Here Is Your Son

Context

Thirty-some years ago, Mary said yes to an angel and a promise that sounded impossible and beautiful. Nobody mentioned this part. Nobody said the yes would end on a hill outside the city walls, watching her son die.

Most of the men are gone. A few women stay close, and one disciple, the one Jesus loved, is still there too.

Story

Mary doesn't faint and she doesn't run. She stays at the foot of the cross, close enough to hear him breathe. Every instinct says climb up there and fix this. There's nothing to do. So she just stays.

Then Jesus looks down at her, and over at the disciple. He owns nothing now. No estate, no savings, no will to read out. The only thing he has left to give away is people.

"Woman, here is your son."

He's not pointing at himself. He's pointing at the disciple. Then he turns and tells the disciple, here is your mother. In the worst pain a body can hold, he's making sure his mom has somewhere to go on Saturday. From that hour, the disciple takes her into his own home.

What We Learn

We picture love at its biggest as the dramatic rescue, the arms that pull you off the ledge. This isn't that. He doesn't come down. He makes sure that when the worst happens, his mother won't be standing in an empty room.

Sometimes love looks like making sure nobody's left alone in the room.