Palm Sunday is the day we remember Jesus entering into the city of Jerusalem at the time of the Passover. (John 12:12-15) Jesus rides a donkey as a sign to the people that he was coming as the Messiah because that is what the prophet Zechariah had said hundreds of years earlier. As we heard a few weeks ago, during his life, and even through his death, Jesus fulfilled many of the prophetic words spoken about the coming king of Israel. Zechariah 9:9. Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
As Jesus made his way into the city, the crowds who had gathered celebrated Jesus' arrival by waving palm branches and placing them on the road in front of Jesus. This was a sign that they believed Jesus was the Messiah and that He was coming to usher in the victory of God’s kingdom. Jesus was coming to do just that, but He wasn’t going to overthrow the political or religious establishment, Jesus was coming to deliver the people from sin, and give them victory over death through his own death and resurrection.
All of this takes place during the Passover which again is important because Passover was the celebration of God delivering his people from slavery. If you remember the story, the people of Israel put the blood of a sacrificial lamb over the doorposts of their homes so the angel of death would “pass over” them. The annual celebration of the Passover reminded the people that God had delivered them in the past and he would deliver them in the future. Jesus came to Jerusalem at the Passover because he was coming to deliver people from sin and death.
As Jesus came to Jerusalem, so did his disciples and some in his family. We know his family came because a few days later, as Jesus hung on the cross, some of His family was there. There would not have been enough time for them to get to Jerusalem after Jesus had been arrested, so they must have been there all along.
It’s from the gospel of John that we hear members of Jesus' family were at the foot of the cross. John 19:25-27. 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 her, “Woman, here is your son,” and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.
Before we look at these red letters of Jesus, let’s first look at the crowd gathered there. Mary, the mother of Jesus is there, but so is Mary the wife of Clopas. Early church tradition tells us that Clopas was the brother of Joseph, Mary’s husband. Not much is known about Joseph. He was there at the birth of Jesus, and he was there when Jesus was a child, but at some point during Jesus’ early life, he died. When that happened, it would have been Joseph’s brothers who would have stepped in to care for Mary and her children. That Clopas' wife is with Mary tells us that it is likely that they were the ones who took them in.
Family really is the foundation of Jewish faith. God commanded His people to honor their mother and father, and that commandment is the only one that came with a blessing: so that it might go well with you. This command wasn’t given to young children so they would obey their parents, but for grown children so they would take care of their aging parents when they could no longer work or care for themselves. In a world before pensions. Social Security, and IRA’s, the only support and security older people had was family.
Since the family of Clopas was with Mary and Jesus for the Passover, and now at the foot of the cross, it makes sense that they were the family that took Jesus in after Joseph died. So it wasn’t just one mother at the foot of the cross, but in some sense - two. Two mothers were there watching their son die and there is nothing worse than this. There is probably no pain greater than losing a child.
A good friend of mine from High School was nine months pregnant when she realized she hadn’t felt her baby move. The umbilical cord had wrapped around his neck and the baby had died. It was a devastating time and just last week she remembered her son with a post on facebook. You never forget that pain and loss.
In Lewisburg there was an woman in my church who had three grown children. Margaret’s only daughter died of cancer before I arrived, but her two sons both died while I was there. When I told her that her final son had died, she said, it’s not supposed to be like this. Her heart ached for all three of her children.
No matter the age or circumstances, the pain of losing a child is deep and lasting. I know many of you have had to go through this loss, and my guess is that today you are tapping into your own pain, and the pain that Mary must have been experiencing. What is amazing to me is that even in the midst of His own physical, emotional, and spiritual suffering, Jesus saw that pain and he did something about it. That’s what this message is all about.
When Jesus says, woman behold your son, He wasn’t telling her to focus on Him, but the son who would now take care of her, His best friend John. We know this because right after Jesus said this He said to John, behold your mother. Jesus not only sees His mother in pain and wants to comfort her, but He sees John in pain as well. John, along with the rest of the disciples, was going to be devastated by the death of Jesus. His world was going to be turned upside down and in this moment Jesus sees his fear, uncertainty, and the pain of loss and reaches out to comfort his friend by telling him to love and be loved by his mother
We need to learn from these red letters that what will help heal our own hearts in times of pain and loss will be reaching out to love others. Too often during times of loss we want to guard and protect our hearts so we tell ourselves that we will never love again, but it is actually in learning to love and care for others again that we find healing and hope and life.
It’s also important to allow others to love and care for us during these times. We need it both ways. Mary needed John to love and care for her, but she also needed to reach out to love and care for him. John needed the same thing. We need the same thing. We need the love and care of others and we need to reach out to love and care for others if we are going to experience the fullness of life.
We are reminded here that God did not create us to live life alone, but in relationship. First, we are to have a relationship with God, and that is made possible for us by Jesus' actions on the cross, but we are also to have a relationship with the people of God, and that is made possible by Jesus' words from the cross. Jesus is asking us to form a family by reaching out to love one another, and not to love with just feelings and emotions but in how we live. Jesus said, a new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. John 13:34-35
Jesus said, as I have loved you so you must love one another. The love of Jesus gave everything it had. It’s a love that is best symbolized by the cross where Jesus laid down his life, and this is the example of how we are to love one another in the church.
Here at Faith Church we often talk about living out our faith in the context of three primary relationships, a relationship with God, the church, and the world. Each of these relationships is characterized by different rhythms, and the rhythms that need to shape our relationships in the church are these:
accountability, generosity, community, service, family.
We are to be accountable to one another, which in part means being willing to be counted on in times of need. Accountability is not only being there for others but it is also allowing others to speak into our lives and care for us when they see that things may not be going well. We are to be generous with one another and not hold back when we see needs among God’s people. We are to be a true community where we welcome everyone and care for those most in need among us, and we are to serve one another sacrificially. While all of this needs to start in our families, it then needs to flow into the family of God.
These red letters of Jesus are telling us that we need to be intentional about making those we see around us part of our family. There are so many ways we can do this. We can support those in our church who choose to be foster parents because they are truly doing what Jesus calls us do in these words. They are being mothers and fathers to those who need them, and those who need a safe place and good role models. Let’s also care for single parents, and let’s not forget single people in general.
As a single pastor, one of the blessings I have experienced is to be considered part of people’s families. As part of a family, I have walked with people in good times and bad times, and I have been welcomed with great love and care. What I wish would happen is that every single person in the life of the church, young or old, might be able to experience the same thing. The church can truly become a family for those who often feel isolated and alone in the world.
And we can’t forget our fathers and mothers, whether they are our biological parents or spiritual ones. One of the challenges for my family during covid was that my parents live in CT, but I live in PA, and I have a sister in OH, and a sister in VA. We were not able to go and check on our parents during the past year, and my parents didn’t want to go to the grocery store, so we were struggling to figure out how to care for them. In talking about this with Barb and Don Reed, they reminded me that their son Jon lived right down the road. They said, we’re sure he would be happy to help out.
When we contacted Jon to see if he would be willing to run to the grocery store for our parents, he said yes. I’m not sure he knew that first run to the store would turn into a year’s worth of shopping, but he took seriously the call of the church to be a family. He and his family embraced a lifestyle of generosity, community, service, and family and they were faithful and dependable, we could count on them. There is no way we can repay Jon and his family for all they have done - and let me be clear, they aren’t looking for it. What I realized, however, is that while I can’t repay them, I can pay it forward and try to be that son to another mother or father.
I know that many of you have done this same thing in the past year. You have worked hard to take care of those around you, especially those who didn’t have family in the area to help them. As we move beyond our covid lockdowns, I pray we will not stop reaching out to care for those around us and that we will keep working on ways to truly make others part of our family.
While these red letter words, spoken by Jesus from the cross, are often overlooked, in many ways they are the words that helped form the church, and they remind us what our relationships with one another needs to look like. May we truly be the family that Jesus sought to create, and may we deeply and sacrificially love one another.
Next Steps
Behold your mother. Behold your son.
Read John 19:25-27.
What do you think was going through Mary and John’s minds and hearts at this time?
Reflect on the love and compassion seen in Jesus as He reached out through His pain to care for those He loved.
● What pain are you experiencing today?
● How can it help to know that Jesus truly sees you and is reaching out to help you?
With these words, Jesus creates the family of God.
● In what ways have you been able to experience true family relationships within the life of the church?
● Where have you seen the church truly care for and provide for one another like a family?
How can these words shape our lives, our family, and our church?
● Who have you been able to care for like family?
● Who do you see that needs your support and care?
● What one person can you reach out to this week to include them in your family, or to care for them like family?
● How can you support foster children and families, single parents, singles (young or old), or shut-ins without family in the area?
Check out the 3 Relationships
Learn how to deepen your relationship with the church
