16/04/2022
It is the story of salvation that we celebrate at Easter. The new life we inherit through the work of the cross. Jesus paid the price for us to enter into eternal life. All we have to do is accept the new life He offers everyone as a gift. Paid in full.
Mary knew her infant Son would one day be her LORD and Saviour just as Angel Gabriel said the Son of the Most High God would be. In the birth of Jesus, Mary found indescribable joy, and now as he suffers, she feels and experiences an irreplaceable loss. John can never take the place of Jesus. Everyone knows that.
So there’s something more going on here than Jesus providing for the future care of his mother. The relationship between Jesus and Mary is changing. For 33 years, Jesus has been the son of Mary according to the flesh, but as you know, he was also the Son of God. He assumed human flesh, which he took from his mother, so he could become our redeemer. This is why he came into the world, and this is why he was on the cross.
Now, on the cross, the blood is draining from his body. The life is ebbing away from his flesh. The old order is passing and the relationship between Mary and our Lord is changing. As Mary stands at the foot of the cross, in her grief and in her sorrow, she must have been crying out, “My son, my son, my son…”
And Jesus is saying, “No, you must no longer think of Me as your son. Woman, behold your son. From now on John is to take that place in your life. Regard him as your son.”
Well, then, how is she to regard Jesus? As her Savior and her Lord.
When the angel told Mary about this child to be born she said, “My spirit rejoices in God my Savior” (Luke 1:47). She had always looked to God as her Savior. So, how would God save her? Answer: Jesus goes to the cross and lays down the life he had drawn from Mary. His body is broken. His blood is poured out. Mary’s son dies and in his death he becomes her Savior.
I want you to understand what was happening here. It is very wonderful. Mary loses an irreplaceable Son and she gains an incomparable Savior. Mary’s gain was far greater than her loss. She lost the love of a Son who was taken from her in death. But she gained the love of a Savior who death could never take from her. She lost the joys of a Son who had brought her happiness on earth. She gained the joys of a Savior at whose right hand in heaven there are pleasures forevermore.
She gave him life in the flesh for a time. He gave her life in the Spirit for eternity. At the cross, she lost an irreplaceable son and gained an incomparable Savior. Her gain was far greater than her loss.
