Seven Ways Jesus Loved His Mother

Seven Ways Jesus Loved His Mother

Good Morning Friends,

This coming Sunday is Mother’s Day and imbedded in its celebration, from generation to generation, is the recognition that the actions of mothers help others to see. The actions of mothers help our faith by building
a family legacy. But today in preparation and as a means of exacting God’s will we honor mothers by linking it to the Seven Ways Jesus Loved His Mother.

Scripture: 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.

John 19:26-27 (NRSV)

Hear, my child, your father’s instruction, and do not reject your mother’s teaching.

Proverbs 1:8 (NRSV)

Paul wrote, “I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.”

2 Timothy 1:5 (NIV)

Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth.  It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 (NRSV)

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

John 3:16-18 (NRSV)

Message: It is fitting to honor mothers. Paul does so in his second letter to the young preacher Timothy indicating the connection between faithful mothers and faithful children. Motherhood was crowned with God’s approval in Eden when Adam and Eve were instructed to be fruitful and multiply. But perhaps the most powerful example is Jesus on the cross choosing to honor the woman who birthed him even as he is taking on all the sins of the world. So today we suggest some of the ways Jesus loved his mother so we might gain wisdom for daily living reflected in the encounters and memories we have about our own mothers. Take notice that even as Jesus is on the cross, bearing the weight of the sins of the whole world on His shoulders, He still makes sure of His mother care. He is showing all of us today how important it is to take care of and love of our mothers. Friends, Mary witnessed the crucifixion from the foot of the cross. That had to be painful. In this situation Jesus turns to John and says, take care of her, and looks at his mother and says, let him stand in my place as your son. Perhaps the grace of John living a very long life, was because he took care of Mary. So in the amazement of the love of God and in reality that there is a separation between a mother and child even of Jesus and Mary, this morning I meditate on seven ways Jesus must have loved his mother:

1. Jesus loved his mother verbally and she kept all these sayings in her heart. 2. Jesus loved her though physical touch in like kind as a mother comforts a child. 3. Jesus loved her with patience, taking time and great effort for her on the cross. 4. Jesus loved her by being attentive to her needs. She was provided for lifelong. 5. Jesus loved her with gratitude for being willing to serve God. 6. Jesus loved her generously in ways that we see through the actions of others. 7. Jesus loved her honorably by turning water into wine and death into life.

Pray we take these seven ways as example of how we can love our mothers. Pray, regardless of our theology about Mary, that we remember that through a mother we are provided a way back to our heavenly Father. Pray we rejoice in the miracle of motherhood. Pray we celebrate the joy of the family of God and the faith that is passed from one generation to another. Pray we recognize the value of Godly upbringing. Pray we realize that the hand that rocks the cradle is the most powerful in the world. Pray that the Holy Spirit urge all mothers to strive to grasp the spiritual heart of their children. Pray we understand that a mother’s work is never really done. Pray we realize the importance of good mothers in the work of the church. Pray we learn from aged woman who pray and never give up. Pray we rejoice in mothers who pray for their children and the church. Pray today that the prayer of faithful mothers around the world would be answered. Pray we realize that we cannot be willfully wrong with our mothers and be right with God.

Blessings,

John Lawson