John 19
26 When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son!
27 Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home.
Jesus cared for His mother even in His greatest agony, when He gave her to John. She had many sons, Jacob, Joses, Judas and Simon. And He had sisters too.
John took Mary as his own mother and Mary took him as her own son. John’s mother, Salome, was Mary’s sister. So Mary was John’s aunt. John and Jesus were therefore cousins. A certain church father from the second century wrote that Cleopas, the husband of the other Mary at the cross, and Joseph were brothers. So here we have a close family standing there around the cross.
From that time John took her to his house in Jerusalem. His own mother and father, Zebedee, were also still alive. It is wonderful to have such a close, united family.
While Jesus was alive He cared for His mother, but now He handed her over to John.
Why did Jesus give her to John and not to one of His brothers? There are those that say He gave her to John, because John stayed close to the cross. Her own sons were not even believers at that time and were not close to the cross. It shows us the importance of staying close to the cross, otherwise you may lose great blessings.
It is the language of the modern time heathen that say it is a burden to look after one’s parents in their old age, and put them in an old age home. No, it is a great blessing to care for one’s parents when they are old.
James, the eldest son after Jesus later got converted and became a preacher, but he never envied John and took Mary from him, but agreed that what Jesus said was best.
Louis Harms tells of a young couple who wanted God’s blessing above all else, and they received untold hardships, but also untold blessings.
When we see how these people put Jesus first – before marriage, career, wealth and even life itself – it should move us to fully follow Jesus with all our hearts and propagate His Gospel.