Day 25- The Mother of Jesus Stands at the Cross

John 19:25-27

Meanwhile, standing near the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.  When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, "Woman, here is your son."  Then he said to the disciple, "Here is your mother."  And from that hour, the disciple took her into his own home.

John 2:1-5

On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there.  Jesus and his disciple had also been invited to the wedding.  When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, "They have no wine."  And Jesus said to her, "Woman, what concern is that to you and to me?  My hour has not yet come."  His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you."

The Gospel of John is my favorite book of the bible.  While the other books give an historical account of what Jesus did, the Gospel of John gives us a glimpse of who Jesus is.  And he also gives us a glimpse of who Mary is.  We see in the above passages that Mary is with Jesus at the beginning of his ministry.  In fact, she facilitated his first miracle.  And we also see Mary at the cross.  By framing Jesus' ministry with his mother's presence, John shows us that Mary was with Jesus throughout his ministry on earth.  She was his support- his rock. 

I could get into a lot of Marion doctrine here, but I won't.  Instead, I'm just going to point out the obvious.  Mary was just 14 years old when she said yes to God.  It is hard to believe that God used a teenager's yes to change the world.  And when he asked her to be his mother, she didn't hesitate.  She didn't tell him that she needed to talk to her parents, or friends, or mentors.  She just said, "Yes, I am the handmaid of the Lord."  She said yes and handed her life over to Jesus.  And she said yes to God's will for Jesus' life.  I think that we get wrapped up in the fact that she said yes to giving birth to him and raising him, but we forget that she also said yes to the plan of salvation.  She said yes to the cross.  She was there when they falsely accused him.  She was there when they spit on him. She was there when they beat him. She was there when he fell face first in the dirt under the cross' weight.  She was there when they hammered nails into his hands.  She watched him struggle to breathe as he hung on the cross.  She watched him give up his life.  She watched all of it.  She didn't leave his side.  She was his rock.

As a mother, I have no idea how Mary did it.  I don't know how she was able to watch and not intervene.  The amount of trust she had in God must have been incredible.  This is just one reason why she is God's greatest work of art.  And guess what?  Jesus gave her to us in his last moments.  In verse 27, Jesus gives his greatest work of art to his beloved disciple. 

When Jesus makes us children of God through his death and resurrection, we are adopted into his family- Jesus our brother, God our Father, and Mary our mother.  Now, let's understand one thing: I am not saying Mary is God.  Mary is God's greatest work of humanity and resides with God the father and Jesus the son in heaven.  And her purpose is not to be worshipped but to lead us to her son.  As his mother, she knows Jesus better than any person who has ever lived on earth.  When we ask her to let us see her son through her eyes, we get to know him better. And the more we know and understand him, the easier it is to let him live in us and through us.  Mary is Jesus' greatest disciple.  We should be open to getting to know her better so that we may follow her example and walk that much closer to her son, Our Lord and Savior.