This is Mother’s Day. Mother’s Day cannot be celebrated without a good understanding the mystery of what Motherhood is. Motherhood goes beyond any physical labor, pains and carrying a baby for nine months. A mother’s role is much greater. There are those who serve not as a birth mother, but provide the care and nurturing of a mother. There are those who have given of themselves through the adoption process to serve as a mother for the motherless.
However, Mary, the mother of Jesus, gives us a picture of motherhood that serves us well. She is no longer the late adolescent who gave birth in a manger filled with hay. She is now 33 and 1/2 years removed from that scenario. The average age of those who lived in that day was approximately 50-55, therefore, she is advanced in age. Her visage is noticeably changed.
However, this is the day of her son’s public execution. The crowd has determined that her son, the one birthed from her womb, should face the humiliation of execution by the Roman Cross, hung between two thieves. This is not a trio of thieves nor a trio of lawbreakers. They do not have a common denominator in crime – but they have a common denominator in crucifixion. This is a unrelated group of men who are dying for three separate reasons.
Prisoner #1 is on the left hand. If you will allow me to portray him, his crime against the state is of such nature that requires his execution. He is not a model prisoner, nor is his crime worthy of exoneration or clemency by the State. He obviously has offended the decorum of the day. He is already been deemed without excuse and has been punished by the loss of his life. He even is hostile to the point of his death as he has turned his inner anguish into a barrage against his fellow prisoners - accusing one of being unusually gifted to command angels at His word.
Prisoner # 3 is on the right hand of this triad. He too is guilty of some crime which has required his immediate dismissal from the walk of life. He is guilty without a doubt. and he is now realizes that his life ebbs way as a result of his crime. He realizes that it is now too late to get to the church house. It is now too late to get to the doors of the Temple at Jerusalem. However, he has found clemency of his sinful soul by seeking remembrance from a fellow death row inmate.
Prisoner #2 is unlike prisoners #1 and #3. He is not guilty of any moral lapse, ethical error, or civil disobedience. Matter of fact, if our neighborhoods were populated with more people like him, our neighborhoods would be safer, our churches would be happier and our cities would be flourishing with health and prosperity. His only misdemeanor crime could be that he has chosen to operate without a license:
He healed the sick without the benefit of the Medical Proficiency Board Exams.
He raised the dead without the benefit of an Undertaker’s License.
He restored fractured fellowships without the benefit of a degree in Psychotherapy.
He walked on water without the benefit of Newton’s Law of Physics.
He gathered large crowds together without the benefit of a Permit for Lawful Assembly.
He fed large crowds without the benefits of training in an Institution of Culinary Arts.
He opened blind eyes without the benefits of an Opthamology Degree with a specialization of Laser Eye Care.
He provided liquid refreshment at a wedding ceremony after a social faux pas - when the wine ran out without the benefit of training in the study of water and the study of grapes.
Unlike the others, this Prisoner has names -
Jesus
Immanuel
Wonderful Counselor
Almighty God
The Prince of Peace
The Everlasting Father
The King of Glory
The Shepherd
And unlike prisoners #1 and #3 - his mother is recorded as being present on this dreadful day. This day of public humiliation not only for the prisoner but the family of the prisoner. When most families would have been home, dressed in mourner’s black and locked into their homes with the curtains drawn and the doors shut, to someone block the scorn and ridicule of neighbors. Mary is present.
This is a mystery, a testimony and a confirmation to what my own mother once told me and what my grandmother told me and what their mothers told them as well - that a mother loves her children all the time:
If the child is the President of the United States - mother loves him.
If the child is the Governor of the State - mother loves him.
If the child is the Mayor of the City - mother loves him.
If the child is called by God to preach - mother loves him.
If the child is the wife of a husband - mother loves her.
If the child is a chief executive officer - mother loves her
If the child is the Television announcer - mother loves her.
If the child is in Playboy or Hustler - mother loves her.
If the child is a robber, murderer or thief - mother loves him.
If the child is a prostitute, drug hustler or addict - mother loves her.
If the child is a pimp, daddy mack or mack daddy - mother loves him.
If the child is in Prison - mother loves her.
If the child is on death row - mother loves him.
She may not approve of a lifestyle. She may not approve of a circumstance. She may not approve of a decision that you make. But if she’s a genuine mother, she can hate the sinner, but love the sinner.
Somebody here knows that a real mother’s love transcends situations.
A real mother’s love transcends circumstances.
A real mother’s love transcends moral failure.
A real mother’s love transcends legal problems.
A real mother’s love transcends ethical lapses in judgment.
A real mother’s love transcends even the worst crime, the worst trouble and the worst performance.
And Mary has demonstrated this mystery - let’s experience it. I want to look at two things:
1. The crowd at the Cross
2. The concern of the Christ
The Crowd at the Cross
First, the Apostle John, writing not a synoptic gospel, but a targeted gospel, takes a painstaking approach to identify each and every person. He begins by saying that this crowd is not in the spectator seats:
They are not distant.
They are not far away
They are not far flung
They are not a stone’s throw away
They are not removed
The King James Version says "Now there STOOD." In Greek it says, "de histemai", which suggests that this crowd is knitted together to the situation and also to the circumstances. They are not only a part of the public spectacle, they are a part of the private pain. They are not only a part of the uneasy circumstances, they are participants in deeply rooted sorrow. They are a part of the landscape - not a small dot on a Van Gogh painting, but they are there as a prominent personal participant.
They are there not just to witness his pain but they are filled with agony as well. They are not there just to witness his death but they are slowly dying on the inside as well. They are not there just to witness his torture, but they are tortured on the inside.
They are there at the cross: a well known instrument of most cruel and ignominious punishment, borrowed by the Greeks and Romans from the Phoenicians; to it were affixed among the Romans, down to the time of Constantine the Great, the guiltiest criminals, particularly the basest slaves, robbers, the authors and abetters of insurrections, and occasionally in the provinces, at the arbitrary pleasure of the governors, upright and peaceable men also, and even Roman citizens themselves.
At the cross of Jesus are three women: Mary, his mother’s sister Mary who is the wife of Cleophas and Mary Magdalene. Three different women with three different stories:
Mary his mother is the vessel that God chose to use as a passage way of Jesus’ birth in a manger.
There is Mary, the wife of Cleophas who is the mother of James the less.
There is Mary Magdalene. She is so named because she is from Magdala. She has been cured of possession by evil spirits, matter of fact, seven demons have gone out from her at Jesus’ command.
And there is a man there – the Apostle John – the beloved John – the John whom Jesus loved – and he is not there by accident – but by providence. The Lord’s suffering has summoned him. And he is not alone – his suffering has summoned every believer in this room – “and I, if I be lifted up, I’ll draw all men unto me.”
I’m here today because he was wounded for my trangressions
I’m here today because he was bruised for my inquities
I’m here today because the chastisement of our peace was upon him
I’m here today because with his stripes, I am healed!
The Concern of the Christ
As he is impaled on a Cross, with life oozing out of his body, his mother watches him helplessly – but he watches her from a different perspective.
She sees him as her child, he sees her as his mother;
She sees him as an innocent child, he sees her as a sinner who needs grace;
She sees him as a suffering son, he sees her as a woman who needs provisions after he’s gone.
She sees him as her baby in trouble, he sees her as a soul in trouble;
She sees him as a dying man, he sees her as a dying soul
He interrupts the process of death. Oh yes, he’s the only one who can. He can remove the sting of death. He stops death in its track. He does not stop death here, simply extends the deadline by a few minutes. It is appointed that every man should die – and yes, we all shall die one day. But God can interrupt the timetable.
Ask Hezekiah.
Ask Ezekiel.
Ask the Apostle John.
Ask somebody who the doctor gave up on a long time ago.
Ask somebody who was supposed to have been swallowed up by death a long time ago.
My brothers and sisters, his concern is more than just hallelujah and glory on the other side, but his concern is for us on this side of the grave.
May I suggest that concern is a commodity that is not as abundant as it used to be?
Daughters don’t care about Mothers like they used to.
Mothers don’t care like Daughters like they used to.
Fathers don’t care about sons like they used to.
Sons don’t care about Fathers like they used to.
Husbands and Wives don’t care about each other like they used to.
The Family structure is in disarray.
People in Church are more like strangers than brothers and sisters.
But there is good news. Jesus Cares. Your friends may not care – but Jesus cares. Your family may not care – but Jesus cares.
And his care is not always based on our future needs – but thank God, its often based on our current conditions.
Jesus’ disciples were caught up in a storm. The boat was tossed about. His concern was demonstrated not after the storm, but during the storm.
A man was blind on a highway. He calls out for Jesus to see about him. His concern was demonstrated not after he received his sight, but during his blindness.
A centurion had a child that was sick. He goes to Jesus and his concern was not demonstrated at the funeral, but while the child was sick.
Lazarus dies. Jesus shows up and his concern was not demonstrated during the funeral procession, but during the heartbreak in the home.
He looks and sees Mary, standing by the cross – and he offers closure. He invites her to look at him. As if to suggest that this is a last viewing of her birth child and then he opens up an Office of Mother Support. He transfer her from his care to the care of John.
May I suggest that God can take care of you with or without human assistance?
He can heal you with or without medicine?
He can bless you with or without finances?
He can restore you with or without a physician?
He places Mary into the hands of John. But he makes sure that John understands his new role. Mary is now his mother. I know that you love me. You know that I love you. As if to say, she was my mother, but now she’s your mother.
Somebody here understands that you lost your mother or father a long time ago, but God has raised up not a foster-mother, not a foster-father, not a step-mother, not a step-father, but a MOTHER or a FATHER to establish relationship with you.
My pastor, Bishop Darryl S. Brister, reminded me that relationship is important. The power of connection can make all the difference in the world. Who you hitch your plow to can make a difference in how you work the field. Who you hang out with can make the difference in your deliverance.
I am so glad that there are God ordained connections. When a Child is gone, God will allow connection to another child.
When a husband is gone, God will allow connection to another man.
When a wife is gone, God will allow connection to another woman.
When a job is gone, God will allow connection to another job.
When a house is gone, God will allow connection to another house.
The story of Moses proves that if Mother is gone, God will provide a Mother somehow. He is sent down the River in a mini-ark, and is connected to the house of Pharoah and his mother is connected to provide for him.
The story of Joseph proves that if Father and Mother are God, God will provide somehow. He is removed from his parents, but he is connected with blessings in spite of his captivity in a strange land.
The story of Elisha proves that God will provide connection with an Elijah.
The story of Barnabas proves that God will provide connection with a Paul.
I have a story – God will provide!
I’ve seen the lighting flashing,
I’ve heard the thunder roll,
I KNOW that God will provide somehow.
Jesus provides connection. And you don’t hear John say:
”Not Me”
“I Don’t Play That”
“I’ve got too many responsibilities”
”I’m too busy”
“Get somebody else.”
But Jesus knew he had the right man, at the right time. The reason that he could know that is that he could see. To see in greek, Eido, is to also perceive and to have a degree of knowledge, gnosis.
I’m glad that God knows who can handle his mother. Notice that Jesus had other brothers and sisters – but they could not handle his mother. Surely, there had to be some survivors in this family. Some kinfolk in this family. But Jesus goes beyond the bloodline to establish relationship.
And John takes her – the King James says “home.” But this goes beyond that. He does not take her home – he makes her a part of his life.
I have discovered you can be in a house, but it may not feel like home. But thank God, even though she is suffering, she is not alone.
Somebody here ought to be a witness:
My brothers and sisters – Jesus is the master teacher. The mystery of this story is that Jesus is showing us what being in the Kingdom is really like. You may be lonely, by yourself, but Jesus wants to provide for you and make you a part of himself.
I say somebody here ought to be a witness:
He won’t leave you by yourself. He will walk with you.
He will talk with you. He will fellowship with you.
He will hold your hand. He will give you rest.
He will be your best friend.
Somebody here ought to help me close this message! He died for my sins! He was buried! But early one Sunday morning, He got up. I hear you Mary – on the way home – I once was young – but now I’m old, but I’ve never seen the righteous forsaken or his seed begging for bread. HE WILL PROVIDE …… (
