John 19:25-27

Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son! Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home.

 

One of the last things Jesus did, before he died, was to make sure His mother Mary was taken care of.

He asked John to take Mary into his home and take care of her. I love how John always claims that Jesus loves him: “the disciple whom he loved.”

And how appropriate that Jesus, who kept the law to a jot and a tittle, would honor his mother by providing for her even as he was dying a horrific death on the cross.

If we look back at the 10 commandments in Exodus chapter 20, Honor your father and mother is the only commandment that requires you to do anything.

All of the other commandments are to “not do” something. Do not kill, do not steal, do not worship idols, do not commit adultery, etc.

All you have to do is not do these things and you have kept these commandments.

Except for Honor your father and mother. Notice that if you do this, it comes with a promise from God: you’ll live a long time.

Makes sense. Parents have the best interest of their children foremost in their hearts and minds. If you obey and honor our parents, there’s a good chance you will live a long and healthy life.

Many have found it interesting that Jesus did not suggest that one of his siblings take care of his mother. We know he had brothers and sisters. James, the eventual head of the church at Jerusalem and writer of the book of James, and Jude, the writer of the book of Jude, in particular. So, we know they weren’t ne’er do wells.

But John was his beloved disciple and the only one of the 12 apostles, mentioned in the Bible, who was at the cross with the women.

Maybe there was something about John’s faithfulness that caused Jesus to pick him over his siblings. We can only speculate because the scriptures don’t say.

The apostle Paul emphasizes this commandment in:

Ephesians 6:2-3 Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;) That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.

In Matthew 15, Jesus calls out the Pharisees for not honoring their fathers and mothers, because they taught that, if you give the money you would have used to take care of your parents to the temple, then you were freed from taking care of them. What?!?

Jesus called them hypocrites, because they were always holding people to a strict keeping of the law, but they had made up a loophole for themselves, so that they wouldn’t have to take care of their parents.

Honoring your father and mother is a privilege and a gift God has given you.

It gives you the blessed opportunity to take care of them, after they have taken care of you. Fed you, clothed you, changed your diapers, made sure you were educated, etc. etc.

Did you know that the Bible never commands us, specifically, to love our parents? It tells us to not curse our parents in Exodus 21 and Proverbs 20.

Now, we are supposed to love others, and that certainly includes our parents. That love is a love in action, not necessarily a feel-good love or affection, and is in keeping with the command to honor father and mother.

I realize that there are children out there abandoned and abused by their parents. That is one of the most horrible and sad things in this sin-soaked world.

But even that does not exempt you from the commandment. You do it, not because they were loving parents, although I believe the vast majority are. You do it because of your love for God and Jesus Christ, who told you to do it.

Isaiah 49:15-16 Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.

You do it, because, even though you may not have had good parents, who took care of you like they should, you do have a heavenly Father who loves you and will always love you, and you should obey Him.

There may be some good reasons why you can’t be around your parents or even talk with them, but there are ways you can honor them, nonetheless.

It’s not about whether they deserve it, it’s about whether God deserves to be obeyed, and He does! In this case, you do it for Him.

But, for most of us, we had wonderful, loving fathers and mothers who took great care of us, loved us, and sacrificed a big part of their lives for us.

It is our great privilege and pleasure to honor them, love them, and take care of them.

This is yet another of many ways we should try to be like Jesus. Behold thy mother!

So, call your momma and daddy. They would love to hear from you anytime!

May God bless you and keep you.