Last Words

When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.  John 19:26-27

“Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”  Matthew 12:48-50

 And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?  Luke 9:54
 
Calvary’s cross transcends time and space; it makes the material world eternal—it illuminates the immense reality of God’s love for us and transforms wood and metal into the means by which we are saved. The cross, then, is not only physical but metaphysical; it encompasses all of God’s desire to be with us and grounds it in the firm foundation of the physical world. Therefore, we can experience the cross today in the same way as the onlookers did. Like Mary, when we view the cross, a sword pierces our hearts, tearing the calluses of our losses, and we weep in desperation at the promises of salvation coming to naught. Like John, we, the beloved of Christ, dwell in the desperate reality of the hollow hopes that once were a resounding thunder bearing the judgment of God on the world. At the cross, we give those dreams up, and we see a wounded God suffering and betrayed by the image bearers he created out of his infinite love. It is enough to make one despair. Yet, Christ’s words to John and Mary redeem that despair and set us on a path to healing.

The words of Christ overturn our deepest shame and ameliorate our wounds. Mary, the Christ-bearer, is no longer told there is no room, but she is brought into the home of Christ’s beloved John. At the cross, John no longer feels the need to call judgment on the world for their rejection of Jesus but sees first-hand what God’s judgment entails. In response, he invites Mary into his home—the Greek word for take is λαμβάνω (lambano), meaning to enter into a close relationship with, the same word is used in John 1:12 for those who receive Christ—and rejects his need for vengeance. By responding yes to the incarnate word, he mirrors Mary’s acceptance in Luke 1 and becomes one who too receives the incarnate God in his heart, in doing so he is transformed into the apostle of love.

In this temporal moment of time, the immutable words of Christ’s suffering bring us who have suffered loss into a profound relationship with each other.  Because the cross is not bound by time, the comforting words of Christ to Mary and John in his passion are not bound by time; they are not meant only for them; they are meant for us as well. In our darkest moments, Jesus is there in our suffering caring for us by giving us to each other, saying to us: “Woman, behold, your son!… [beloved brother] Behold, your mother!” (John 19:26). Therefore, Christ not only assigns the specific Mary to the specific John and John to Mary, but he transfers that commission to us. At the foot of the cross, that is with us to this day, we become Mary and we become John by doing the will of God (Matthew 12:48-50). Therefore, let us receive each other in love, and let us be received, so that our wounds may be healed through the magnificent words of the incarnate word who died that we may be made whole.

Alex Grudem