The Disciple Took Her Into His Home

John 19:26-27 When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, “Woman, here is you son.” And to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.

When was the last time you called your own mother “Woman”?  I’ll bet you have never called her that before. And are not likely to call her “Woman” in the future.  In the case of Jesus, this happened one other time. In John 2: 1-12 we can read of the miracle of turning water into wine. The mother of Jesus tells Jesus “They have no more wine.” Jesus replies “Woman why to you involve me? My hour has not yet come.”  And in a true mother knows best fashion His mother tells the servants “Do whatever He tells you.”

            In presenting His mother Mary to the disciple John as John’s mother we see a passing of the torch so-to-speak.  And the confirmation to Mary that John is now her son is equally as important.  Mary was there to see the ministry of Jesus start. She bore Jesus in her womb and was with him in his early years. We can see from the John 2 passage above that she was not a hands-off parent.  Mary was involved actively in his life and ministry. So we can see the logic of Mary being given to John as his “Mother”. The role of mother to Jesus was without a doubt important. And the desire of Jesus to have His mother involved in the continuation of His ministry with one of His most important disciples is readily apparent.  There is so much more to this moment than Jesus telling John please take care of His Mom!

            How are you passing to torch in your ministry activities? Are you a single resource filling a big need?  That’s what is called a single point failure in the engineering world.  We all need help in what we do serving the Lord. There is joy in serving the Lord. And there is joy is serving the Lord as a member of a team.  We can support each other, we can mentor less experienced, and we can hold each other accountable.  Can you imagine if Mary had not pushed Jesus to turn water into wine?  Often we need someone to give us encouragement, support, and occasionally a gentle shove to achieve what we are really capable of.  Take a moment friends. Do you have someone like that in your ministry team? Or are you a lone wolf?

Prayer: Almighty God we ask that You bless us with people in our lives to encourage us, to hold us accountable, and to give us the shove we need when we need it. We ask that our lives be blessed with people who share the love of Christ as we do. We ask that in serving You we are able to share the experience with others. These things we ask in the name of Jesus, who showed us how to share Your love with the world, Amen.