"Woman, behold your son" | Last words of Jesus | Feat. Luke Taylor

Some of the last words of Jesus on the cross before he rose three days later and spoke many many more words!

Chapters

• 0:00 Intro
• 2:45 Jesus the COMPASSIONATE
• 8:36 Jesus the SAVIOUR
• 10:15 Jesus the VICTORIOUS
• 11:48 Conclusion

Transcript

If you turn with me now to John 19, and we'll go for verse 16. This is the historical account of the crucifixion of our Lord, Jesus. And we're just going to read that now because it gives context to where Jesus says what he says here. So the soldiers took charge of Jesus carrying his own cross. He went out to the place of the skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. Here they crucified him and with two others, one on each side and Jesus in the middle. Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read, Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. Many of the Jews read this sign for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek. The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, do not write the king of the Jews, but that this man claimed to be the king of the Jews. Pilate answered, what I have written, I have written. When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless woven in one piece from top to bottom. "'Let's not tear it,' they said to one another. "'Let's decide by lot who will get it.' "'This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled, "'which said they divided my garments among them "'and cast lots for my clothing.' "'So this is what the soldiers did. "'Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene, when Jesus saw his mother there and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, dear woman, here is your son, and to the disciple, here is your mother. From that time on, this disciple took her into his home. Jesus the compassionate. What is the context which Jesus says this statement where he looks down at his own mother and his disciple whom he loved and said, dear woman, this is not your son. And to you my disciple that I love, this is your mother. What's happening when he's saying this? We just read it. Jesus as a man is undergoing what is known as the crucifixion. Jesus has just been brutally whipped with the Roman flagum. His back is like a plowed field. Jesus, humiliated, is to carry his own instrument of death to a hill in which his hands and his feet are nailed to a wooden cross. His own creation is mocking him. ridiculing him, laughing at him, stripping him of his title, King of the Juice. Jesus is not just a man, he's God. So he's not just taking on suffering. And we have to make sure that right now we don't just bypass this. I've heard this before, the suffering of Jesus. If you're able, pinch the inside of your leg as hard as you can. All right? That's called pain. And that's called a pinch. Jesus was being crucified. Pain that is unimaginable to us. sitting here now in this comfort. But he's not just a man and he's God. And we can focus on the suffering of Jesus, but more than that, we have to understand that Jesus is God and he's the spotless lamb. And what strikes me the most is that he's not taking on this human pain, rather the spotless lamb is taking on that which he hates the most, sin. Sin. Can you imagine how Jesus felt the spotless lamb taking on that which he hates the most? Sin, our sin, the sins that me and you committed, that's what he takes upon himself. Jesus not only takes on the sin, but he takes on the wrath of the father for that sin. I think that's why Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane says, take this cup from me, Abba, father, dad, take this cup from me. Not so much because of the suffering that he was about to endure as a man, but rather the sin that he would have to take as the spotless lamb. The wrath he would have to take as the son of God. And this is the context to which Jesus looks down at his mother and is concerned with her needs. He looks at his disciple concerned with him. This is the compassion of Jesus. That as a man enduring such suffering and as God, the spotless lamb, enduring sin and wrath in this climatic moment of human history. Dear woman. This is your son. to my disciple that I love, this is your mother. The compassion of Jesus in this moment. not concerned with himself. with others. The application for this is twofold for us. It reminds us of everything we are not and yet everything that we are and it reminds us of everything that we have. The first is like a gospel paradox. It reminds us of everything that we're not yet everything that we are because we're not patient. We're not naturally concerned with others. Like if that was us on the cross, would we be concerned with the needs and the provision of the needs of others? No. That is not who we are. That's not how we were born. Naturally concerned with the needs of the other. And yet the good news of the gospel is everything we are not, Jesus is. And because Jesus is, we can now be. The Father sent the Son so the Son could send the Spirit. And it might be possible for us to care for the needs of others just as Jesus did and be imitators of Jesus. Here the words of Jesus in this moment also reminds us of everything that we have. You see, Jesus is hanging on the cross, filled with compassion, is concerned with the needs of those he's looking down to. Jesus is still the same compassionate God and King. The difference is he's not looking down from a cross anymore, he's looking down enthroned on high. Looking down at you, filled with compassion, at your needs. This is why we remember him through communion, because he's compassionate. Dear woman, this is your son. To my disciple whom I love, this is your mother. Jesus is the savior. Why does Jesus not say dear mother? Why does he not his address as mother? Why woman? That's because in this moment, Jesus recognizes that Mary. doesn't need a son in this moment, she needs a savior. How powerful is that? The mother of Jesus stands at the foot of cross like all of us, and she realizes that it's her own sin that has led her son to a cross. Jesus died for us. He's the savior. So whenever we take communion, we remind ourself that Jesus is not only compassionate, but Jesus is our savior. He saved you. He saved me. Let us be stirred and moved by that anytime anyone ever says it. Jesus instituted this supper so we might not forget, but that we might remember Him as Savior. Dear woman, this is your son. To the disciple whom I love, this is your mother. Jesus, the compassionate, Jesus, the savior, Jesus, the victorious. The victory of Jesus is infused in these last words that he speaks to his mother and to his dearest disciple. because Jesus institutes a familial bond here. He hangs on a cross and says, you are now family. And what is so beautiful about this is the means to which they can actually live out what Jesus is instituting here is His blood that is being shed and His body that is being broken. Look around. We're family. Do we have faith in that or do we just say it? The means to which we are family is the blood of our savior, Jesus Christ. His body broken for you and for me. We're family. Jesus was victorious on the cross and making us family. And we have to remember that every time we take communion as one body, one mind, and one spirit, not as individuals, but as a body who've been brought together by his body broken. We are family. So whenever we take this beautiful meal this morning, let us remind ourselves, Jesus is compassionate. Jesus is a savior, and Jesus is victorious. And we as family, partaking of this meal together, triumphantly declare and remember that it is by Jesus' blood and his body. that we are family. Part of our father's heavenly family. So let's come together and remember this meal and to sing out this morning, Jesus, you have it all. You have it all.