where the disciples prayed.
As I thought about this, something dawned on me; one of the most Christ-like things a person can do is to “be close to their mom” and “care for her needs.”
After all, isn’t this what Jesus did? He literally “Honored his Father and Mother”—and when His ministry took a turn on the cross; he prioritized taking care of His Mom, up to the point of making arrangements for her care with a trusted disciple for the remainder of her life.
Illustration: The Mother lode
Have you ever heard the word or phrase: “Mother lode?”
The word actually surfaced and became popular in the mid- 1800’s when people were prospecting for gold and precious metals.
It was a translation of the Mexican Spanish word “veta madre” which was used to describe a conspicuous vein that was rich in gold that was found in the Sierra Nevada of California.
From there, the word was used to describe almost anything that was “rich in the source of something. “
Application:
Jesus did not look at His mother as a burden; he looked at her as a blessing.
Mary needed a Savior just like you and me, spiritually she needed her son to die for her sins just as much as you and me. He died because he was the Son of God.
Yet, as the Son of Mary, Jesus also prioritized her earthly needs—so he transferred His assignment as a Mary’s son to John; because He was sensitive to her needs.
I don’t know what your Mom needs, but if you ask, she will probably tell you. In meeting the most practical needs, we are more Christ-like than you might think.
Transitional Sentence: To love you Mom like Jesus where do we start? We start by:
III. Live For Her Savior
Acts 1:14- “These all with one mind were continually devotion themselves to prayer, along with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.”
Explanation:
The last time we see Mary in the Bible is in Acts 1:14. It’s interesting to see what she was doing when she was last seen.
Acts 1:14 says: “These all with one mind were continually devotion themselves to prayer, along with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus...”
Do you see what she was doing? She was in the upper room. She was devoting herself to prayer. Yet, it is interesting to note who she was with. She was not only with the disciples; she was also with “the brothers of Jesus.”
Remember again: Up to this point, her boys did not believe Jesus. John 7:5- “For not even his brothers were believing in Him.”
Yet, now, since the resurrection, look and see where His brothers were; they were also devoting themselves to prayer.
Obviously, they resurrection of Jesus convinced them that (their brother) Jesus was the Messiah. We are not given details that brought about the drastic change, but at this last reference of the faith and devotion of Mary; we have the first reference of the faith and devotion of Jesus’ brothers.
The Bible gives us the names of these brothers as; James, Joses, Simon, and Jude.
I Corinthians 15: 3-7 lists James as one of the people to whom the risen Christ appears and one of the early church fathers; Eusebius says that James prayed so much that he became known as: “Old camels knees” and ultimately became the author of the New Testament book of James!
Isn’t this interesting, as we now think of this in light of Mary.
From Jesus’ birth she knew and celebrated that her son was the Son of God, and now, she would celebrate that her “other sons by natural birth” understood who her son of “supernatural birth” was.
But most of all, can you imagine her joy in knowing that her boys had finally believed? Do you know why she would have been full of joy? John 1:12 easily explains it: “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,” John 1:12
Simply stated: Her sons became believers. Her children became God’s children!
Nothing is more significant in the life of a person that becoming a child of God; and for a godly mother, it is the pinnacle of her life, ministry, and influence.
Godly mom’s not only celebrate the “birth” of their kids; but the pinnacle of her joy comes when her kids are “born again!”
Acts 1:12 ends with Mary and her kids living for the Savior; her son, and their brother; Jesus Christ, the Son of God! That’s the perfect place to discontinue discussion about Mary. Do you know why? The greatest ambition of a Christ-like Mom had been achieved.
A Godly Moms greatest achievement is to lead her kids to Jesus. Mary saw this to completion.
Concluding Illustration: One step at a time
I read about a godly mother who desperately wanted to lead her children to Jesus. In her attempts to do so, she would wake up early on Sunday, prepare her kids for church, and walk them the two blocks to attend their neighborhood church to go to Sunday School and church; so they could know about Jesus.
One Sunday she walked down the sidewalk and noticed that someone had recently poured fresh concrete on the pathway to church. Pausing, she took her children and pressed their feet into the concrete permanently leaving an image of the steps they took every Sunday morning.
Years later, as the mother grew old and the children grew as adults, they walked that path one Mother’s day and one of the boys stopped to see the footprint of earlier years.
As he paused, he asked his aged mother, “Why did you have us put these imprints in the sidewalk?” Their mother responded, “Because when it comes to life, I wanted a permanent reminder of the pathway to life and the steps lead you to Jesus. Just start walking, and you’ll find Jesus, as you walk from my house to His house.”
Application:
Do you want to honor your godly Mom? It happens one step at a time, as you walk with, and live for her Savior; His name is Jesus.
Invitation:
Today, we are in God’s house. He’s here and he loves you. More than anyone could ever love you. More than your Mom; more than anyone.
That’s why He died on that cross. Will you believe and rec
