Woman, Behold Your Son

Welcome to this edition of PowerPoint with Jack Graham. Our guiActiveUnwoman. In the words of Jesus, we see His tenderness, His affection, His compassion, and care for all of us, but specifically here, His mother. As Jesus is suspended between between heaven and earth fighting for every breath as he lived he died thinking and loving others.

Thinking of and loving others. First it was his tormentors. Those who nailed him to the cross he said, Father forgive them for they do not know what they do. And then to a repentant thief who begged for mercy at the cross, remember me when you come into your kingdom and Jesus said, this day you will be with me in paradise. And now the third time Jesus speaks these are words to his mother and they are affectionate and caring. John records these words in John 19 beginning of verse 26 when Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby he said to his mother, woman behold your son. And then he said to the disciple, behold your mother.

And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home. William Barclay the Bible commentator said this, there is something infinitely moving in the fact that Jesus in the agony of the cross in the moment when the salvation of the world hung in the balance thought of the loneliness of his mother and the days that he would be taken away. It is clear that Joseph, the legal father, the earthly father of Joseph, the adopted father rather of Jesus is gone. He disappears after that scene in the temple when Mary and Joseph took the 12 year old Christ to the temple. Apparently Joseph died along the way and Mary experienced her first loss, the loss of her husband and she moves then as a widow to the cross. She would face a greater pain and a greater loneliness.

It was the oldest son's responsibility to take care of the mother or the parents. Jesus was no doubt very, very close to Mary but the relationship is about to change forever. Seen by Mary is John the disciple who writes these words, who gave us these words from Jesus along with three other women including Mary's sister. This is John, the same John whom Jesus loved and who loved Jesus very much. And Jesus tells John to care for his mother.

Why? Because the substitute, the one dying on the cross substituting for us our sin would need a substitute. Someone to take his earthly role and responsibility as the leader of his family. Amazing, isn't it? While Jesus is dying for the world, He is caring for His mother.

He is taking care of His family. Look at Mary, the mother who is at the cross. Mary was a godly woman. She's a young teenager, she was told by the angel that she would birth the Savior of the world, the Messiah, the Son of God.

What a privilege that was. And in the favor and the grace of God she accepted that role, that responsibility. She said, be it unto me according to your will. Mary was a godly, godly woman. But with the great privilege of being the mother of the Savior came great pain. As a matter of fact, when Mary and Joseph brought the Christ child into the temple for his dedication, then Simeon, the aged saint, he took that child into his arms and he spoke a prophecy concerning the Savior and why He had come. And then he said to Mary in Luke 2 35, and a sword will pierce through your own soul also, so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed. The sword, the pain was promised that Mary would experience great suffering as a result of her birthing and bringing the Savior into the world.

There would be the pain of being accused of being an unfaithful wife. The supernatural birth of Jesus, the virgin birth of Jesus was denied, still denied today by some. But Mary knew it was true, it was just hard getting people to believe it. So she was mocked in a little town and you know how sometimes little towns, any town really can be and so she was the object of town gossip that Mary is pregnant and without a husband and she'd been unfaithful to Joseph it appeared.

Of course, we know that she had not. But that rather she was the mother of the Savior. And then later on when Jesus was growing up, Jesus is growing up and how difficult would it have been to raise the Son of God?

A boy who's always perfect. How do you lead a child like that? And Jesus would say to His parents, do you not know that I must be about My Father's business? And there was the pain of knowing as a mother that He was not altogether hers.

He belonged to the world. There was the pain when Joseph and Mary took the Christ child, fled for their lives into Egypt and they were separated like immigrants from their country and their friends and their family. Yes, there was much pain along the way but now she is at the cross.

And the greatest pain, the sword, is piercing her. It appears that Jesus recognized His mother's pain at a certain moment. And it was the moment when the soldiers were gambling for the tunic, the undergarment of Jesus.

Now look back in your text in John 19 and verses 23 and 24. When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took His garments and divided them into four parts. One part for each soldier, also His tunic.

Now when you see the word tunic there, think of a long, soft t-shirt. It was a seamless garment that was worn underneath by Jewish men. The tunic was seamless woven into one piece from top to bottom, verse 24, so they said to one another, let us not tear it but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be. And this was to fulfill the Scripture, remember nothing is happening by accident at the cross, all according to divine plan and prophecy. The Scripture which says, they divided My garments among them and for My clothing they cast lots. So the soldiers did these things. Okay, watch this scene at the cross.

Jesus is dying on the cross. His mother and family and friends are beneath and the soldiers are over here gambling for His clothing. Each one took a piece of the four garments, outward garments, but then this tunic came along and they said, let's don't tear this up, let's gamble for it and whoever wins gets the tunic. Now this is especially poignant in knowing that the mother of a son would sew the tunic of her adult son when He would go out into the world. So it is apparent that Mary, when she saw this tunic and when Jesus saw the tunic being gambled away, that it was such a tender moment that their eyes must have locked. The relationship was so dear and so close because it was at that moment that Jesus spoke these words, woman, dearest woman, behold your son. Listen to John, son, behold your mother. It was there at the cross that Mary's heart was pierced. Now if you think about it, Mary could have stopped the whole thing.

It's probable that if Mary had gone to the religious authorities and said something like this, I am His mother, He is my son, I beg you for mercy. And I tell you this, He is not who He claims to be. Jesus has always had delusions of grandeur. This is, He's deluded. But He's not God.

The whole thing was a terrible mistake. The story's not true. He's not the Messiah and if you, she begs, if you would let me take Him home, I promise, I'll take Him home to Nazareth and you will never hear of Jesus of Nazareth again. Of course Mary said none of that.

Why? She couldn't. She knew the story was true. She knows that Jesus is the Son of God, the Savior of the world. She doesn't understand it all but she knows and she stands as a silent, suffering witness that Jesus is who He claimed to be, the Son of God. You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and his message, Woman, Behold Your Son. Pastor this month we have a special gift for our listeners who give a gift to PowerPoint. It's your book, Heaven.

How can you tell us about this powerful resource? One of my favorite Christian thinkers, C.S. Lewis, once wrote about Heaven. He said if you read history, you will find that the Christians who did the most for the present world were those who thought most about the next world. For example, Christians like William Wilberforce and John Newton led the fight to abolish the slave trade in England.

Newton is best known for pinning the lyrics to the hymn, Amazing Grace. These were men who longed for Heaven and it made them powerful forces for Christ on earth. That's something we desperately need right now, isn't it? We need believers whose hope is set firmly, anchored in the promises of God for the life that is to come because that will strengthen us boldly to witness and to live for Christ right now. That was one of the prayers in my heart when I wrote my book called, Heaven. I'm excited that we're offering it as our special thank you when you give to help promote the message of Christ and the Gospel through PowerPoint. Call today and get Dr. Graham's book, Heaven, as our thank you for your gift.

Call 1-800-795-4627, that's 1-800-795-4627 or text the word PowerPoint to 59789. Now let's get back to today's message, Woman, Behold Your Son. Now it's important to remember that Mary also needed a Savior, just like you and me. Mary is not a co-mediator with Christ. Mary is a woman and like every woman and every man on earth, in need of a Savior. So we're never taught in Scripture to pray to Mary or through Mary.

We pray in Jesus' name, not in Mary's name. Mary was at the cross in need of redemption and in the midst of her pain and suffering, she now knows the consequences of sin, as her own darling son is dying in payment for her sin. As a young girl, she exalted God by saying, my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.

Jesus, God and Savior. And Mary is losing a son, but she's gaining a Savior. Mary at the cross. But then we see John, the disciple near the cross. He tells us in our verses that he along with the others was standing near the cross. John of course was one of Jesus' closest friends among the three intimates of Christ. Peter, James and John who were often taken aside and given special insight into the power of Christ and the transfiguration is an example of that.

In the garden, they went a little farther with Jesus as He prayed. So John was among the closest of the close to Jesus. John finds himself there at the cross. But what you need to remember is John wasn't there originally. In fact, when Jesus was arrested and judged, John disappeared like the rest of the disciples.

Say where's that? Matthew 26, 56. But all this had taken place that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled, then all the disciples left Him and fled. And in the love of Christ, He came back. He came to the cross and He stood there. Interesting, there's no words of rebuke to John. Where were you?

Why did you leave? But only words of restoration and responsibility as He gives His mother to John. So it's an obvious thing to point out that if you've run away from the Lord, if you've been away, maybe you were ashamed of Jesus or afraid and you melted in the face of opposition or persecution or mockery.

You can come back to Him today. The cross means that you can be forgiven. And John came back and so can you. And when he came back, he was given this awesome responsibility of taking care of the mother of Jesus. And John was to represent Him, Jesus, in the world. Isn't that what God has called us to do? Isn't that what Christ is calling us to do as we come to the cross? To represent Him in the world?

To be His hands, His feet, His eyes, His heart? We come to the cross, we're all called as the body of Jesus, the presence of Jesus in this world to assume our responsibility as servants of Christ. Jesus said in John 20, 21, as the Father has sent Me, even so I am sending you into the world. Have you ever wondered why Jesus didn't give the assignment responsibility of His mother to His younger brothers? Well first of all, His brothers were nowhere to be found because we're told in the Scripture that His brothers did not yet believe.

That's John 7, 5. His brothers did not yet believe in Him. They would come to believe in Him after the resurrection. And James, his brother, would give us the book of James and be the leader of the church of Jerusalem. But up to this point, His brothers were not believers.

So watch what happens here. Jesus establishes a new spiritual family for His household. He assigned John the spiritual leadership of his home because John was a believer. And there is a sense in the body of Christ, in the family of God, that we are closer to one another in the faith as brothers and sisters in Christ, as this forever family is united, that we are closer to one another than we would be even to family members who do not know Jesus. And while we have a responsibility to love and care for our family as we're going to see in just a moment, it is unique and interesting that in Christ we have a new family.

This is the living legacy of our Lord. John, take care of my mother. And John did it all of his days. It's said here in the Scripture that from that day forward, Mary went to his house, went to his home.

He took her in. And while they were in Jerusalem, Peter and John partnered along with the others after the resurrection to get the gospel to Jerusalem and then beyond and John became a missionary. And church history tells us that John went to Ephesus as the leader of the church at Ephesus and that Mary went with him and that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was a faithful Christian to the end and she died in Ephesus.

John took care of his responsibility. There's one final word that I have from this saying at the cross and that is Jesus, the Savior on the cross. We've seen Mary, the mother at the cross, John the disciple near the cross. But Jesus, the Savior on the cross.

What did He say? Woman, behold your son, behold your mother. It's incredible that while Jesus is saving the world, He's taking care of His mother. While Jesus is dying for the sins of all and loving the whole world for God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, He is tenderly loving His mother and taking care of her.

It's the perfect model for us because none of us, not one of us, are discharged from the duty and the sacred obligation of taking care of our families. Starting with our parents, including our spouses and of course our children. And if Jesus at the cross, on the cross, could care for His mother then we also share this holy obligation to our families. As long as we live, we're to honor our parents, our mothers and our fathers and then to honor their memory when they're gone. Now I say this because we live in a culture that devalues and often discards the old. But Jesus calls us to do the opposite, to include and embrace our loved ones. And to care for them.

I don't care what kind of mission you may be on when you're saying, well I'm changing the world. OK, start with your own family. Whatever cause you may represent, your greatest call, your greatest cause is the legacy of your own family. No matter what you may accomplish in life, you cannot be considered a success if you don't care for your own family.

In fact, 1 Timothy 5, 8, the Word of God says this, but if anyone does not provide for his relatives and especially for members of his household, he is denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. You may be thinking, well my parents weren't all that honorable and my family hurt me. My parents hurt me. Ask God to give you a spirit of reconciliation.

Go to your family. Work for forgiveness. And if they're gone, respect them enough not to speak evil against them. Give it to God.

But most all of us today can stand to give thanks for those who have loved us. And this is our moral responsibility, not to throw away our parents. Speak to them. Talk with them. Listen to them. Tell your parents how much you love them. Spend time with them.

Show them respect. And make sure when you come to the end like Jesus, you leave a legacy of love for your family. You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and the message, woman, behold your son. No matter what struggles you're facing today, you have hope in the promises awaiting you in heaven. And God calls you to share that hope with others today. That's why we want to encourage and inspire you today by sending you Pastor Graham's book, Heaven. This exciting book takes you straight to scripture to help you see all that awaits you in the life to come and how it impacts your life today.

You'll find hope for today and courage to share that hope with others. So don't wait to request your copy. Heaven is our special thanks for your gift to help boldly proclaim God's word through PowerPoint. So request your copy when you call today. Call 1-800-795-4627. That's 1-800-795-4627.

You can also text the word PowerPoint to 59789. And don't forget to visit JackGraham.org where you can shop our e-store, give a gift online or sign up for Dr. Graham's free daily email devotional. Our website again is JackGraham.org. Pastor, what is your PowerPoint for today? Well, I absolutely love God's church, the family of God, the spiritual family that God has given us. I love our church. I love local churches around the world that are making a difference proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ. Every Christian should be involved in a Christ-exalting, Bible-teaching, Spirit-filled, life-giving church.

And I would encourage you to do that. That's your spiritual family. But that doesn't mean, of course, that we don't care deeply about our own families. What we ought to care about is connecting Christ and our families and Christ and our church and our families. So as Jesus cared for his mother, we ought to care for one another, our own relatives, our own family members, and care for the people who are in the family of God.

Jesus said, whoever does God's will is my brother, sister, and mother. So as members of the family of God together, we ought to serve one another, love one another, bless one another, and that most often takes place in the community of a local church. Here at PowerPoint, we really encourage you to get involved in the ministry of your local church, to tithe and give beyond the tithe to your local church, to support your pastor, to pray for your pastor and the ministers on that staff and the leadership of the church, to find a job and use your spiritual gift in the work of Christ.

There are just so many things that need to get done. And whether it's serving at home or serving in the church, we are serving Jesus together. As I was just saying, we encourage you to support your local church. But if you feel led to support PowerPoint beyond what you normally do at your church, then we would appreciate very much your faithful giving at this time. We have so many new opportunities, doors that are opening literally around the world in order for us to teach God's word daily through PowerPoint.

That's what I love about radio, is so daily. And daily, Monday through Friday, we have the opportunity to preach the gospel, to teach the Bible. And that's really what I'm all about, preaching the gospel, teaching the Bible. So please pray for me. Please pray for our church. And I'm praying for you and your church as you serve Christ wherever you are. And follow us on Twitter and Facebook. If you'll go to JackGraham.org, you can find out how you can pick up resources. You can make your prayer requests.

You can connect with us on Twitter, Facebook, and all the ways that we have now through social media to get to know each other better. So again, God bless you. Thank you for your prayers. Thank you for your encouragement.

And may God bless you every day of your life. And that is today's PowerPoint. Remember when you give a gift to PowerPoint, we'll send you Dr. Graham's book, Heaven, as our thanks. Call 1-800-795-4627. That's 1-800-795-4627. You can also text the word PowerPoint to 59789. And join us again next time as Dr. Graham brings a message about the welcome you find at the cross. That's next time on PowerPoint with Jack Graham. PowerPoint with Jack Graham is sponsored by PowerPoint Ministries.