4/10/09 - Good Friday - John 19:26-27

THE LORD IS NEVER TOO BUSY TO LOVE
- He took the time to comfort John
- He takes the time to comfort you

John was right there. “The disciple whom Jesus loved” was standing right there at the foot of the cross watching his Savior bleed. He was close enough to see the nails and the thorns. He was near enough to hear Jesus’ cries of agony as well as the cruel words of mockery from his enemies. In fact, out of the eleven remaining disciples, John is the only mentioned as being present on the hill of Jesus’ crucifixion. This disciple decided to risk the persecution and possible imprisonment in order to be as close to his Savior as he could in the last hours of his life. Of course, it must have been hard for John to watch - it would have been difficult for any Christian to see the Lord himself dying so brutally - but John was there anyway and he was there to stay until the end. Because he was not only the disciple whom Jesus loved, he was a disciple who loved Jesus.
It was John who records for us a few words of Christ on the cross that no other gospel writer mentions. And for good reason. Because these few words of Christ during the crucifixion were spoken to John himself. “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 home.” These words must have surprised John! And these words should surprise us! Jesus was hanging there on a cross, in the process of dying, with thorns in his head and stakes through his hands & feet and open wounds on his back… In just a few more moments he would be suffering the punishments of hell and the rejection from his Father. Jesus was in the middle of paying for the sins of the entire world! But here, at the apex of his sacrifice and suffering for all mankind, he looks down from the cross, he catches the eye of the disciple whom he loved, and he speaks to him: “Here is your mother.”
But let’s pause here for a moment. Because these words were not only a beautiful observance of the 4th Commandment; these words were an announcement of forgiveness. These words were laced with forgiveness because remember what John had done in the previous hours before standing at the foot of the cross. The night before Jesus had pointed out to all of the disciples in the upper room that Judas was the one who would betray him. But John, along with the rest of the disciples, failed to understand what was going on and so didn’t do anything to stop Judas from carrying out his plans - and now, because of Judas’ actions, Jesus was dying on a cross! Later on in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus asked Peter, James and John to stay up with him and pray. But John fell asleep with the rest of them. When Jesus was arrested by the mob, all the disciples fled in fear, including the disciple whom Jesus loved. And while Jesus was on trial in front of the Sanhedrin, John seemingly failed to speak up for Jesus even though John himself writes that he accompanied Christ into the high priest’s courtyard because the high priest knew John personally. John had been ignorant, negligent, cowardly, and weak. And now he was standing in front of the one he had sinned against, watching him die. John was surely loaded down with guilt as Jesus looked down at him. John had to have been embarrassed to stand there in front of his Savior after what he had done. But notice that Jesus didn’t ignore him or chastise him for his sins. Instead he instructed, “Dear woman, here is your son… Here is your mother.” Jesus was not too busy to love. At the climax of his indescribable pain and misery, Jesus took the time to comfort John and to offer him those simple words of forgiveness.
I don’t think any of you have ever had your hands nailed to a piece of wood before, but I’m sure you’ve had a couple of splinters in your life. I doubt that you’ve had an iron stake driven through your feet, but you’ve probably stubbed your toe once or twice. I would guess that you haven’t had a crown of thorns pressed into your skull or have experienced a flogging of 39 lashes, but you’ve had headaches and back pains and various other physical discomforts. And when you are faced with a throbbing pain or an excruciating ache, how does that change your attitude towards other people? In the middle of that intense pain do you want to talk to others? Do you want them to talk to you? Do you want to carry on a conversation with them and go out of your way to help them? Or do you simply want to be left alone for a moment? Don’t you want to shut out everything around you and just deal with the pain you are experiencing at the moment? In that moment of physical difficulty, aren’t your thoughts completely absorbed by the desire to find some relief? Usually, when we are in pain we are a little mad, a little cranky, a little impatient, a little frustrated, and a lot selfish. Pain most often brings out the selfishness of a person if anything does. We turn in on ourselves and we find it hard to think of anything else or anyone else until the pain that is bothering us has somewhat subsided.
Of course, selfishness is not love. In fact, it’s just the opposite. And I’m sure you can bring to mind any number of instances when you failed to love as truly as you ought because of the physical pain you were personally experiencing at the moment. And if we’re being truthful, we don’t even show that kind of love on our best days, let alone our worst! And then when we place those instances next to what Jesus said to John while he was on the cross, our selfishness is that much more evident. When we compare Jesus’ love to our selfishness we should be embarrassed. We should be completely humiliated of our actions. We call ourselves Christians but our Christian love is thrown out the window when even the most minor of pains affects us. As if a physical aliment gives us an excuse to be self-centered. As if pain and suffering give us a good reason to feel sorry for ourselves instead of feeling love for others. Our love is sporadic at best and almost non-existent at worst.
Those of you who have not always loved as a Christian should love, come stand at the cross with John and watch your Savior bleed. Take the guilt and the remorse you have over your sins and let that blood from the nails and the thorns wash them away. Look up at the face of Christ as he looks down at you. Hear his words: “Here is your mother.” Words that were not spoken to you, but words that that you can also take to heart. Because they are powerful words of Jesus’ forgiveness. They are words of Jesus’ love. Jesus was basically saying to his disciple: “I don’t hold those sins against you. I am not hanging your guilt over your head. I forgive you. Look! I’m paying for those very sins right now on the cross! Your sins are washed away in this blood! And now I have some very important work for you to do.” And just as John was completely relieved of his sinfulness through that simple declaration, so are you. Jesus forgives you. He pardons you. Because he paid for you with his blood. He doesn’t ask questions. He doesn’t make accusations. He doesn’t wait to see if you will prove yourself worthy of his love. He just forgives you. Because that’s the kind of God he is. And that’s the kind of God he is every day.
The Lord still shows you that same kind of love. God is obviously busy. He controls the world and everything in it. He reigns in the devil and guards his children from harm. He is constantly working and strengthening faith through the Word and sacraments, spreading his gospel throughout the world, and answering every prayer of every Christian every time. God has things to do. But he still takes time to love you. He took the time to show his love to John as he was suffering on the cross and so he will definitely take the time to show his love to you as he sits on his throne. That is what his words on the cross mean. Not just the words “Here is your mother” that he spoke to John, but the words he spoke soon after that: “It is finished” that he spoke to you. It is finished means that he paid the price, that his sacrifice was enough, and that his love for you would last forever. It is finished means that there is nothing left to be done for your salvation, that Jesus did it all. It is finished means that no matter how many times you may fall back into the selfishness of your sinful nature, the Lord will never take his love away from you. He will always make time to welcome you back. He will always make time to hold you in his arms. He will always make to time to remind you of what he did on that cross. Because that’s where his love is. And that is where you can always go. That is why we are at the cross tonight. That is why we stand on the hill of Calvary and watch our Savior die every year before Easter. Because the cross is the bloody battlefield of our forgiveness. It is the greatest expression of the Lord’s never ending love. Take some time tonight watching your Savior bleed on that cross. Because on the cross is where he spent his most important time for you.
Amen.

“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!” - Rev. 5:12