This series of meditations on the seven utterances made by our Lord Jesus in the hours when he was hanging on the Cross were originally given at Communion services, and subsequently produced as booklets.

This is the link to the Audio version of the meditation CR 3 Jesus word to his Mother:  Audio

 

Woman, behold your son…

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 own home.  John 19:25-27

This is now the third cry from the Cross. It is Jesus’ word to his mother, and to John. Let us consider just two very simple and obvious things. First the love of Jesus for those at the cross, and second the love of those at the cross for Jesus.

THE LOVE OF JESUS FOR THOSE AT THE CROSS.

Selfless Love
In the first place, quite obviously, it was a love that did not think first of itself. Self-love is very difficult to overcome. That we are self-conscious is part of our basic humanity. Jesus was self-conscious and two of his seven cries from the Cross were brought forth by the agony he was undergoing. “I thirst,” reflect­ed his physical sufferings, and “My God…why have you forsaken me?” his spiritual. But Jesus was never concerned first and foremost with himself. Had he been so he would never have gone to the cross at all. Jesus died for US. Jesus’ first cry was a prayer for his tormen­tors, and his second a loving word of assurance to the penitent thief dying beside him. Now, with this third utterance, Jesus expresses his concern for his mother.

The symptoms of self-obsession and self-love are ugly. When we are controlled by love of self, we always ask ourselves of any situation: “How will this effect ME? What is in this FOR ME?”  But when, by the Word and the Spirit, we are over-comers we ask, first, how can I best serve my Lord in this situation? Second, we ask, how can I help and serve others – including my family?”

When I was a boy it was fashionable to collect the com­ments and autographs of friends in a little book. One person wrote this acrostic in my book: J = Jesus first; O = Others second; Y = Yourself last. This spells JOY. So it does, but it is much easier to write than to practice.

Great Suffering
In the second place this loving concern of Jesus to­wards his mother was in spite of the great personal suffering he was undergo­ing. Crucifixion has been said to be the cruelest and most painfully slow death devised by the depravity of man’s mind. Every gasp of breath is agony. If ever a person might be excused for thinking only of himself it would be somebody who was being crucified. But not this crucified one.

I tell you I have seen sweet lives lived out by people who are followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, who bear their sufferings so graciously and bravely that they are a benediction to those who visit them. When you visit them, far from being obsessed with themselves and their pains and sufferings, they think of you.

I once went to see a member of my church who had been admitted to hospital for serious and very painful surgery upon his throat. He had never been, as far as I know, in hospital before and I knew from his friends and loved ones that he approached it with foreboding, if not dread.  Those who knew about these things told me, “He is in for a very difficult time, because surgery like this upon the throat is very, very painful.” Not only was it as painful as expected but, even worse, it was unsuccessful the first time and, after many weeks of misery at home, he had to go back and have it all done again.

I went to see him in the hospital just before I was due to fly to Brazil to speak at a missionary conference. When I saw him lying there, I could have wept to see this fine young man in such a pitiful condition. His wife was keeping her daily vigil by the bed, and he was asleep.

I said to her, “Do not waken him. I will just sit with you for a few minutes.”

But he opened his eyes and, recognizing me, his eyes came alive with joy. He croakily whis­pered, “Oh, hello, Pastor. How kind of you to come. How are you?”

“I am very well,” I replied, “but the point is, how are you? I am sorry to see you like this.”

“Oh, it is nothing,” he said, smiling through pipes and tubes, “this too shall pass.”

I always remember those words, “This, too, shall pass.” And then he said, “I thought you were in Brazil. When are you going to Brazil?”

“I am going tomorrow,” I said, “but never mind about me going to Brazil, whatever have they been doing to you?”

“I am going to pray for you every day in Brazil,” he said.

All he seemed to care about was me; how I was, what I was going to preach on at the conference, who were the missionaries who would be there and that he would uphold me daily in prayer. I do not know that I was any kind of blessing to him, but he sure was a blessing to me.

I know it does not always happen like this. Some talk incessantly of their troubles and their pains, and we excuse them. But isn’t it beautiful when someone follows the example of the Saviour? This was a word of love for others despite the terrible suffering he was going through.

A Great Work
In the third place this concern of the Lord Jesus for his mother was despite the fact, that he was engaged in the greatest work in history, the redemption of the world. Angels and men marvel at the Cross, for here the Prince of Glory died. Believers cling to the Cross as their only hope of salvation. Good preach­ers heed the exhortation of C H Spurgeon and “make a bee-line for the Cross.” On this cross is being brought to fruition a plan conceived in the counsels of the Triune God from all eternity past. The prophecies of millennia are now being fulfilled in this moment.  If ever a man might be excused for thinking only of himself because he is doing a great work it was this man doing this work. And yet he thinks of others and he thinks of his mother, and makes provision for her.

Perhaps you are an important person with great responsi­bilities and great work to do, but shall your family, therefore go uncared for? I think not.

In our churches we have some big things to do in the Name of Jesus.  Important things for God. But let us keep our eyes open for the needs of others. Shall the children escape attention? Never. Shall the elderly? Never. Shall the sick and the shut-in?  Never. Shall the lonely and the grieving, the deserted and divorced? Shall the hungry and the homeless? God forbid.

It was a very practical provision, was it not?  She would be cared for by John and she would have John to care for.  Jesus was doing a great spiritual work but that did not mean that he neglected the practical needs of his dear mother. The spiritual and the practical should not be mutually exclusive. In the life and ministry of our Lord they went hand in hand. So it has been in church history. As you drive around Great Britain, America, or wherever you live, notice how many hospitals were founded by the followers of Jesus Christ. Here is the Baptist Hospital, the Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian, or Catholic Hospitals. Here is St. Thomas’, St. Bartholomew­’s or St. Francis’. So it is with other caring enterpris­es, such as those of the Salvation Army, Samaritan’s Purse, World Vision, and so many others.

Sadly, it is true that an over-emphasis upon the physical and practical can mean, and has all too frequently meant, the eclipse of the spiritual. The Lord Jesus was very careful about that. Notwith­standing his unequalled compassion for the needy and the hurting, he insisted upon making the Word his priority and the Cross his destiny – see Mark 1:36-39; Luke 4:42-44. Let us, therefore, be careful to have the same balance Jesus had. The spiritual and eternal must take precedence but the practical and temporal will not be ignored.

His Mother
In the fourth place I want you to notice that Jesus cared about family ties – especially he cared for his mother.  The Bible teaches that family responsibilities are important.  For example, consider this:

“Give proper recognition to those widows who are really in need. But if a widow has children or grandchildren, these should learn first of all to put their religion into practice by caring for their own family and so repaying their parents and grandpar­ents, for this is pleasing to God…If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever” (1 Tim 5:3-8).

It is speaking of those family members who are unable to provide adequately for themselves, such as widows. May I ask you, Christian friend, is there anyone in your family who needs your help? If not financial perhaps in some other way.

The Lord Jesus believed in and practiced the fifth com­mand­ment, “Honor your father and your mother.” Probably Joseph had died and the Lord Jesus, being the eldest son, bore special responsibili­ties. His half-brothers, and half-sisters were not there. We do not read of them at the cross. They did not believe in him yet. We have reason to believe that some, if not all, did come to be­lieve in him later, but they did not at this point. So, Jesus thinks of his mother and makes provision for her in the home of a beloved disciple and a believer. May I ask you, Christian friend, do you honor your mother and father?

I know you have your own life to live, and you have some big things to think about, but do not forget to care for your mother and father, will you? Do you call them? Do you write them? Do you visit them? If necessary, do you provide for them? Perhaps, as we have suggested with Mary, your mother also is a widow. Is she happy where she is? I know that sometimes it is neither practical nor wise for an aged parent to live with a young family; but can you have her close by? Re­cently a middle-aged woman told me how she was trying to persuade her recently widowed mother to move town and live across the street from her. “I want,” she told me, “to keep a watchful eye on my mom and take care of her.”

Jesus had to provide for his mother by committing her to the care of someone else. Sometimes we also have no choice but to do that for aged parents. The sad thing is that occasionally children put their parents into retirement homes or nursing homes and forget about them. Or they choose the cheapest care they can find, however unhappy the aged parent, not because of economic necessity, that would be legitimate, but because they do not want all their inheritance to be spent before mother dies. O how cruel.

I have known the families of a widower father bitterly resent his desire to remarry. Why?  Because they think the lady with whom he has fallen in love unsuitable as a life companion in his lonely evening years? Perhaps.
Why? Because they think her inca­pable of caring for him?  Perhaps. All too often, however, it is because she is younger and they are afraid he will leave all his money to her instead of to them. If we did not know how corrupt and self-centered is the human heart, we would think it unbeliev­able.

Now I must say, I have also seen it when the opposite spirit has prevailed. O how beautiful it is when the children’s primary concern is that their parent is cared for, loved, and happy.  They have the spirit of Christ. Jesus chose someone who would care for his mother with love; John was the Apostle of Love. Jesus gave Mary his best.

Yes, I know that sometimes elderly parents can become very grouchy, complaining, and selfish.  They might even be inconti­nent, dribble their food, and generally behave rather badly.  In fact, just like us when we were their children! For most of us, despite the difficul­ties, our parents still loved and cared for us whilst resisting, or trying to resist, allowing us to control them. The wheel comes full circle.

Why not call or write to your mother today and say, “I love you, Mother, and I bless God for all that you are to me, and all that you have done for me, and I want to make provision for you in any way that I can.” Do you know something? God will bless you for honoring your parent(s) for he attached a promise to the fifth commandment, “that it might go well with you.”  On the other hand if you ignore this word, perhaps it won’t go well with you.

His Family
Have you ever wondered why he did not call her, “Mother?” The NIV says that he said, “Dear woman.” As a matter of fact he did not say, “Dear..” anything! He just said, “Woman.”  Evident­ly the NIV translators felt that sounded rather cold, if not even disrespectful, and so they thought they would add the word “dear” to warm it up a bit for English readers. I do wish translators would not do that. Translators are meant to translate and not try to improve upon the sacred text of Scripture. Howev­er it might sound to our ears, Jesus addressed his mother with this word, “Woman.”

Although it was certainly formal it was not actually a term of disrespect. It was rather like we might say, “Lady,” or “Man.” He might have addressed another lady the same way. But why did he do that? May I suggest a reason? In Mark’s Gospel, chapter 3, we read a very interesting incident in the ministry of our Lord. From v.31:

Then Jesus’ mother and broth­ers arrived and standing outside they sent someone in to call him. A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, “Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.”  “Who are my mother and my broth­ers?” he asked. Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”

What is he saying? He is not saying that he does not care any more about his earthly family. He is beginning to teach that he has come to establish a new family, and a new relationship which will transcend and supersede all earthly ties.

Now somebody might say, “But Harry, how can you have a closer tie than you have with your mother? It is impossi­ble. She bore you and is your flesh and blood.” As a matter of fact, even at the natural level you can have a closer tie with someone than you have with your mother. The Bible teaches that when a man or a woman marries, they leave father and mother and cleave to their husband or wife, and they become one flesh. Though we are not to neglect our kith and kin, our spouse comes first. Marriage creates a new tie even closer than the blood tie of parenthood. After marriage our next-of-kin becomes our spouse.

Jesus taught that he is going even beyond the union of marriage. There will come into being a new family. A spiritual family. This will comprise all those of every race, nation, and age, covenanted together with Christ, born again of His Spirit, washed in his blood, who are closer together with him and with each other even than temporal flesh and blood ties. These bonds will be eternal. Now Mary came into that relation­ship too, not by ties of family, but, like the rest of us, by faith.

So, this is the point, he cares for us all as if we were Mary. He cares for every Christian woman reading this meditation as if you were his mother. And he cares for every man as if you were his beloved disciple. Elderly person, do your children not care? He does. Lady, does your husband not care? Jesus cares. Has your husband left you? Jesus will never leave you.

Christian, when you visit the sick and when you tend the aged, and when you support the weak, and when you provide for the needy, Jesus said, “Inasmuch as you have done it unto one of the LEAST OF THESE MY BROTHERS you have done it unto me” (Matthew 25:40). And so perhaps that is why he called her, “Wom­an.” Not because he cared any less for this woman, who was his mother, but because he cares just as much for every woman who through grace is a child of God, because she is his sister for whom he died.

Allow me to say something from my heart. There may be a woman somewhere who will read this meditation who is lonely. Perhaps you feel unwanted and unloved. Let me ask you this: do you believe that Jesus loved Mary, his mother? Yes, of course you do.  Well, that is how much he loves you.

First, we have considered the love of Jesus for those around the cross. Now we must move on to consider in the second place:

THE LOVE OF THOSE AT THE CROSS FOR JESUS

What drew this group to the cross?  It was their love for Christ, wasn’t it?  His mother was there, of course, to the end. She had received the greatest honor given to any woman in history, but with the honor went the horror. The horror of seeing her son die. The shadow of the cross fell even across the cradle. When the Magi came bringing their gifts, one of them was myrrh, used for embalming, it spoke of death.

When Mary and Joseph took the baby Jesus to the Temple to be blessed, an aged saint called Simeon took him into his arms. He made certain wonderful statements and prophecies concerning our Lord Jesus Christ and then he said to Mary as he handed back the baby, “And a sword will pierce your own soul also” (Luke 2:35). It certainly did so at the cross, if not before. She did not faint or turn away. She did not say, “I cannot bear to watch.” She was there, and love kept her there.

A Latin poem of the thirteenth century has been translated into English:

Near the cross her vigil keeping
Stood the mother worn with weeping
Where he hung the dying Lord.

Through her soul in anguish groaning
Bowed in sorrow, sighing, moaning,
Passed the sharp and piercing sword.

Oh, the weight of her affliction
Her who won God’s benediction
Her who bore God’s holy one.

Oh, that speechless, ceaseless yearning
Oh, those dim eyes never turning
From her wondrous suffering Son.

There were other women. Did you notice that? His mother’s sister, the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. Some of the Gospels indicate even more women. The group of loved ones at the cross was predominantly women. Oh, how they all loved him. A woman bore him and women attended him, providing for him throughout his ministry. Women were last at the cross, and first at the tomb. It has so often been the case. The sisters outshine the men in their devotion to Christ very frequently. So far as we know John was the only man there.

I want to say this to you. Because God has given different functions to men and women let us not think the one more important than the other. The Bible teaches that in Christ there is neither male nor female. Though there are distinctions of rôle, there is equality of value and personhood.

Some, even in the church, not only think a man more important than a woman, they also think a man of one race more impor­tant than a man of another. Some think a rich man more important than a poor man and some think an adult more important than a child. Such thinking does not reflect the mind of Christ. If God elected to fill up heaven with women it would not be less of a wonderful place. He might choose to fill it with children be­cause he loves the little children, and said “of such is the Kingdom of Heaven.” I am sure that Heaven will resound with the praises of those whom society may have thought of little value – even disposable – but who in the sight of God are pre­cious. Yes: the women were there. They are always there.

But John was also there and he loved the Saviour too. I am not saying the other disciples did not. But they had forsaken him and fled. As a matter of fact, John had, at first, also fled, for it says in the Gospels, “Then ALL the disciples deserted him and fled” (Matthew 26:56). But John came back, and he was there. There may be somebody reading these words and you once professed the Saviour. Perhaps you declared proudly and publicly at your Baptism or Confirmation, “I love you, Lord Jesus. I will follow you for the rest of my life.” But you have turned away. Though you would have fought FOR him you found it too hard to stand WITH him. The pressures of the marketplace or the university and the ridicule of non-Christian friends proved too much.

Maybe, like Peter, you have denied him. But, also like Peter, you are ashamed of your defection and you want to come back. I want to tell you something else I believe from the Gospel. You will be welcome back. The arms of love are open wide. Jesus did not hold this against Peter. He lovingly forgave him, restored him to leadership, and actually chose him to be the preacher on the birthday of the church.

Jesus did not hold his temporary flight against John. He entrusted him with the care of his mother. “Here is your son…Here is your mother” (John 19:26-27) John was chosen to write the beautiful Fourth Gospel, three Letters, and the Book of Revelation. The church may shoot its wounded, abandon those who stumble, and discard the frail and the fallen, but Jesus never does.

The Power of Love
It was love that drew them all there. It is love that draws us all to stand beneath the cross. For though duty has strength, it does not have the strength of love, does it?  And though faith has strength, even it does not have the strength of love. There is something about love, the more you have of it for a person the more you would do for them whatever the cost.

Let me tell you a little story from British history. You know we British had a revolution once. It occurred in the seven­teenth century, when we too had a president instead of a king for a while.  He was a great man of God. A man of the Bible and of prayer. His name was Oliver Cromwell.  He was called Lord Protector of England.

The story concerns a young soldier who was sentenced to die for desertion. The girl to whom he was engaged pleaded with Cromwell to spare the life of her beloved, but to no avail. The law must run its course. The young man was to be executed when the curfew bell sounded.

At sunset the sexton of the parish church repeatedly pulled on the rope but the bell would not ring. He pulled and pulled but there was no sound from the belfry. The reason was that the girl had climbed up into the belfry and strapped herself to the clapper. Every time the clapper hit the side of the great bell her body took the blow.

Eventually they stopped trying to ring the bell having discovered the cause of its silence. She was brought to the ground, bruised and battered almost to death, and presented to Cromwell. When she explained what she had done Cromwell, touched by her love and her devotion, commuted the sentence of her beloved. In the taverns of England they sang of it in a ballad.

At his feet she told her story,
Showed her hands all bruised and torn,
And her sweet young face still haggard
With the anguish it had worn

Touched his heart with sudden pity
Lit his eyes with misty light
“Go, your lover lives,” said Cromwell
“Curfew will not ring tonight.”

The greater the love the greater lengths to which it will go. Let us, therefore, get a love for Christ.

Do you find it difficult to keep his commandments?  He said, “If you love me, you will obey what I command” (John 14:15). We often use this text as one that declares that obedience TO Christ is evidence of true faith IN Christ. But Christ here speaks not of faith but of love. Is he not pointing us to motive and the power of love? He wants us to do his will, not because we must “or else!” but because we love him so deeply our heartfelt desire and greatest delight is to please him.

I am not dismissing the importance of duty in Christian discipleship. “DUTY” is almost a taboo four-letter word these days. We need to hear more of it again. Jesus spoke of our will doing his will. He spoke of disciples being OBEDIENT. But what moves the will? What motivates obedience? What makes doing what is right a joy? Answer; love. Love for Christ.

In our church life we need people with a love for Christ. We have people who believe in Christ, acknowledge Christ, want something from Christ, sing to Christ, and so on; but where are those of us who truly LOVE Christ and say, “Lord Jesus, I will take my stand at the cross, and anywhere you want me to go, anything you want me to do, I will do for you, who loved me and died for me.”

Increasing our love for Christ
Now someone may say: “How can I love someone I have never seen? Surely it was easy for John and Mary Magdalene and the others because Jesus was actually there with them – visibly and physically? They could hear his voice, hold his hand, see his face and sit at his feet.” It is a good question. When Thomas demanded to see and touch the risen Christ before he would believe, Jesus himself acknowledged the special blessedness of those who believe though never having seen – you and me (See John 20:29). If that is true of be­lieving how much more true of loving.

I want to suggest three things which will help us to develop a love for the Lord Jesus.

First we must:

CONSIDER OFTEN THE BEAUTY OF JESUS
Those who think often of Jesus will grow to love him more and more.

I remember once fleeing away to a pastors’ conference utterly exhausted and hoping for some word of help. The main speaker, a Scottish theologian/preacher announced his subject, “The Beauty of Jesus.”

I am ashamed to say I was initially disappointed. I had hoped for something more “practical” and “relevant” (!) such as: “How to Avoid Burn out”, or “Recovering from Church Business Meetings,” or “Juggling all the balls in the air, and still keeping sane”, etc.

But I must tell you, by the time he had finished turning our eyes upon Jesus I was lifted to the Heavenlies. My love for my Lord was rekindled, my spiritual eyes re-adjusted, and my ministry re-invigorated. I had been looking in the wrong places and had taken my eyes from the Saviour. That was my problem.

If we would love him, we must be often in the Word which reveals him, and especially in the Gospels. I have heard people say “You can’t help loving so and so, he/she is such a lovely person.” They are rarely, if ever, speak­ing of outward appearance but rather character and personality.

I do not believe these devoted women at the Cross loved Jesus for his good looks, notwithstanding how Jesus has been portrayed by Hollywood. The Scripture – in the only reference I know to his physical appearance – says there was “nothing in his appearance that we should desire him” (Isaiah 53:2). Yet there has never been such a beautiful person as Jesus?  Even the centurion in charge of his crucifixion said, “Surely this was a righteous man; the Son of God” (Luke 23:47; Mark 15:39). And cowardly Pontius Pilate declared, “I find no basis for a charge against this man” (Luke 23:4). Peter wrote, “There was no deceit in him” (1 Peter 2:22). And Paul said of Jesus, “He knew no sin” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Jesus was the healer of the sick, the comfort of the hurting, the refuge of the fallen, and the friend of little children. He never condoned sin and yet he loved the sinner like no-one else ever has. He still does.

Do not misunderstand this: Jesus was no wimp. Meekness is not weakness. Meekness is power under control. It is a lowly heart not a limp wrist. Jesus made bitter enemies because he exposed the phony and was the scourge of the self-righteous. Jesus never compromised his message to gain favor, whether it was the message of the Kingdom or declarations concerning himself, the King. Whatever the cost he ALWAYS did the will of God, and the cost eventually led him to the Cross. Many turned against him, most drifted away. A few remained loyal. Why?  Certainly not because it was politically expedient or brought rich financial dividends. It was because they loved him.

Singing love songs to Jesus on Sundays is not enough. Indeed, when we sing some of them over and over and over they can be just superstitious mantras designed to give us emotional intoxication (fuzzy feelings). There must be reality behind our expressions of love. For that we must find time to read of him and think of him and cultivate his presence, even in the turmoil of the market place – especially there.

I believe we should be, as I say, constantly in the Gospels and, like the painting of the Golden Gate Bridge, when we get to the end, immediately start again. We must also remember, however, that Jesus taught us that he is the subject of ALL the Scriptures and we must search until we find him there.

The church at Ephesus lost their “first love” (see Rev 2:1-6).  Oh, it was a great church. The members worked hard. The elders practiced church discipline. The church was strong on doctrinal orthodoxy and soon sniffed out heresy. The church’s perseverance was to be commend­ed – and yet – the one thing above all that REALLY mattered had been lost; love for Jesus. It can easily happen to a church. It can easily happen to a Christian. Has it happened to your church? Has it happened to you? Perhaps you need to consider more often the beauty of Jesus.

Second we must:

STAND OFTEN BENEATH THE CROSS
Those who have been forgiven much will love much.

One day Jesus accepted an invitation to dinner at the home of Simon the Pharisee. The Pharisees were the strictest religious sect of the day. They were orthodox in doctrine, blam­eless in ethics, and legalistic in piety. During the meal a notoriously immoral woman somehow gained entrance to the house and found a discreet shadow near to where Jesus reclined. His feet stretched out behind him and, since his inconsiderate host had failed to provide the usual courtesies of bathing, they were soiled and smelly from the narrow roads and alley-ways shared by people and animals.

The woman crept nearer and nearer to those precious feet and began to cry. Quietly she sobbed with sorrow and shame as she thought of who she was and all the things that she had done. She began to wash Jesus’ feet with her tears and wipe them with her long hair. As each part was clean and dry, so she fervently kissed them. Simon was disgusted but he did not interfere. When the devoted work was finished she broke open a precious phial of perfumed lotion and anointed Jesus’ feet.

Simon the Pharisee curled his lip and inwardly reached his conclusion. Obviously Jesus was a false prophet. Had Jesus been a true prophet and a holy one he would have known what kind of woman this was and forbidden this extraordinary and embarrassing behav­ior. But Jesus startled Simon by revealing that he not only knew about the woman but he knew Simon’s thoughts. He told him a story, asked him a question, admonished him for his discourtesy and assured the woman of forgiveness. Said Jesus to his self-righteous host, “He who has been forgiven little loves little” (see Luke 7:36-50).

I wonder if this woman was at the cross. Mark says “Many other women who had come up with him (from Galilee) to Jerusalem were also there” (Mark15:41). Some think she was Mary Magdalene. Luke does not say so. Nevertheless, Mary loved much because she also had been forgiven much. Out of her Jesus had cast seven devils. Have you been forgiven much? Then you will love the Savior much.

But you may be thinking, haven’t we all been forgiven much? True, but the problem is many of us don’t really believe we have all that much to forgive. Oh yes, it is part of orthodox evangelical Christian­ity to profess sin and repentance and to pray “forgive us our trespasses.” But what trespasses (sins) do we have in mind? Do we not tend to think of them as minor deficiencies? Not like the awful sins of some we could mention! Thinking we identify with the Publican, “God be merciful to me a sinner” who went home justified; we often seem more like the Pharisee, “I thank God I’m not as other men are” who did not (See Luke 18:9-14).

In actual fact Simon the Pharisee was worse than the woman that he despised because self-righteousness, along with Godlessness and ingratitude, are those sins which God especially hates and an unforgiv­ing heart forfeits forgiveness for itself. Perhaps this poor woman had broken the seventh command­ment many times and, if so, was rightly ashamed, but some who would condemn her break other command­ments every day – and have little real love, either for sinners or their Saviour.

We all have much to be forgiven. ­When was the last time you wept with true sorrow over your sin and then with joy at the overwhelm­ing grace of God TO YOU? Have you ever? Do you ever stand beneath the cross with a heart so full with love for the Savior who gave his life to pay for your sins – now removed and buried for ever – that your heart over­flows.

We do not want to become introverted and morbid. God forbid. That is not the idea at all. A true assessment of our sinfulness, seeing ourselves in the light of the Word not the world, is only that the Lord Jesus might be more glorified in that great work which he has done, and so that we might love him more and more.

If I want to have a great love for Christ then I must come to the cross with ever INCREASING wonder and gratitude at what he has done for me. Perhaps John described himself as “the disciple whom Jesus loved,” not because he thought Jesus did not love the others, but because he was just lost in grateful wonder at how much Jesus loved HIM.

“We love him because HE FIRST LOVED US” (1 John 4:19).

Thirdly, if we want to increase our love for our Lord Jesus, we must:

BE FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT
Those who are filled with the Spirit are filled with love for Christ.

You know, the majority of those who saw and heard Jesus in the flesh did not love him. He was despised and rejected of men. Yet, in the Acts of the Apos­tles, after Jesus had left this earth and ascended to Heaven, thousands upon thousands turned to him in faith, love, and obedi­ence. What is the explanation? There can be only one; the Holy Spirit.

After Jesus returned Home he sent the Spirit as his be­trothal Gift to his church. The Spirit’s work, among many ministries, is to create in the believer’s heart both a trust in Christ and a love for him. The Holy Spirit is the Gift of Christ to every Chris­tian. You cannot even BE a Christian unless you have received the Holy Spirit.

Nevertheless, Scripture urges believers to “be filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18). This means to allow the Holy Spirit to have full control of a consecrated heart. I do not believe this fullness is a “once for all” experi­ence. The tense in Ephesians 5:18 is present continuous “keep on being filled..”

Each of us must come daily and pray: “Dear Lord, fill me with your Spirit this day and through­out the day. Take from my heart and life ANYTHING which might hinder his fullness. Create in me a great love for my Savior so that I will want more than anything to do his will and fulfil his purposes in my life. I ask this on the strength of your gracious promise to give the Holy Spirit to those who ask.”

Oh, how I love Jesus
Oh, how I love Jesus
Oh, how I love Jesus
Because He first loved me