For March 30

 

Sermon: Words From the Cross: Behold Your Son

Intro: We continue our Lenten series today, hearing Jesus’ words from the Cross. In spite of the abuses inflicted on Him, even before being nailed to the cross, and the agony He was experiencing on the Cross, Jesus asks His Father to forgive those responsible, for they didn’t know what they were doing to God’s Son. Then He pardons the murderer/ thief on the cross next to him, promising He would be with Him that very day in Paradise. Who, but the Son of God, could still love such people, love that resulted in His forgiveness, mercy, and compassion even under such extreme conditions?  These people were all strangers, since His friends had abandoned Him, even one denying even knowing Him. Last week we saw Him feeling forsaken by His Father, adding deep spiritual agony to His physical torture.

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I. Amoris Ordo: The order of love

A. Early Christian theologians used the Greek term ‘agape’ to describe the selfless, unconditional love that characterizes the very nature of God. Jesus displayed such a love throughout His ministry, and even now facing this cruel death. Few humans may approach such love, but never fully achieve such a standard of perfection. St Augustine introduced the concept of ‘amoris ordo’, the order of loves, It describes the proper hierarchy or prioritization of love that aligns with God's design for human relationships and devotion. In the Greek, such love is Philos, or brotherly, human-to-human love.

B. Jesus tells us the greatest commandment is to love God with all our heart, mind and soul, but then adding that the second greatest commandment was to love others as we love ourselves. All the other laws were based on these two commandments. While love for ‘others’ would range from parents, siblings, and children within a family structure, then to friends, acquaintances, and strangers, each of us would likely prioritize their love for others in different orders.

C. The recorded order of Jesus’ responses of love from the cross were not what we might expect. First forgiving the soldiers and religious leaders, who we’d consider His enemies, then pardoning the sympathetic criminal. But His final dying words to others, were directed toward his mother, the one we’d assume to be at the top of His order of love, therefore being the subject of one of His first words from the Cross.

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II. John 19:25-27

A. The Gospel accounts of the Crucifixion are not necessarily in order though. Recorded by the four different authors, none provide a complete, detailed record, making it necessary to piece together the different accounts to get a somewhat complete picture. Of the four Gospel authors, only John and Matthew were disciples, and only John was an eyewitness to at least a part of the Crucifixion. The other disciples had gone into hiding. Luke, as a doctor, gives us the most information about Jesus’ life as a result of much later interviews of actual eyewitnesses, probably even Mary, who could have provided him with the only Gospel

accounts of the angels announcing His birth, the wise men, and Jesus as a 12 year old in the Temple.

B. John seems to have been the source of the accounts of Jesus’ trials before Herod and Pilate as a result of His father’s influence as a wealthy fishing fleet owner, which also gave John unchallenged access to the Roman court and religious leaders. Jesus’ 9 AM trial before Pilate and the immediately following noon crucifixion happened very quickly within a three hour timeframe. John may have had to leave the trial to get Mary and missed the early events of the crucifixion, but arrives soon enough to hear Jesus’ dying words to Mary, reorded in our Second Gospel reading this morning.

C. Actually, Luke and John’s recorded accounts are both relevant to Mary’s presence at the crucifixion. Luke is the only Gospel writer to record that 8 days after Jesus’ birth, Mary/ Joseph are crossing the Temple courtyard to have Jesus circumcised when a prophet named Simeon stops them, recognizing the baby Jesus as the promised Messiah God told him he would see before he died. Simeon prophesies that Jesus would be “a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of Israel”, then prophesies a sword would also pierce Mary’s own soul.

D. God had chosen Mary to be the mother of His Son. Not just the birth mother, but a Mom who would raise her human baby, teaching Him what He would need to know to fulfill His human mission on earth. As a special child, He undoubtedly had many questions and needed special understanding. Sometime after He turned 12, Joseph seems to have died, and Mary becomes a widow. Widows in Jewish society were helpless, unable to support themselves with vocations, or own property. So Jesus, as the oldest son, became the head of the family, using the carpentry skills Joseph had taught Him to support the family. Mary would have greatly depended on Him, as Jesus cared for her even during His ministry. She seems to have even traveled with Him and the disciples on occasion.

E. Now watching her son’s crucifixion, next to John, Simeon’s prophecy is taking place. While a soldier pierced Jesus’ heart with a physical sword while He was still on the cross to ensure He was dead, the sword of deep grief pierces Mary’s heart, seeing her special Son dying in shame on the cross, rejected as the Savior she had known He was since His birth. Jesus sees her standing next to John and says those love filled words to her, “Mom, John is your son now, and John, she is your Mom now.”  John would be the only disciple to die a natural death, presumably to care for Mary until her death, but Scripture doesn’t record later accounts of Mary’s life, and only John’s with respect to his ministry activities.

F. I believe Jesus’ concerned love for his mother from the cross was more than an ‘oh by the way’ mention in the Bible. It revealed Jesus’ deep love for the mother who God chose to raise His Son. The one who frantically searched Jerusalem when she thought her 12 year old was lost. Even during His ministry, Matthew records Mary being worried that Jesus is overburdened, and tries to persuade Him to come home. She would be one of those going to the tomb to prepare His body for burial on that first Easter morning. Now, she watches her Son dying, the sword of grief piercing her soul. But Jesus, in His deep love, even during His intense pain, knowing she would face difficult times, places her in the care of a disciple He trusted.

G. Why are these dying words of Jesus so significant?  We said earlier, our order of loves would vary by individual, but most would put family high on the list. I would even believe God created us to love others within family structures, then experiencing love for friends, acquaintances and strangers outside the family. Brotherly love, Philos.  At least that would seem to be the God’s order of love. We might see that from God’s perspective in the Ten Commandments. The first three commandments reflect His expectations for our love for God, or Agape love. Putting Him above all others, not even making images for worship. Treating even His name as holy. But from there, the commandments are about philos, brotherly human to human love. The Fourth Commandment commands us to honor our fathers and mothers. This would put us under the umbrella of family, as God intended for us. Parents loving and caring for their children. Children honoring their parents, even caring for them when it becomes needed. Our Hymn of Preparation, Happy the Home Where God is There, underscores the value of a family that loves each other. Where love fills each member, parents and children know Jesus, know His Word, know prayer, and are united in love. It’s how God created us.

H. Society today shows the effects of the failure of families, however. Violence, abuse, even neglect in the home leads to crimes outside the homes, repeating those failures to others outside the home. Parents aren’t honored, leading to a lack of respect for authority outside the home. Without nurturing peace-shaping attitudes and values in the home, those attitudes are reflected in unhealthy relationships in society.

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III. Luke 10:25-37

A. Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan is a strong teaching about Philos love that reflected those values so well. His Jewish audience would have placed Samaritans at the bottom of the order of love ranking on the basis of the centuries old mutual hatred between Samaritans and Jews. Right next to tax collectors, if not worse. Jesus deliberately makes the Samaritan the righteous one to his Jewish audience.

B. The Jewish traveler is beaten, robbed, and left to die. Ironically it’s the type of crime the man being crucified next to Jesus had probably been sentenced to death for. The one Jesus pardoned. A chief priest sees him lying there, but not only does he not stop, he crosses to the other side of the road. If the man was dead, the priest would be ritually unclean by touching the corpse. Or even if he touched the blood of the man if he was still alive. When Jesus was approached by a leper, who was also considered unclean and untouchable, He could have healed him with just a word, but He deliberately laid hands on him, healing his body, and showing love to his soul. In Jesus’ eyes, the chief priest would have been a religious hypocrite violating the second greatest commandment.. A Levite priest, in the service of God in the Temple, also sees him, and also passes him by.

C. Then a Samaritan sees the wounded man, and according to our Gospel reading, ‘took pity on him’, dressing his wounds and taking him to an inn, paid the innkeeper to care for him, and on his return would pay any balance that was due. The Greek word for ‘took pity’ meant far more than just feeling sorry for him, but rather implies a deep, inner empathy moving him to take action, rather than a mere intellectual decision to do a good deed.

D. Jesus’ teaching on love here is about love that goes beyond words, beyond emotions, beyond even feelings of compassion. His love that generates action. The chief priest and the Levite may have felt sorry for the wounded man, but their feelings didn’t result in any helpful actions. Even if they had said they loved their countryman, he would have died in spite of how they ‘felt’ about him. But the Samaritan was moved by his compassion. Moved enough to sacrifice his time, even money, to care for the wounded stranger. His empathy that resulted in benevolent action is the type so often shown by Jesus’ own responses. Jesus could have just said to his mother, “I love you, Mom.”  But His love moved Him to put her future in John’s care. And God granted John the life that enabled him to care for her.

E. There’s an even greater takeaway than Jesus’ deep love for His mother. One that applies to each of us. Jesus’ love resulted in action to care for her, even after His death. Look at how Jesus cared for His mother. Mom, Johni’s now your son. John, she’s now your Mom. God could’ve miraculously blessed Mary with all she’d need for a good life. Instead He placed her in John’s care, to comfort her in this time of grief, as well as see to her needs as her son from then on. John was given a long life to ensure her care. John was Jesus’ means of caring for Mary.

F, Look again at the Good Samaritan in that way. God could have sent a miracle healer to the wounded man. Even a fellow Jew. But God used an enemy of the Jewish man, the Samaritan, as His  means to provide care to the man, when his own countrymen had  rejected him.

G. There’s a contemporary song that addresses that very well. A person is lamenting about the hungry, the sick, the poor in the world, and sharply asks God what He was going to do about that. But God replies, “That’s why I created you.” 

H. We often pray for God to help us through our problems, and we wait for God to answer those prayers. But how many times does He care for us by sending others to help us. How often could He use us to help others?  Yet we confess in our Communion liturgy that we have not heard the cry of the needy. We may have our own order of loves, but that shouldn’t preclude our love causing actions to help others. God loves us, and will take care of us, as we will sing in our Closing Hymn. But I believe He especially loves when we become His means to love others by helping to care for them. Amen