Bruce Collins, Evangelist

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!
John 19:27 Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home.

Ephesians 6:2 Honor thy father and mother.

Mothers are important in the overall scheme of things. As far as I know, there have only been two people in the history of this world who did not have a mother–that was Adam and Eve. The Bible says that we are to honor them and that means to place a high value on them. All of us who are reading this can thank the Lord that our mother’s “chose life” rather than aborting us. One bill board says, “Your mother chose life, will you?”

Mothers are nurturers while fathers are usually disciplinarians. Now I know that I am over generalizing. But in most cases, we would have rather had our mothers correct us when we were children than our fathers. Mothers usually have the day to day responsibility of raising the family and then the fathers get to take the credit when it all works out.

We can see a mother’s love in Deborah’s song that she sang about Sisera, the general of the army of Jabin, king of Canaan. After he was destroyed, she sang in Judges 5:28, “The mother of Sisera looked out at a window, and cried through the lattice, Why is his chariot so long in coming? why tarry the wheels of his chariots?“ A child may leave home but they never leave a mother‘s heart.

Some mothers show partiality in raising their children. This causes confusion in the family. This was the case with Rebekah. She loved Jacob more than Esau. However, that just balanced out the fact that Isaac loved Esau more than Jacob. Mother’s may not be perfect but most of us are glad for the mothers who bore us and sacrificed their time and resources to raise us.

Role reversal occurs when parent’s grow old. This is a very difficult time in the life of a mother and a father. The children become the care takers and the parents become the dependents. I am sure that I am not going to take that stage in life graciously. However, since honoring father and mother involves placing a high value on them, one way we show that is by taking care of them when they are older.

While the Lord was on the cross, He made provision for his own mother so she would be cared for after He died, and thus fulfilled the law that required Him to honor His father and mother. We don’t know what had happened to Joseph at this point, but he doesn’t seem to be in the picture. While the Lord was providing a sacrifice for the sins of the whole world, He was also providing a home for His own mother.

The Lord wants us to trust Him for time as well as for eternity. How can we help but love and trust someone who not only dies for us but then provides for us. Contrary to the teaching of some churches, Mary needed the Lord to die for her sins just like everyone else. She needed to trust in Him just like everyone else. But he showed her special consideration, because she was His mother.

Bruce Collins