A FINAL GOODBYE

A FINAL GOODBYE  by Shawn Brix

Jesus…said to her, “Woman, here is your son,” and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.”
— John 19:26-27

In these words from the cross, “Woman, here is your son,” and, “Here is your mother,” Jesus was saying his final goodbye to Mary, his mother.

Of course, it was not the first time Jesus had said goodbye to his family. Three years earlier, when John the Baptist was preaching in the desert, Jesus knew that it was time for him to leave Joseph’s carpenter shop and begin his public ministry of teaching and healing.

Things were never quite the same after that. From that time on, Mary was only able to love her son from a distance: on the edge of a crowd, outside a packed house, at the shore of the Sea of Galilee.

Maybe she was even there when Jesus taught, “Everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life” (Matthew 19:29).

But it’s reassuring to know that in his final hours, Jesus was deeply concerned for his mother’s well-being. She was most likely a widow by this time (see Mark 3:20-21, 31), and Jesus was entrusting her to the care of John, one of his closest friends. For John, it was also a blessing to receive the loving care of a surrogate mother.

Today, Jesus continues to care for us in this very same way. Can you remember an occasion when a friend or church member walked with you in a time of grief or loss? Or have you ever responded to the Spirit’s nudge to visit someone unable to leave their home due to illness?

Though we may not hear the audible words of Jesus, like Mary and John did from the cross, we know that he orders our care each day.

PRAYER: Thank you, Father God, for the special love and care Jesus had for Mary his mother, and his closest friend John. Thank you for the countless ways you care for all your followers today. Help me be aware of how Jesus wants to use me to care for those around me. Amen.