The Third Word of the Cross
Woman behold your son, son behold your mother
I see the words of the cross as words of grace. Often what we are ultimately concerned about reflects the most important values in our lives. The apostle John and Mary, the mother of Jesus, are at the foot of the cross. As first born in the family, Jesus has cultural and religious responsibility for his mother. Christian tradition, and this action of Jesus, seem to indicate that Mary was a widow at the time of Jesus' death. As first born male, Jesus has family responsibility. Why not James, the brother of Jesus, he was the first head of the church in Jerusalem? It appears James was not yet a believer in Jesus as the Messiah. Paul records an appearance of the risen Jesus to James. Tradition says that is when James became a believer. Therefore, Jesus entrusts Mary to his spiritual family. John is faithful enough to have been at the cross when the others fled. He is called upon to care for Mary and tradition says that he did this until she passed at Ephesus.
Our relationships are important, both those of blood and those of spiritual kinship. As Jesus is dying he knows the importance of loving and caring for each other. I wonder, in our sad divisions, if we really see our families and friends as entrusted to our care by Jesus? Do we know how important family ties are, do we take are faith ties to others seriously? Often the connections of both human family and faith community are dysfunctional. Maybe if we realized they are trusts given to us by Christ and here on our journey to support and love us in return, we would approach this differently. It might make a difference in how our families function and our faith communities. What if the way we treat each other is the way we treat Christ? We are entrusted by the crucified and risen Christ to the care of each other. How can we best appreciate and go about this?
In Christian Love,
Jim Stahr
Woman behold your son, son behold your mother
I see the words of the cross as words of grace. Often what we are ultimately concerned about reflects the most important values in our lives. The apostle John and Mary, the mother of Jesus, are at the foot of the cross. As first born in the family, Jesus has cultural and religious responsibility for his mother. Christian tradition, and this action of Jesus, seem to indicate that Mary was a widow at the time of Jesus' death. As first born male, Jesus has family responsibility. Why not James, the brother of Jesus, he was the first head of the church in Jerusalem? It appears James was not yet a believer in Jesus as the Messiah. Paul records an appearance of the risen Jesus to James. Tradition says that is when James became a believer. Therefore, Jesus entrusts Mary to his spiritual family. John is faithful enough to have been at the cross when the others fled. He is called upon to care for Mary and tradition says that he did this until she passed at Ephesus.
Our relationships are important, both those of blood and those of spiritual kinship. As Jesus is dying he knows the importance of loving and caring for each other. I wonder, in our sad divisions, if we really see our families and friends as entrusted to our care by Jesus? Do we know how important family ties are, do we take are faith ties to others seriously? Often the connections of both human family and faith community are dysfunctional. Maybe if we realized they are trusts given to us by Christ and here on our journey to support and love us in return, we would approach this differently. It might make a difference in how our families function and our faith communities. What if the way we treat each other is the way we treat Christ? We are entrusted by the crucified and risen Christ to the care of each other. How can we best appreciate and go about this?
In Christian Love,
Jim Stahr
posted by Theoblogger at
11:50 AM
