THE
SWORD OF THE PROPHECY
By Jon Lanier
John
19:26-27 When Jesus then saw His mother, and the disciple whom He
loved standing nearby, He said to His mother, "Woman, behold, your
son!" Then He said to the disciple, "Behold, your mother!" From
that hour the disciple took her into his own household.
Think of it - six long hours of excruciating pain.
Ę Jesus is suspended
on the cross...
Ę Held there by
iron spikes through His hands and feet.
Ę His chest
muscles are paralyzed....
Ę The only way He
can get another breath is
to haul Himself up by pushing on the nails in His feet... and straining...
Ę Pulling against
the nails in His hand..
All at the expense of maddening pain.
It is during these painful moments that Jesus utters seven dying phrases.
Amazing isn't it... that a man dying in
such pain would think of others instead of himself?
He thought of those responsible for His crucifixion... the Jewish officials... the Roman
soldiers... and us here this morning who crucify Him afresh... Again and again
by our own sins...
"Father
forgive them... They know not what they do."
A word of salvation
to the thief hanging beside Him...
"Today you
will be with Me in paradise."
Now we come to what is perhaps the most
touching and tender of all the scenes at Calvary...
§
A statement to His mother... "Dear woman... Behold your son.
§
And to the disciple... Behold your mother."
What Jesus says here may very well be tied to that which
was going on around the cross. You see, history tells us that the crucifixion
victim was stripped of all his clothing... leaving him in the shame of his own
nakedness.
We may not like to hear it... but that is the way Jesus
hung on the cross. It was a part of the shame. The crucifixion team was to
share in the victim's clothing.
— Jewish men in
Jesus' day typically wore five pieces of clothing...
— A headpiece...A
type of turban.
— Sandals...
— A tunic which
covered the body from the shoulder to the ankles.
— A sash or belt
which held the robe close to the body at the waist.
— And the under
garment.
The first four
outer garments were claimed or shared by each of the soldiers. The under
garment..called a SHYĐTON … was a close fitting cover from the shoulders to the thighs. Usually, the mother of a Jewish
boy made his first SHYĐTON...
presenting it to him at manhood. In
the case of
Jesus…. Probably when He started
His personal ministry…. at....
or near the time of His baptism by John. Scripture tells us that the SHYĐTON
Jesus wore was woven….. seamless…. so
the soldiers decided not to ruin it... but to cast lots for it…. Fulfilling the words of the
Old Testament prophecy.
It was against this backdrop...With His chin
resting on His chest...Eyes riveted to
the ground...
That Jesus turns His attention to His
mother. No doubt, she has been there all along. But because of the haggling
over the seamless tunic she had made for Him, Jesus' attention is focused upon
His mother.
So, He addresses her and her future
needs: "And when He saw His mother standing nearby, He said... Dear
woman... Here is your son. And to John... Here is your mother.
So, what can we learn here... What do we see? Are there
some challenges for us in the church today?
1. We See Mary’s Faithfulness.
… And we are challenged by it.
We must know that Jesus is not the only one who is
suffering here. Mary's heart is broken.
Her strength is gone... Emotionally she
is a wreck...Hopeless... Helpless.
Yet, she is a wonderful example of
steadfastness.
For instance, it is interesting to note
that John says... "She is standing near the cross."
— She does not
run...
— She is not
standing afar off...
— Mary has not
swooned...
— She does not
crouch...
— She is not
crumpled in a broken heap...
— She is standing
tall and steadfast...near the cross in intolerable grief.
§
I wonder what is going through her mind?
§
Maybe she’s thinking about the words of the prophet Simeon.
§
She may have been remembering that happy day when she and Joseph
took Jesus to the Temple to present Him to the Lord.
Simeon took Jesus in his arms and
blessed God... and then said... "This child is destined to be spoken
against... And a sword will pierce your own soul too."
Indeed... Mary had felt that sword many
times.
For
instance she felt that sword when she found herself pregnant outside of
wedlock... And the explanation that she was overcome by the Holy Spirit was not
an acceptable explanation to many in her family or friendship circle.
She felt the sword again... as Jesus was
born in a stable... laid in a manger.
The sword struck her and Bethlehem when
Herod threatened... and the family had to flee to Egypt.
Again at Nazareth... when they threatened to throw Jesus
over a cliff.
Mary felt the sword when all the family
and friends rejected Jesus as the Messiah.
She felt the sword as the Jewish
authorities put out public notices for the arrest of her son.
There was the beating before Pilate...
The mockery by Herod... The insults from the crowd.
Finally... here at the cross... the
sword of prophecy pierced her heart as her first born Son hang dying... and
there was nothing she could do about it.
She sees the crown of thorns... But cannot remove it.
She sees the nails... But is not
allowed to pull them out...
She sees the lacerations... But is not
able to soothe her Son's pain.
She sees His nakedness...But cannot
cover Him.
She hears the mockery... But is not able to quiet the voices...
And yes... she would most likely have traded places with
Him, but she knew she could not bring forgiveness and redemption to the world.
She knew she must not interfere with the mystery of the Divine Will of God.
We are reminded of Mary's response to the angel...
Gabriel... who first appeared announcing the birth of Jesus. Remember what she
said? "I am the Lord's servant... May it be to me as you have said."
And Mary also said... "My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices
in God my Saviour.
As we stand with Mary around the cross, are we challenged
by Mary's attitude and commitment? Are we challenged by her faithfulness?
Jesus speaks to Mary, His mother and then, also to John.
2. John Challenges Us With His Repentance.
Let’s go to the Garden of Gethsemane. Peter... James... and John are asked by the
Savior of the world... God in the flesh... to help Him watch and pray.
Ř John... like the
others... carelessly falls asleep.
Ř Jewish
officials... Roman soldiers come to arrest Jesus...
Matthew says... and all the disciples deserted Him and
fled. This included John. But the good news is that he is back... not just
back... but standing near the cross. As far as we can determine to this point,
He is the only one to repent.
Now, I want you to note here that Jesus has no rebuke... no
word of caution. But instead John is given an awesome responsibility - the care
of Jesus' mother... what we could say, in a way, is Jesus' most prized
possession.
Jesus was then... today... and is always ready to extend
grace and forgiveness to all who will turn to the cross. He is always ready to
restore our failures if we will come to Him.
Something else, I think this says to us... If you stand
near the cross, expect Jesus to give you some special responsibility... Something
extraordinary to accomplish in life.
We all would like to say... "Yes...
Yes... I would be John at the cross... I would take care of Jesus'
mother." Oh, really!
§ Remember this is
the same Jesus who said...
§
Suffer little children to come unto Me... for such is the kingdom
of heaven....
§
The world will know that you are My disciple when you love the
brethren...
§
Submit to one another... Place the interest of others before
self...
§
Pure religion is to visit the fatherless and the widows in their
afflictions...
§ As often as you
do it to the least of these you do it unto me.
Jesus is saying... My mother... My
brother... My sister is the one you helped today.
You see… Jesus' mother represents the
ONE we have the opportunity to serve today...
Ę Be it a child...
Ę A widow...
Ę A shut-in...
Ę Someone sick...
Ę Someone at the
nursing home.
Will we care for them... perhaps...
v
With a smile...
v
A hug...
v
A word of encouragement...
v
A prayer...
v
A gift...
v
A helping hand...
Maybe by simple things like... understanding... forgiveness... sympathy?
With John standing close to the cross it
should make us understand that we are...
v
The eyes...
v
The heart...
v
The hands...
v
The feet...
v
The lips... of Jesus in our world.
You know what? The
mother of Jesus is all around us... Will we care for her?
Not to long ago I had a man say to me at a convention:
"No one at work knows that I'm a Christian... a member of the
church." And he added: "Actually, I like it like that." This man wanted to live far from the cross.
Jesus' statement in Mark
Chapter 8 comes to mind... "If anyone is ashamed of Me and My words in
this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him
when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels."
God help us to repent of our wanderings... to be like John and
return to the cross.
John is our challenge to change... to come live closer to the
cross, to become the person and the people God would have us be