This evening you will hear a letter which might have been Mary's thoughts as she looked back on all that she had seen Jesus do and heard him say. Her memory would stretch far back even to Jesus' birth in Bethlehem and to his childhood and youth.
Mary' conversations with John, the beloved disciple, must
have meant much to him. How blessed we are to have the Bible in which we can
read not only what Jesus said and did but also what his disciples and others,
like the Apostle Paul, came to realize that Jesus meant for all human beings.
For Mary, Jesus' death was a time of weeping, but after his
resurrection she realized he was her Savior and Lord so she had hope and peace
and joy. Jesus offers the same to all people and to you and me again today. So
we call Him our Savior and Lord and that gives us hope and peace and joy.
Now, on to a letter written by Mary to the disciple John...
My dear son, John,
I will never forget those hours when Jesus, my first-born
son, was hanging on the cross. I stood there as close to the cross as the
soldiers would allow, with my sister and the other women who loved Jesus. You
know who was there because you were there too. We stood there, helpless to
relieve his suffering and waited as precious life came to an end.
Yet we felt all along that Jesus was really in control and
that he had a vision of why he was on the cross that went far beyond the
miscarriage of justice that we all knew it was. We now know what Jesus meant
when he said, "It is finished"
- that this was the atonement for the sins of the world now completed.
But at the time it was happening I could not understand why
the Romans should be so cruel, to let my innocent Jesus be crucified just
because the temple leaders stirred up the people against him. I remember how
even during his terrible pain on the cross, Jesus looked out for others.
He prayed for forgiveness for those who crucified him. He
spoke words of comfort to the thief crucified beside him, who asked for his
help. He looked down from the cross at my weeping face and asked you, dear
John, to look after me. Jesus said you should treat me as your mother and I
should take you, John, as my son. That's why I call you still: my dear son,
John.
Much has happened since a year ago when they crucified
Jesus. I remember how you took me to your house, gave me a room to live in, and
let me share meals with you and your family.
Do you remember how dark it was when Jesus was on the cross?
For three hours you could scarcely see anything. It was that dark. At the time
we wondered what was happening, but now I realize that it was part of the
Heavenly Father's signal to all people that what was happening was a mark of
human sinfulness. Jesus was bearing the sins of the whole world. No wonder
Jesus cried out, "My God, why have
you forsaken me?"
When the wife of Cleopas, Mary Magdalene, and my sister and
I stood weeping near Jesus' cross on that awful day, we didn't really
understand what was happening. To us it all seemed so tragic. I felt as though
a sword had been thrust into me. It hurt so bad to see Jesus, my son, hanging
there. Somehow it was hard to remember he was God's Son, too, and that the
Father in heaven knew why Jesus had to die so young. He was only 33, you know.
But, thank God, now I do know what you, John and I often
talked about in your home; Jesus is truly the Messiah, the Son of God, who came
to earth as a human being to do what the Father in heaven sent him to do,
namely, to seek and save the lost. It was not easy for me to realize that my
own son was also my Savior and my Lord. But as I pondered in my heart all he
said and did I was convinced.
I remember the time he stayed behind as a 12 year old in the
Jerusalem temple. I think of all the miracles he did, and even raising his
friend Lazarus from the dead. I know that when he went to the cross he could
have used his mighty power to strike down his enemies. All of this made me
doubly sure that my son Jesus was the Messiah our Scriptures had prophesied.
John, I know that you treasure some of the psalms and the
words of the prophets that tell about the coming of the Messiah. In those years
when Jesus was growing up, and even after he began preaching, I didn't realize
fully what they all meant. But now I see how words like those in Isaiah 53
describe what would happen to Jesus.
Remember the words "Surely
he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him
stricken by God, smitten by him and afflicted. But he was pierced for our
transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought
us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep,
have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way and the Lord has laid on
him the iniquity of us all." [Isaiah 53:4-6] No wonder Jesus said to
you, John and to the other disciples: "We
are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about
the Son of Man will be fulfilled. He will be handed over to the Gentiles. They
will mock him, insult him, spit on him, flog him, and kill him. On the third
day he will rise again." [Luke 18:31-33]
John, my son, I must close now. But I close with a prayer of
praise to God for Jesus, not so much because I was privileged to be his mother,
but rather because he is my Savior and my Lord. May his voice and his love
reach out through you, dear John, wherever you are and to all you meet. Tell
them: Jesus is the Christ, the Savior and Lord of all people.
Your loving mother,
Mary
Image “You have found favor with God” copyright © Ed Riojas,
Higher Things
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