John 19:25-27
Suggested further reading: Philippians 2:1-4
We are told that even in the awful agonies of body and mind
which our Lord endured, he did not forget her of whom he was born.
He mercifully remembered her desolate condition and the crushing
effect of the sorrowful sight before her. He knew that, holy as
she was, she was only a woman and that, as a woman, she must
deeply feel the death of such a son. He therefore commended her to
the protection of his best-loved and best-loving disciple in brief
and touching words. `Woman,' he said, `behold thy son! Then saith
he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that
disciple took her unto his own home.'
We surely need no stronger proof than we have here that
Mary, the mother of Jesus, was never meant to be honoured as divine,
or to be prayed to, worshipped and trusted in as the friend and
patroness of sinners. Common sense points out that she who needed
the care and protection of another was never likely to help men
and women to heaven, or to be in any sense a mediator between
God and man! It is not too much to say, however painful the
assertion, that of all the inventions of the church of Rome, there never
was one more utterly devoid of foundation, both in Scripture and
reason, than the doctrine of Mary-worship.
Let us turn from points of controversy to a subject of far
more practical importance. Let us take comfort in the thought that
we have in Jesus a Saviour of matchless tenderness, matchless
sympathy, matchless consideration for the condition of his
believing people. Let us never forget his words: `Whosoever shall do the
will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister and my
mother' (Mark 3:35). The heart that even on the cross felt for Mary is
a heart that never changes. Jesus never forgets any that love him
and even in their worst estate remembers their need. No wonder
that Peter says, `Casting all your care upon him, for he careth for
you' (1 Peter 5:7).
For meditation: Even in death our Lord put others first.
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