Based on John 19:25-27 (New King James Version)
“Now there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to His mother, ‘Woman, behold your son!’ Then He said to the disciple, ‘Behold your mother!’ And from that hour that disciple took her to his own home.”
I will give you a warning, before starting, that this message may not be liked by many people, and because of two simple reasons. The first reason is because although the world talks a lot about love, people don’t really understand what love is. And the second reason is because many follow the Lord for some sort of interest, but not because of the love they should have for Him, for the type of love of which the Bible talks about. The majority of people that either say that they follow the Lord or love the Lord is because they want something from Him, nothing more, and they can only follow Him while things go the way they want them to go. My sincerest desire is for this to be understood, even though it is something extremely difficult, because in the end, this is what following the Lord is all about. There is no other greater reason.
For starters, today’s passage is one of the most significant passages of the Bible, with regards to human response towards God. Despite all of the great miracles and wonders that the Lord did, despite the thousands He fed, and taught, and healed and freed, this handful of people were the only ones at the foot of the cross, during the most difficult moment of His sacrifice. The only one of His disciples that the Bible teaches that was at the foot of the cross was John, the disciple whom He loved. John and these women, these very few people were the most faithful to the Lord. They were with the Lord in His most crucial moments, during the time when even His Father had to separate from Him, when all our sin was put on Him, and finally, when He breathed His last breath. They were with Him when not even the Father was able to.
And, what do we predominantly see in this disciple? The Lord asks John to do something very important, to take care of Mary, His earthly mother. Why was the Lord able to do this? Because He knew that the only person whom He could entrust so special and important task was John. Why? Because He knew that John loved Him, because He had seen it, because He knew that John’s love for Him would make Him faithful. It wasn’t because he was the most apt, or the smartest one, or because he had the best financial position; nothing of that entered into His decision. John’s love for Him was what gave Him that ease.
The most important element we can see through this passage is love. Everything in the Lord centers around love. This women and John did not follow the Lord out of selfishness, nor because He did whatever they wanted, nor out of commitment, or anything else. They followed only because of love, and we can see the faithfulness of their love until the end. What did they see at this precise moment? A great King on the cross? A rich man? A powerful man? A man with good appearance? At that moment, the King of the Universe allowed Himself to be reduced to a beaten, flogged, barely naked man, that was crowned with thorns and nailed to a cross, where they could see some of His bones on some parts of His body wherever the blood stopped to flow over. They saw Jesus, the Person they loved, and that they needed to be with Him when no one else wanted to, when they saw everything without hope. Love for God is everything. The Bible teaches us that it must be the first fruit that needs to be in us, to show that the Holy Spirit truly lives in us. For it is written: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.” Galatians 5:22-23. The Word also shows us that love goes beyond even doing incredible things, as it is also written: “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.” 1 Corinthians 13:1-3. So then, neither miracles, nor knowledge, nor spiritual gifts, not even faith necessarily determines our love for God. The love of which God talks about goes much beyond that. After being resurrected, the Lord asked Peter only one thing: “He said to him the third time, ‘Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?’ Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, ‘Do you love Me?...’” John 21:17a. This is what God is mostly interest in.
The Lord also taught us that He must be first in our love. For it is written: “Now great multitudes went with Him. And He turned and said to them, ‘If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.’” Luke 14:25-27. This doesn’t necessarily mean that you need to hate your family for no reason, but rather, that when there needs to be a decision made, if you have to choose between a loved one and God, that the decision needs to be made for God. And if you choose for the Lord, that you need to bear that decision daily, because yes, following the Lord is the harder road. Following the Lord implies leaving aside your will, your desires, and your other loves for Him.
I will share something personal here. I lost my father not too long ago. He died because of cancer. During his sickness, I felt that God was testing me. When I saw things turning for the worse, I felt like if God was testing me to see if I loved Him, if I would continue loving Him despite the unanswered prayers and seeing what seemed to be inevitable. I remember that when I asked the doctor (it was an evening that I was working until late in my office; completely alone) to tell me how much time he thought my father had left; he told me, “John, I think he has about six months left.” At that moment, I felt a great pain, but at the same time, this thought would come back: “Will you continue loving the Lord?” Finally, my father went to be with the Lord, and a short moment after his passing, when I was alone, it was no longer a thought, but rather, this direct question came from the Lord Himself: “John, do you love me?” Feeling a very deep pain, I was able to answer: “Yes Lord, I still love you”.
A person can say that they love the Lord very easily when everything seems fine. But, the moment will come when God will allow for some very difficult things to happen in your life, things that are unrelated to the errors that you may have committed, because when we commit mistakes, we are only dealing with the consequences (these are not tests), God will also ask you: “Do you love me?” So then, you should think about this, to make sure that you are following the Lord how you should: “Do you love the Lord, no matter what happens, even when things go totally opposite to what you want? Will you be like John and these blessed women at the foot of the cross? Lord bless! John