THE SWORD OF THE PROPHECY By Jon Lanier

John 19:26-27 When Jesus then 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!" From that hour the disciple took her into his own household.

Think of it - six long hours of excruciating pain.

• Jesus is suspended on the cross...


• Held there by iron spikes through His hands and feet.


• His chest muscles are paralyzed....


• The only way He can get another breath is to haul Himself up by pushing on the nails in


• His feet... and straining...


• Pulling against the nails in His hand..

All at the expense of maddening pain.

It is during these painful moments that Jesus utters seven dying phrases.

Amazing isn't it... that a man dying in such pain would think of others instead of himself?
He thought of those responsible for His crucifixion... the Jewish officials... the Roman soldiers... and us here this morning who crucify Him afresh... Again and again by our own sins...

"Father forgive them... They know not what they do."
A word of salvation to the thief hanging beside Him...
"Today you will be with Me in paradise."

Now we come to what is perhaps the most touching and tender of all the scenes at Calvary...

• A statement to His mother... "Dear woman... Behold your son.


• And to the disciple... Behold your mother."

What Jesus says here may very well be tied to that which was going on around the cross. You see, history tells us that the crucifixion victim was stripped of all his clothing... leaving him in the shame of his own nakedness.

We may not like to hear it... but that is the way Jesus hung on the cross. It was a part of the shame. The crucifixion team was to share in the victim's clothing.
— Jewish men in Jesus' day typically wore five pieces of clothing...
— A headpiece...A type of turban.
— Sandals...
— A tunic which covered the body from the shoulder to the ankles.
— A sash or belt which held the robe close to the body at the waist.
— And the under garment.

The first four outer garments were claimed or shared by each of the soldiers. The under garment..called a SHYÐTON … was a close fitting cover from the shoulders to the thighs. Usually, the mother of a Jewish boy made his first SHYÐTON... presenting it to him at manhood. In the case of Jesus…. Probably when He started His personal ministry…. at.... or near the time of His baptism by John. Scripture tells us that the SHYÐTON Jesus wore was woven….. seamless…. so the soldiers decided not to ruin it... but to cast lots for it…. Fulfilling the words of the Old Testament prophecy.

It was against this backdrop...With His chin resting on His chest...Eyes riveted to the ground...

That Jesus turns His attention to His mother. No doubt, she has been there all along. But because of the haggling over the seamless tunic she had made for Him, Jesus' attention is focused upon His mother.

So, He addresses her and her future needs: "And when He saw His mother standing nearby, He said... Dear woman... Here is your son. And to John... Here is your mother.

So, what can we learn here... What do we see? Are there some challenges for us in the church today?

1. We See Mary’s Faithfulness.

… And we are challenged by it.
We must know that Jesus is not the only one who is suffering here. Mary's heart is broken.
Her strength is gone... Emotionally she is a wreck...Hopeless... Helpless.

Yet, she is a wonderful example of steadfastness.

For instance, it is interesting to note that John says... "She is standing near the cross."

• She does not run...


• She is not standing afar off...


• Mary has not swooned...


• She does not crouch...


• She is not crumpled in a broken heap...


• She is standing tall and steadfast...near the cross in intolerable grief.


• I wonder what is going through her mind?


• Maybe she’s thinking about the words of the prophet Simeon.


• She may have been remembering that happy day when she and Joseph took Jesus to the Temple to present Him to the Lord.

Simeon took Jesus in his arms and blessed God... and then said... "This child is destined to be spoken against... And a sword will pierce your own soul too."

Indeed... Mary had felt that sword many times.

For instance she felt that sword when she found herself pregnant outside of wedlock... And the explanation that she was overcome by the Holy Spirit was not an acceptable explanation to many in her family or friendship circle.
She felt the sword again... as Jesus was born in a stable... laid in a manger.

The sword struck her and Bethlehem when Herod threatened... and the family had to flee to Egypt.

Again at Nazareth... when they threatened to throw Jesus over a cliff.
Mary felt the sword when all the family and friends rejected Jesus as the Messiah.

She felt the sword as the Jewish authorities put out public notices for the arrest of her son.

There was the beating before Pilate... The mockery by Herod... The insults from the crowd.

Finally... here at the cross... the sword of prophecy pierced her heart as her first born Son hang dying... and there was nothing she could do about it.

• She sees the crown of thorns... But cannot remove it.


• She sees the nails... But is not allowed to pull them out...


• She sees the lacerations... But is not able to soothe her Son's pain.


• She sees His nakedness...But cannot cover Him.


• She hears the mockery... But is not able to quiet the voices...

And yes... she would most likely have traded places with Him, but she knew she could not bring forgiveness and redemption to the world. She knew she must not interfere with the mystery of the Divine Will of God.

We are reminded of Mary's response to the angel... Gabriel... who first appeared announcing the birth of Jesus. Remember what she said? "I am the Lord's servant... May it be to me as you have said." And Mary also said... "My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour.

As we stand with Mary around the cross, are we challenged by Mary's attitude and commitment? Are we challenged by her faithfulness?
Jesus speaks to Mary, His mother and then, also to John.

2. John Challenges Us With His Repentance.

Let’s go to the Garden of Gethsemane. Peter... James... and John are asked by the Savior of the world... God in the flesh... to help Him watch and pray.

• John... like the others... carelessly falls asleep.


• Jewish officials... Roman soldiers come to arrest Jesus...

Matthew says... and all the disciples deserted Him and fled. This included John. But the good news is that he is back... not just back... but standing near the cross. As far as we can determine to this point, He is the only one to repent.

Now, I want you to note here that Jesus has no rebuke... no word of caution. But instead John is given an awesome responsibility - the care of Jesus' mother... what we could say, in a way, is Jesus' most prized possession.

Jesus was then... today... and is always ready to extend grace and forgiveness to all who will turn to the cross. He is always ready to restore our failures if we will come to Him.
Something else, I think this says to us... If you stand near the cross, expect Jesus to give you some special responsibility... Something extraordinary to accomplish in life.
We all would like to say... "Yes... Yes... I would be John at the cross... I would take care of Jesus' mother." Oh, really!

• Remember this is the same Jesus who said...


• Suffer little children to come unto Me... for such is the kingdom of heaven....


• The world will know that you are My disciple when you love the brethren...


• Submit to one another... Place the interest of others before self...


• Pure religion is to visit the fatherless and the widows in their afflictions...


• As often as you do it to the least of these you do it unto me.

Jesus is saying... My mother... My brother... My sister is the one you helped today.

You see… Jesus' mother represents the ONE we have the opportunity to serve today...

• Be it a child...


• A widow...


• A shut-in...


• Someone sick...


• Someone at the nursing home.

Will we care for them... perhaps...

• With a smile...


• A hug...


• A word of encouragement...


• A prayer...


• A gift...


• A helping hand...

Maybe by simple things like... understanding... forgiveness... sympathy?

With John standing close to the cross it should make us understand that we are...

• The eyes...


• The heart...


• The hands...


• The feet...


• The lips... of Jesus in our world.

You know what? The mother of Jesus is all around us... Will we care for her?
Not to long ago I had a man say to me at a convention: "No one at work knows that I'm a Christian... a member of the church." And he added: "Actually, I like it like that." This man wanted to live far from the cross.

Jesus' statement in Mark Chapter 8 comes to mind... "If anyone is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels."

God help us to repent of our wanderings... to be like John and return to the cross.

John is our challenge to change... to come live closer to the cross, to become the person and the people God would have us be