Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Dear woman, here is your son,” and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.
I want to invite you to come with me today someplace very special. I say special, but it is a terrible place. Unspeakable things happen there.
I know, this is a blog about joy. Why do we want to go to such a place? All I can say is that sometimes, we must know lament to find joy again. This is one of those times.
We’re going to Golgotha, the Place of the Skull. It is a dark place, a foreboding place. This is where the authorities make examples of people. This is where they terrorize us by putting their power on display. This is where they kill.
But, it is also a mundane place, just outside the city limits by the side of the road. Everybody passes by here on their daily business. That’s what makes it so effective – you have to make examples of people where everyone will see it.
Stand with me here a moment and take it in. Look around. There is a huge crowd today, mass chaos. People are yelling and jeering. The air smells of sweat and dust, hate and fear. The road is full of folks wrapping things up before the holiday – some stop for the show, others are too busy to even notice.
But you and me, we’re not too busy. We are here for the main event. Direct your gaze above the crowd, toward the objects of the deafening scorn and mockery. There it is. Three men nailed to crosses, slowly, excruciatingly suffocating and bleeding out. You can see this here all the time.
But today is different. The man in the center is Jesus of Nazareth. Yesterday, the crowds hung on his every word. Today, they curse and spit at him as he hangs above. You see, the religious and political leaders have declared him an enemy of the people, a poison in the blood of the nation, a threat to law and order.
For the crowd, this is just a spectacle to gossip about later. But look closer. There are five people who seem out of place. They stand silently, apprehensively, shoulders slumped, eyes moist, fixed on Jesus.
Who are they? Four women and a man. The women stick with Jesus everywhere he goes; they feed him, and clothe him, and soak up his teaching. He is the only person who sees them for who they really are, for who they really could be. The man? He calls himself, “the follower Jesus loved.” Not because Jesus loves him more than everyone else, but because he is so consumed by Jesus’ love that it is his very identity.
You and I, well, we know what’s going on here. We’ve heard this story a million times. For God so loved the world. Jesus is offering himself up as the sacrifice for our transgressions, making us right with God.
But these five, they have no idea about any of that. This is a day like many days. This is a scene like many scenes. Except, their world is hanging up there this time, slipping from their fingertips in an outrageous injustice, and there’s nothing they can do about it.
Now, focus in on the older woman. If the other four are anguished, she is in utter torment. You see, this is her very son. Three decades ago, she brought him into this world. The man at the temple had told her of her little one’s greatness but also warned, “a sword will pierce your own soul too” (Luke 2:35). She didn’t know what he meant, but she does now. That sword is cutting its way into her, all the way to the hilt.
It is at this moment their eyes meet. Jesus, in his agony, sees his mother below, in hers. And he loves her. He provides her a home in a culture in which widows faced poverty and marginalization. He saves her.
Jesus came to seek and save the lost, billions and billions of people, people long dead, people still living, people yet to be born. He knew exactly what he was doing on the cross, the cosmic significance of it all. Golgotha is the very centerpiece of history.
And yet in the midst of it all, he provided for his mother. John, the disciple Jesus loved, looks back on this scene as an old man, and he relates it to us almost like a capstone of Jesus’ work on the cross. Salvation is personal, and comprehensive.
You see, Jesus did indeed come to save the multitude. He did indeed open the door to reconciliation and eternal life and unspeakable joy on that cross that day.
But not merely to save us in some esoteric and abstract way. And not simply to punch us a ticket to heaven. Rather, he loved us—he loves us still—with a fire that transforms every fiber of our being, that purifies us and makes us whole, that unites us to God and his heavenly community.
He came to provide – real life to real people with real needs. Real people like his distraught mother, and yes, real people like you and me.
He invites you to take hold of this life, bought at dearest price on a terrible, good Friday at Golgotha. And once you have done so, to hold out your hand to the distraught person next to you.
“Dear woman, here is your son.”
Sometimes we must know lament to find joy again. This is one of those times.
Happy Easter, dear friends.
Un Petit Aperçu
Près de la croix de Jésus se tenaient sa mère, la sœur de sa mère, Marie la femme de Clopas et Marie de Magdala. Jésus vit sa mère et, près d'elle, le disciple qu'il aimait. Il dit à sa mère: «Femme, voici ton fils.» Puis il dit au disciple: «Voici ta mère.» Dès ce moment-là, le disciple la prit chez lui.
Jésus est venu chercher et sauver ce qui était perdu, des milliards et des milliards de personnes. Il savait exactement ce qu'il faisait sur la croix, la portée cosmique de ces actions. Et pourtant, au milieu de tout cela, il a pourvu aux besoins de sa mère. Il est venu offrir la vraie vie à de vraies personnes. De vraies personnes comme sa mère désemparée, et oui, de vraies personnes comme vous et moi. Il vous invite à saisir cette vie. Et une fois que vous l'aurez fait, à tendre la main aux autres.
Joyeuses Pâques, chers amis !
Μία Περίληψη
Κοντά στο σταυρό του Ιησού στέκονταν η μητέρα του, η αδερφή της η Μαρία, γυναίκα του Κλωπά, και η Μαρία η Μαγδαληνή. Ο Ιησούς, όταν είδε τη μητέρα του και το μαθητή που αγαπούσε, να στέκεται πλάι της, λέει στη μητέρα του: «Αυτός τώρα είναι ο γιος σου». Ύστερα λέει στο μαθητή: «Αυτή τώρα είναι η μητέρα σου». Από κείνη την ώρα ο μαθητής την πήρε στο σπίτι του.
Ο Ιησούς ήρθε για να αναζητήσει και να σώσει αυτούς που έχουν χάσει το δρόμο τους, δισεκατομμύρια καιδισεκατομμύρια ανθρώπους. Ήξερε ακριβώς τι έκανε στο σταυρό, την κοσμική σημασία όλων αυτών. Κι όμως, μέσα σε όλα, φρόντισε τη μητέρα του. Ήρθε για να προσφέρει αληθινή ζωή σε αληθινούς ανθρώπους. Σεαληθινούς ανθρώπους όπως η απελπισμένη μητέρα του, και σε αληθινούς ανθρώπους όπως εσύ κι εμένα. Σεπροσκαλεί να κρατήσεις αυτή τη ζωή. Και αφού το κάνεις, να απλώσεις το χέρι σου στους άλλους.
Καλή Ανάσταση, αγαπητοί φίλοι!
Wow, Jeff. Thank you so much for sharing this in such a vivid, thoughtful, and relevant way.