May 12th, 2026
Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother… (John 19:25)
The Words rang down from the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me!” All eyes turned toward the man hanging upon the cross. To say he was badly beaten would be an understatement; he had been so severely beaten that he was hardly recognizable at all. His flesh had been ripped away from his stomach, back, and sides leaving his bowels exposed by the flogging he had endured; his body was bruised and bloodied by the repeated beatings he had received. So grotesque was the sight that many, if not all, looked away. Even those who could not look away refused to make eye contact with him; all of them, that is, but one. One set of eyes refused to look away. One set of eyes could not, would not. And when his heavenly Father turned his back on him, one set of loving, accepting, tear-filled eyes stared intently into his — the eyes of his mother.
When I was younger I used to ask myself, “Why is Mary at the foot of the cross? How could she stand there and watch what they were doing to her son, her baby, her child? Why doesn’t she run? Why doesn’t she cry out? Why doesn’t she fight? Why doesn’t she do something, anything? Why stand there and witness the cruelty going on around her?”
The answer I believe is rather simple, but accurate: Mary stood there that day because she was the mother of the man on the cross. And as the rest of the world, and seemingly that day God, turned their backs to him she would not. Though the world itself rejected him and his disciples deserted him, his mother would not leave his side. How could she do anything else but love until the very end? I believe it was the love that Mary had for her son Jesus that kept her there that day. And she hoped that her presence would somehow bring comfort to her son in the midst of the pain and hurt he was enduring.
The early American writer Washington Irving (Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Rip Van Winkle) knew the power of a mother’s love to bring hope to the darkest moments of life. He wrote: “A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials heavy and sudden, fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends who rejoice with us in our sunshine desert us; when trouble thickens around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavor by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts.”
That same power of love has been felt by every child that ever ran to his mom with a “boo-boo” or cried upon her mother’s shoulder when life was unfair. The power of a mother’s love was felt when you shouted words of anger and she responded with words and actions of love. The power of a mother’s love was felt when you had your own children and realized just how much your mom loved you. And for some the power of a mother’s love was felt as you laid your hand upon her casket and realized the size of the hole now left in your heart.
Blessings,
Pastor David
The Words rang down from the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me!” All eyes turned toward the man hanging upon the cross. To say he was badly beaten would be an understatement; he had been so severely beaten that he was hardly recognizable at all. His flesh had been ripped away from his stomach, back, and sides leaving his bowels exposed by the flogging he had endured; his body was bruised and bloodied by the repeated beatings he had received. So grotesque was the sight that many, if not all, looked away. Even those who could not look away refused to make eye contact with him; all of them, that is, but one. One set of eyes refused to look away. One set of eyes could not, would not. And when his heavenly Father turned his back on him, one set of loving, accepting, tear-filled eyes stared intently into his — the eyes of his mother.
When I was younger I used to ask myself, “Why is Mary at the foot of the cross? How could she stand there and watch what they were doing to her son, her baby, her child? Why doesn’t she run? Why doesn’t she cry out? Why doesn’t she fight? Why doesn’t she do something, anything? Why stand there and witness the cruelty going on around her?”
The answer I believe is rather simple, but accurate: Mary stood there that day because she was the mother of the man on the cross. And as the rest of the world, and seemingly that day God, turned their backs to him she would not. Though the world itself rejected him and his disciples deserted him, his mother would not leave his side. How could she do anything else but love until the very end? I believe it was the love that Mary had for her son Jesus that kept her there that day. And she hoped that her presence would somehow bring comfort to her son in the midst of the pain and hurt he was enduring.
The early American writer Washington Irving (Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Rip Van Winkle) knew the power of a mother’s love to bring hope to the darkest moments of life. He wrote: “A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials heavy and sudden, fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends who rejoice with us in our sunshine desert us; when trouble thickens around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavor by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts.”
That same power of love has been felt by every child that ever ran to his mom with a “boo-boo” or cried upon her mother’s shoulder when life was unfair. The power of a mother’s love was felt when you shouted words of anger and she responded with words and actions of love. The power of a mother’s love was felt when you had your own children and realized just how much your mom loved you. And for some the power of a mother’s love was felt as you laid your hand upon her casket and realized the size of the hole now left in your heart.
Blessings,
Pastor David
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