Mary and John at the Cross

       Scene from “The Passion of the Christ”

       Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ” created a lot of concerns -- that it was anti-Semitic, that it was overly violent, that it focused on all the wrong things.  One review I read called it “violence porn.”  The movie awoke a lot of passion in many who had never though one way or another about the cross.

       I’m not a big fan of conservative columnist Ann Coulter.  She’s mean and sometimes tries too hard to be clever.  But she hit the nail on the head when she    wrote that some of the mass media is clueless about the core of biblical Christianity – the gospel of the cross. 

       Commenting about reviews in the New York Times, Coulter wrote:  “The most amazing complaint, championed by the Times…is that Gibson insisted on "rubbing our faces in the grisly reality of Jesus' death." The Times was irked that Gibson "relentlessly focused on the savagery of Jesus' final hours"—at the expense of showing us the happy Jesus. Yes, Gibson's movie is crying out for a car chase, a sex scene, or maybe a wisecracking orangutan.

       “The…left is testy with Gibson for spending so much time on Jesus' suffering and death while giving ‘short shrift to Jesus' ministry and ideas’—as another Times reviewer put it. According to liberals, the message of Jesus, which somehow Gibson missed, is something along the lines of "be nice to people"

       “You don't need a religion like Christianity, which is a rather large and complex endeavor, in order to flag that message. All you need is a moron driving around in a Volvo with a bumper sticker that says ‘be nice to people.’

       “In fact, Jesus' distinctive message was: People are sinful and need to be redeemed, and this is your lucky day because I'm here to redeem you even though you don't deserve it, and I have to go through excruciating pain to do it. That,” Coulter concludes, “is the reason He is called ‘Christ the Redeemer’ rather than ‘Christ the Moron Driving Around in a Volvo With a 'Be Nice to People’ bumper sticker on it.’”

       That’s strong stuff. It’s pretty hard on the Volvo drivers.  On behalf of Coulter, I’d like to apologize to Michael Hughes and all the other Volvo drivers in the congregation.  But Gibson’s and Coulter’s point is well-taken. The cross wasn’t nice.  It was terrible.

       Jesus was in limitless pain on the cross. Hour after hour He desperately strained for another breath, strained tendons like violin strings, joint-rending cramps and intermittent asphyxiation, "searing pain as tissue was torn from his lacerated back as he moved up and down against rough timber.  Then another agony began; a deep crushing pain in the chest as the pericardium slowly filled with serum and began to compress the heart."  Jesus was lingering at the fringes of death. He knew that in the next hour darkness would cover Calvary, and He in cosmic battle would bear the world's sin alone in the darkness — and even with all of that crushing him, Jesus thought of His own.

       His own were certainly there thinking of Him.  Mary His mother was there with some other women.  His disciple John was there.

        Today we begin a sermon and small group series on “People of the Cross.”  Last Christmas we looked at the prophecy of a priest named Simeon in Luke when Jesus is brought to the Temple to be dedicated when He is eight days old. “Simeon blessed them and said to Mary His mother, 'Behold, this Child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and for a sign to be opposed— and a sword will pierce even your own soul— to the end that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.'"

       Mary experienced that soul piercing as her Son hung on the cross.  A description from an unknown writer paints the picture: "There her Son hung before her eyes, but she was helpless. His wounds bled, but she dared not staunch them. His mouth was parched, hot like an oven, but she cannot moisten it. His body ached, arched from the pain of the scourge, the tearing of the thorns, the piercing of the nails, but she cannot sooth Him. Those out-stretched arms used to clasp her neck; she used to fondle those pierced hands and feet; now the nails pierced her as well as Him. The thorns around His brow were a circle of flame about her head. The taunts flung at Him wounded her likewise. To add to her agony, Jesus was dying the death of a criminal. Mary was going through the experience prophesied by Simeon. 'A sword shall pierce through your own soul.”

       Mary suffered because Jesus died! She suffered because of the way He died on a cross like a criminal. She suffered because right out in the public gaze, a spectacle was made of her Son.   

       Mary had heard the words of the Angel Gabriel years before. She believed then.  But what does she believe now as she sees her son die on the cross?

       The presence of Mary at the cross adds both humanity and horror to the scene. We are reminded that Jesus was a real human being, a man who had once been a boy who had once been carried in the womb of his mother. Even as he was dying on the cross as the Savior of the world, Jesus was also a son, a role he didn't neglect in his last moments. Jesus sees Mary there in her pain and, in the midst of His pain, He speaks to her.   He says, “Woman, behold your Son.” 

       That sounds like a terrible thing to say.  That’s what she is doing, beholding her Son.  But we have to understand that every word from the cross costs Jesus.  He’s not going to say anything trivial.  I believe Jesus is inviting Mary to really see Him for who He is – and to realize that there is more than she can see on the horribly painful surface.

       Then Jesus also speaks to His Apostle John who is standing beside her.  He can feel Jesus' eyes fixed on him. John knows that the words are meant for him. "Son, look to your mother," Of all the gifts that have come to him from Jesus’ hand, a new mother is the last thing John expects.  But Mary becomes a part of John’s family from that moment on. 

        There is a great significance in the words Jesus uses from the cross. As Jesus made Mary John's responsibility, he called Mary "mother." But in speaking directly to Mary, Jesus addressed her as “Woman."

       Some have supposed that Jesus was trying to protect Mary from the possible trouble she might get into if she is recognized as His mother. Others say Christ did not call her "Mother" because he didn't want to make her emotional pain worse. But the reason runs a lot deeper and is much more powerful.  As Jesus approaches the work of salvation, a new relationship is now going to happen with Mary.  Their special earthly relationship as mother and son is now yielding to a higher, holier relationship as Jesus becomes her Savior.   Jesus is saying, “John will now do for you what I cannot do.  For it is time for me to do for you what he can’t do for you – give you new life.”

       At the cross and especially at the resurrection, Mary discovers that she has a greater need to be in a mystical union with Jesus as Christ than a natural union with her son. So Mary takes her place with the church among His worshipers.  It isn’t in a special place.  It isn’t on the platform.  It is as a simple believer!  And as a believer she finds that the salvation relationship is higher than the family relationship she is giving up.  She learns that it is better to have Jesus as her Savior and Lord than to have Him as her son.

       But Mary goes through a terrible time before she learns the good news of the resurrection.  She feels what we all feel when tragedy strikes.  In her case it is the hardest of all tragedies – the loss of a child.  Only those of you who have experienced it know the depths of that pain.

      God also allows us to come to places of pain in our lives.  If he allowed His own Son to die on a hill we can believe He will also allow us to as His people to bear our own crosses.  I may not know where all of your places of pain are. As I look out across the congregation this morning I can honestly say I know a lot.  I know about the job losses and family stress and the family stress created by job loss.  I know about the illnesses.  I know a lot.  But I’m sure I don’t know all. 

        But Jesus does know all.  Like Mary and John, we stand facing the cross.  And like Mary and John we have to make a choice about what we will do with the cross we face – our places of pain.  Do we believe that God is still there for us?  Do we believe that He is there for us just as He was there for Mary?

       That’s what we are called to believe.  In fact, when we are in pain we are called to believe something much greater

       Think about it. Jesus provides for the needs of his mother in the moment of His deepest weakness and humiliation.  How much more can Jesus now provide for our needs in His present place of power and exaltation!   The Bible says that the satisfaction made for our sin on the cross was so complete that God honored this sacrifice by raising Jesus to the highest place and giving Him incomparable glory and power. And Jesus now makes that incomparable glory and power available to us.

       So when Paul wonders whether we can bank on Christ for the provision of our need, it is this wealth of glory that gives him assurance. He says in Philippians 4:19, "My God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus"   And today Jesus gives us the Lord’s Supper to remind of us His love and refresh us in the journey. 

       Commentator Leon Morris wrote about the meaning of the cross, “The average person is just that – average.  He or she has no great importance in the eyes of the world.  Indeed that is one of life’s frustrations.  When an injustice is done to us, we have no accesses to the great ones who might put things right. We are continually pushed around by low-grade bureaucrats and kept in our place by office receptionists awaiting the pleasure of some subordinate official. 

       “This is a part of life and if anything can be done about it I do not know what it is.  But believers have access where it really counts.  Christ’s fulfillment on the cross had opened up the way into the very presence of God for the humblest of His people.  Nothing on earth can take away what this means in terms of prayer and companionship.”

       If Jesus could provide for his own from the cross in the moment of his weakness and humiliation, how much more will He meet all our needs today from the right hand of God, full of power and wealth and glory?  So as I come to His table I know that Jesus is there for me – for you -- no matter what places of pain we are in right now.

        This also means, in light of the text, that we also need to be there for each other.  That’s the other part of communion – why we share it together.  It’s why we are a family.  As we see in John, Jesus will often meet our needs through the power and wealth and glory that is His church.   So look around you right now.  Behold your fathers.  Behold your brothers and your sisters.  Behold your children. Behold your mothers.