When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, “Woman, here is your son,” and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.
After Joseph, Mary’s husband died, Jesus became the head of the household. After all, he was the eldest of all Mary’s children. When Jesus turned to his ministry, we have the sense that he had to leave behind some of his responsibility for his family.
John’s gospel gives us a very unique glimpse into his family life in the beginning, when Jesus does the miracle with the wine at Cana. At that point, the family was still traveling with Jesus. Later, in chapter 7, we see Jesus at home with his brothers. But much of the time he appears to have been traveling between Jerusalem and Galilee, preaching wherever he went.
Now, we are not only at the last day of Jesus’ life but actually reading about the last few minutes of his life on earth. Minutes before Jesus gives up his life, he arranges for John to take care of his mother. In this simple exchange of a few words, he provides for her for the rest of her life.
It is hard to know what Mary was thinking as she watched her son being crucified. We can imagine that she was heartbroken and grief-stricken. Perhaps shock best describes where her thoughts were. Maybe the question of who would take care of her crossed her mind. Maybe not. We will never know. We do know that if Jesus had not provided for her the question would eventually have come up. Who will take care of her?
Jesus asks John to do this thing. Not only is he to care for her, but he is to care for her as if she were his own mother. Jesus provides for her physical needs and her emotional support as well.
Application: God is not one to provide what is needed before it is needed. This can be frustrating. Most of us like to know where our next meal is coming from before we sit down to eat. We also like to know where we will be spending the night before nightfall comes. God knows our needs before we do. He also knows how to provide for our needs. And one more thing: He gets to choose when he provides.
Food for Thought: How does God’s tendency to wait until the last minute to provide for our needs affect us? What does it force us to do? Is this a good thing?
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The prayer He taught was “give us today our daily bread.” We are to depend on Him day to day. That dependence may have been required in ancient times and comparatively not so much today, but we are dependent upon His kindness, grace and mercy whether we realize it or not.
Rich,
Great point! That seems to be the challenge of the day. With all the technology that we have today it is easy to lose sight of the source of what we really depend on for life.
The first few verses of Romans 5 and Philippians 4:6,7 come to mind, right off hand…easier to point out than to live.
Nice verses JEC!
“Do not be anxious…”
These words take on a whole new world of meaning when we discover that God is real.