Mary at the Cross

Mary at the Cross. In this, our last devotional on Mary the Mother of Jesus, we come to probably the darkest day of Mary's life. Jesus, at only 33 years of age, was crucified on the cross. Why, what evil had He done?

25 Now there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to His mother, “Woman, behold your son!” 27 Then He said to the disciple, “Behold your mother!” And from that hour that disciple took her to his own home.

John 19:25-27, NKJV

Mary at the Cross - Pierce Your Soul!

You will remember that when Mary and Joseph took the baby Jesus to the Temple, they were met by Simeon who first pronounced a blessing upon baby Jesus and then pronounced a prophecy regarding Jesus.

34 Then Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary His mother, “Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against 35 (yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”

Luke 2:34, NKJV

Nothing could have prepared Mary for this day. I am sure through all of the years of Jesus' life she must have pondered the words of Simeon, trying to determine their meaning. Surely, this must be a mistake. Why are they nailing Jesus to the cross? How could Mary, though strong in faith, ever understand what was happening before her very eyes?

Mary at the Cross - Behold Your Son!

What an amazing thing. Here was Jesus on the cross suffering brutally and yet He did not forget the loving care of His earthly mother. Looking down upon her anguish, He said, "Behold your son." And to His disciple John He said, "Behold your mother."

We are told that from that day John took her into his house and treated her as though she was his own mother. What a comfort to this dear woman. Jesus was making sure that she would live in a household of faith. Here she would learn much about who Jesus truly was and why He had to die on the cross. It was here that she would have learned that His death was to all sinners, including her. She too had to come to Him for salvation.

Mary at the Cross - Lessons for Us

Though torn apart by grief, Jesus did not forget His own earthly mother. He knew that in the house of John she would be taught the truth.

Romans 6:23 tell us that "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God." All must therefore come to Christ for salvation. Only through the blood of Christ can our sins be washed away.

Mary was not perfect or divine and neither are we. We may think of ourselves as honest and good people, but when we stand before God, we see that all of our sins are as filthy rags.

But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away.

Isaiah 64:6, NKJV

Like Mary, we too must come to Christ for salvation. It does not matter how we compare to other people; it only matters how we compare to God. God cannot even look upon sin, and in our sinful state, we cannot look upon God. Christ died on the cross to pay the debt of our sins so that, before God, we appear as righteous--without sin!

Go to Christ today, Jesus said,in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

The only way to God is through Christ. The only truth is in God, and the only way to eternal life is through Christ. No one can get to our Father God in any other way.

Fall before Christ, believe in Him as the Son of God who can take away your sins, and let Him become your true Lord and Master from now and till forever!

5 And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin. 1 John 3:5, NKJV

God Bless You,

Linda