Mary, See Your Son!

Many events happened during the time of Easter. A week before, on the day we know as Palm Sunday, Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey. The people laid clothes and palm leaves on the path before Him. Several days later, on Thursday, Jesus gathered with His disciples to eat the Passover Meal. During this meal, Jesus said that one of His disciples would betray Him. He started a meal of remembrance, which is communion. After the meal, Jesus went to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray. A crowd of people led by Judas, one of Jesus’ disciples, came to arrest Jesus. Jesus was mocked, beaten, and whipped. The next morning Pontius Pilate brought Him before the people. Pilate asked if Jesus should be freed, but the crowd said to crucify Him. Jesus was nailed to the cross and died. He was placed in a tomb. During the night an angel came and rolled the heavy stone away from the door. When the women came to the tomb on Sunday morning, they did not find Jesus. The angel said, “He is not here, but is risen” (Luke 24:6). There was one special event of many that happened as Jesus hanged on the cross (John 19:26,27). It probably only took a minute or two. Jesus was suffering and in great pain. His mother Mary was very sad as she saw Jesus suffering. She knew that He would die. Years earlier, when Mary brought baby Jesus to the Temple, Simeon had told her of the “sword that would pierce her soul” (Luke 2:35). Maybe this was the sorrow Mary was feeling now. Jesus saw His mother’s sorrow when He looked down from the cross. Jesus’ disciple John stood beside her. Jesus told His mother Mary that John was her son. He told John that Mary was his mother. From that time Mary lived in John’s home. It was Jesus’ love for His mother that caused him to ask the disciple John to care for her. With this example, Jesus teaches parents and children to love each other. Parents love and care for their children; children honor and love their parents. Sometimes children also care for their mothers and fathers. When I was a child, my grandmother came to live in our home because she could no longer live by herself. As believing moms and dads, boys and girls, we have the best care! We have the gospel, the forgiveness of sins, to keep love between us. Why does the gospel carry this power? It is what the women found at Jesus’ tomb. The angel told them that Jesus was not there, but had risen. Jesus suffered and died, but did not remain dead. His victory over death means that we will get to heaven if we continue to believe our sins forgiven.