I've been struck this week by
how little or how long I had contemplated the scene at the
cross of Mary and the other two Marys and John. They stood by
the cross. They may have stood by the cross
for the whole 6 hours that the Lord was there. John was a witness
to the spear being plunged into the heart of the Lord Jesus Christ. He was a witness to the fact
that this was a real death. I'm praying the Lord will help
us to see the wonder of the Gospel
Mary being there, but I want us to go back a little bit further
and read from verse 17. John 19 verse 17. And bearing
his cross, and he bearing his cross, went forth into a place
called the place of the skull, which is called in Hebrew Golgotha. where they crucified him, and
two other with him, one on either side, and Jesus in the midst. And Pilate wrote a title and
put it on the cross, and the writing was, Jesus of Nazareth,
the King of the Jews. This title then read, many of
the Jews, for the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh
to the city, and it was written in Hebrew and Greek and Latin. Then said the chief priest of
the Jews to Pilate, write not the king of the Jews, but that
he said, I am the king of the Jews. I love Pilate's answer. What I have written, I have written. Then the soldiers, when they
had crucified Jesus, took his garments and made four parts,
to every soldier a part, and also his coat. Now the coat was
without seam, woven from the top throughout. They said, therefore,
among themselves, Let us not rend it, but cast lots for it. Whose it shall be, that the Scripture
might be fulfilled, which say, They parted my raiment among
them, and for my vesture did they cast lots. These things,
therefore, the soldiers did. And these verses I want us to
spend some time at this service looking at. Now they're stood
by the cross of Jesus, his mother, his mother's sister, Mary the
wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene. Three Marys. When Jesus therefore
saw his mother and the disciple standing by whom he loved, he
saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son. Then saith he to the disciple,
Behold thy mother. And from that hour that disciple
took her into his own home. After this, Jesus, knowing that
all things were now accomplished, and that the scripture might
be fulfilled, saith I first. Now there was set a vessel full
of vinegar, and they filled the sponge with vinegar, and put
it upon Hyssop, and put it to his mouth. When Jesus therefore
had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished. And he bowed his head and gave
up the ghost. This universe, as I've said so
often, this universe exists because of this event. This universe
was created because of this event. All of salvation is tied up in
this event and all of the glory of God and all of the name of
God is exalted But I'm just amazed by the fact
that Mary was there. Mary stood there all of that
time. She saw her son, so disfigured
that he no longer resembled a man. So humiliated and so beaten. that his blood was still being
shed onto the ground of Calvary. But I've just thought so much
about the fact that how much did the presence of his mother
add to his pain. How real it must have been. How Lord Jesus Christ was fully
man and he was fully possessed of all the feelings of a man.
And there, to add to the humility and to add to the agony of the
cross, there's his mother watching on. And more remarkably, watching
on in silence. There's not a word recorded that
she said. And yet her silence and her standing
there speak so, so profoundly and so wonderfully. And what
a wonderful, wonderful Seen it is a wonderful thing to think
about that in the midst of all of the agony that the Lord Jesus
Christ was suffering both in his body but most of all being
on that cross he was made a curse under the law of God and all
of the sins of all of God's people were pressed into his flesh and
he was suffering the infinite wrath of God Almighty upon those
sins and yet in the midst of all of that pain his heart cares
for his mother. the shocking abuse of her name
and her character by so many in this religious world. We know
we saw the A new Pope being elected last week, and one of the great
testimonies of any Pope in this modern era, they must be passionate
about the worship of Mary, and they pray prayers to Mary, and
they encourage people to pray prayers to Mary. And they see
Mary, if you want to be horrified, you go to Catholic sites and
see what they say. about Mary. I just need to say
that the Mary of Roman Catholicism, the Mary of so much of modern
religion, bears absolutely no resemblance whatsoever to the
Mary of Scriptures. Every declaration about her in
the scriptures from the time of the Lord's conception in her
womb until his resurrection and ascension, every mention of Mary
is a complete and utter denial of everything they say about
her. So I do pray that I don't want to spend a lot of time looking
at all that, but if we can look at the reasons why Mary of the
Bible, the Mary who stood by the cross of the Lord Jesus,
bears no resemblance to the Mary of modern day Catholicism and
Orthodox religion and all of those places that put great story
Mary. I just want to give you a few
of these. I don't want this to be the center of our message
because we need to have our eyes fixed on the Lord Jesus Christ.
What does the name mean? Ever thought what the name means? It's Maria in Greek. It's Miriam in Hebrew. It's Mary in our modern translations. Do you know what her name means?
You might recall the story of Ruth when she came back from
Moab. What did she say? Don't call
me Naomi, don't call me Naomi, call me Mara. Maria means bitterness,
but most clearly it means rebelliousness, it is most often
translated as their rebellion. Their rebellion times three stood
by the cross. Their rebellion, their rebellion,
their rebellion. We'll look at some of this a
little bit more later on, but I just wanted to put this aside
in our thoughts for the time. But also we have in the Scriptures
the Holy Spirit-inspired testimony of this Mary. In so many of the accounts in
Luke's Gospel, if you turn with me back to Luke 1, We find there are just so many
wonderful, wonderful declarations from God about what was going
to happen to Mary and her place in this glorious redemption of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's start from verse 26 of
Luke chapter 1. In the sixth month, the angel
Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee named Nazareth,
to a virgin, a spouse to a man whose name was Joseph of the
house of David, and the virgin's name was Mary. And the angel
came in unto her and said, Hail, thou art highly favored. Thou art a recipient of grace. Grace has been poured onto you.
The Lord is with thee, blessed art thou among women. When she
saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast her mind
what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said
unto her, fear not, Mary, thou hast found favour with God, thou
hast, you are a recipient of the grace of God, Mary. The only
people who are recipients of the grace of God are those who
have absolutely no merit in themselves whatsoever. None whatsoever. You cannot be a recipient of
grace and have any merit whatsoever. And behold, thou shalt conceive
in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name
Jesus. Listen to this great declaration
from heaven about our Lord Jesus Christ. He shall be great and
shall be called the Son of the Highest and the Lord God shall
give unto him the throne of his father David and he shall reign
over the house of Jacob forever and of his kingdom there shall
be no end. Then Mary said unto the angel,
How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And the angel answered
and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the
power of the highest shall overshadow thee. Therefore also that holy
thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son
of God. And behold, thy cousin Elizabeth
She hath also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the
sixth month with her, who was called barren. And I just love
this. This is a great verse of scripture.
For with God nothing shall be impossible. Don't you love that? Mary said, Behold the handmaid
of the Lord, be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed
from her. And then she arises, as we know,
and she goes to Elizabeth's house. And Elizabeth makes a wonderful
declaration about who Mary is. But let's go down to verse 46
and hear what Mary's declaration is. said, Verse 46, My soul doth
magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in
God my Saviour. The Roman Catholic Church wants
to have Mary as the co-redemptrix. She is an equal participant in
their thoughts. But she calls out, she says,
God, my savior. And listen to this, for he hath
regarded the low estate, that means spiritual abasement, of
his handmaiden, a female bond slave, for behold, from henceforth
all generations shall call me blessed. For he that is mighty
hath done to me great things, and holy is his name. And His mercy is on them that
fear Him from generation to generation. He has showed strength with His
arm. He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. You think of what's going on
and look at the power and the wonder. It's the smallest country
in the world and the most powerful country in the world and influences
more of the world than we can possibly imagine. He has scattered the proud in
the imagination of our hearts. He hath put down the mighty from
their seats. He hath exalted them of low degree. That means to be low in spirit,
to be humble, to be cast down. He has filled the hungry with
good things. And the rich He has sent away
empty. Empty means to be devoid of truth. This world is being lied to. and billions are following the
lies. He sent empty, the rich he has
sent away empty. He has holpen his servant Israel
in remembrance of his mercy as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham
and to his seed forever. There is nothing exalting Mary
in any of that. All of this is about the exaltation
of God Almighty. Mary is a blessed woman, but
if you read Ephesians chapter 1 you'll find that everyone in
the Lord Jesus Christ is blessed. Mary in Adam is nothing but rebelliousness
according to her very name. Mary in Christ is nothing but
obedience and righteousness. And to finish this part of our
message we need to remember that the Lord Jesus Christ, her testimony
bears no resemblance to what they say about her. You might
recall from the scriptures that the Lord Jesus Christ never declared
her to be mother. Never once in the scriptures.
There's no doubt that she is his mother. There's no doubt
that he loved her infinitely, eternally, powerfully, and wonderfully. But he didn't call her mother.
And he had a particular reason for not calling her mother. Because
from the time of the beginning of his ministry, She now has
a much better relationship with Him than mother and son. She
has a much more intimate relationship with Him as her Lord and Savior. You read John chapter 17. Christ in you, the hope of glory. Christ with you, eternally, forever. Now their relationship is one
of her being a blessed child of God and him being her saviour. She's much better off than all
those physical relationships could be. She is a blessed woman
and I rejoice to think of what the Lord might help us to see
from these wonderful scriptures about her. Let's sing again and
then we'll come and just look briefly at Mary's life and look
at Mary standing by the cross. We're going to sing number 29
Christ our advocate. Thank you. you Turn with me back in your Bibles
to Luke, John chapter 19. There are seven sayings of the
Lord Jesus Christ from the cross of Calvary. I want to look at
this one and I want to look at the thief on the cross a little
bit later before we have the Lord's Supper. They are just
50 words that he said from the cross and they are so remarkable. He spoke to his father. He spoke
to the dying thief. And he spoke to John and Mary. He didn't say a single word to
the religious world. He didn't say a single word to
all those who were mocking him. The words from the cross are
the word of forgiveness. Father forgive them for they
know not what they do. It's the word of forgiveness.
What a remarkable statement from our God as he hung on Calvary's
tree. It's the word of salvation. Today, you shall be with me in
paradise. And here in John chapter 19,
we have the word of affection toward his mother. Woman, behold
thy son. And he says to John, Behold thy
mother. And then in verse 30 of John
19 there is the word of anguish. My God, my God. Not in John 19,
sorry, but in the other Gospel accounts. My God, my God, why
hast thou forsaken me? In John's Gospel in verse 28
there is He says, I thirst, a word of
suffering. And then in verse 30, there is
a word, the great word of victory, it is finished. And then there's
the word of rest and contentment. Into thy hands I commend my spirit. Three of them are here mentioned
in John's gospel, and I want us to look at the one that relates
to his mother, and I want us to ponder what it is for Mary
to be there standing. Just think about that. She stood
there. What amazing grace, what amazing
power, and what an amazing picture. She stood there. And she didn't
say a word. She stood there. May the Lord
help us to enter into the reality of her pain, the reality of the
agony of Christ as he watched her suffer. How it must have
torn his heart to see his mother. seeing him and hearing the things
that were said. The wonder of her faithfulness. He was faithful to the end and
he kept her faithful to this end. It's just a wonderful picture
of so much of the faithfulness of our God. Someone has done
the sort of mathematics, sort of done the studies and they
discovered that, and I'm sure they're way, way short of the
mark, but they discovered there are 332 distinct promises fulfilled
in the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I think it's over
70 of them are fulfilled in these last days of his life. He, standing there, is a living,
breathing testament to the faithfulness to his word of promise. From the news of his incarnation
until his death, Mary had borne so much. Turn with me back to
Luke's Gospel and we'll listen to these wonderful words. that was said in the temple.
After he was born, after eight days, he was brought to the temple
to be presented before the Lord. In verse 25, I just love this. I love reading this. I love contemplating
what it must have been for this young, young mother with her
eight-day-old baby to have been brought to the temple. Verse
25, And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon,
and the same man was just and devout. He was waiting for the
consolation of Israel. The consolation, one who comes
near to comfort. He was waiting for the Lord Jesus
Christ, and the Holy Ghost was upon him, and it was revealed
unto him by the Holy Ghost that he should not see death before
he had seen the Lord's Christ. That's a description of every
believer. Every believer will not see death
until they have seen the Lord's Christ, whether it be the thief
on the cross, or whether it be Simeon, or whether it be us in
this day. May it be so. And he came by
the Spirit into the temple when the parents brought the child
Jesus to do for him after the custom of the law. Then, verse
28, he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, Lord,
now let us thy servant depart in peace according to thy word,
for or because mine eyes have seen thy salvation. If your eyes
have seen God's salvation, you'll be happy to depart in peace.
Mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before
the face of all people, a light to lighten the Gentiles, and
the glory of thy people Israel. And Joseph and his mother marveled
at those things which are spoken of him. And Simeon blessed them,
and said unto Mary his mother, Behold, this child is set. for the fall and the rising again
of many in Israel, and for a sign which shall be spoken against. Now listen to this. Yea, a sword
shall pierce through thine own soul also. that the thoughts
of many hearts may be revealed. Here Mary stands by the cross. And Simeon's words, which he
had borne with her, because it says that she pondered these
things in verse 19, and she kept all these things and she pondered
them in her heart. For 33 years she pondered in
her heart that a sword would pierce her own soul also. From the news of the incarnation
until his death, Mary just bore so much. There was no room at
the inn. Her precious baby was born in
a stable. As soon as Herod heard that there
was one born King of the Jews, she had to flee to Egypt, knowing
that many were left to bear the deep pain of Herod's murders. There was weeping in all of that
region. She had witnessed him in his
ministry rejected and hated. She would have been in the congregation
in Nazareth. You can read about it in Luke
4. The Lord Jesus Christ preached
those wonderful words out of Isaiah 61. The Spirit of the
Lord is upon me. And he gave the most wonderful
declaration of the salvation of God to the hearts of his people.
And then he declared what it is for God to be God. And that
congregation went from rejoicing at the gracious words that he
said to wanting to murder him. A sword shall pierce through
thine own soul to also. She was a woman of sorrows and
a woman no doubt of great joys. What a remarkable privilege.
She had God living in her house for all of those years. She had
a child who never ever had a sinful thought, never did a sinful thing,
never a fit of jealousy, never rage. I keep thinking that he
must have been a relatively quiet child. Boisterous people tend
not to be like that, but nevertheless, what a remarkable, extraordinary
thing for God Almighty in human flesh. in poverty in Nazareth. And don't forget, you can read
about it in John Chapter 8, don't forget all through that time
there would have been rumours floating around about this child
born out of wedlock, which is why the Pharisees said we weren't
born in fornication, indicating that they thought that he was
born in fornication. What a sword pierced her heart. With the greatest of privileges
in the kingdom of God comes the greatest of sorrows. The angel
said, this is God Almighty. Simeon said, this is God's salvation. If we read on in Luke chapter
2, we'll see that Anna came, Anna the prophetess, the daughter
of Phenuel in the tribe of Asher. She was of great age and had
lived with her husband seven years from her virginity and
now She was a widow of about four score and four years. She's
84 years old, which departed not from the temple, but served
God with fastings and prayers night and day. And she coming
in that instance, she heard about this and she came in and gave
thanks likewise unto the Lord and spoke of him to all them
that looked for the redemption in Jerusalem. The angel said, king that's going to sit on the
throne of David. This is the king who has an everlasting
eternal kingdom. Simeon said this is God's salvation. Anna said this is the Redeemer. And here is this Mary standing
by the cross, a silent witness. but a witness whose presence
is just so profound. How many times do you think Mary
went back to Isaiah chapter 14 and had it memorized and read
and read again? Therefore the Lord himself shall
give you a sign. Behold, a virgin shall conceive
and bear a son and shall call his name Immanuel, God with us. Many trials and tribulations
are necessary on our journey here until we cross into heaven's
glorious land. Back to John chapter 19. There
stood by the cross, Mary. There stood by the cross, Mary. There she stands in so many extraordinary
ways, speaking of the depth of human suffering. And in so many
remarkable ways, speaking of the wonder of salvation, in so
many ways, once again revealing by her pain and looking upon
the pain of her son, revealing the horrible sinfulness of sin
that lies in the hearts of all people, and how extraordinary
it is that God would take that sin Mary's sin and the sin of
all of the children of God and place it on the Lord Jesus Christ
and have it punished in Him. This was a moment of her salvation. She rejoiced in God, my Saviour,
and this is the moment of her salvation. But also it's a moment
of great pain and anguish. What a privileged life. What
a remarkable son. Do you know what his name means? Joshua was the name she called
him. Every time, for all of those years that she called her son,
she was declaring Jehovah his salvation. Salvation, come here. Where is salvation? She would
have said, looking, wondering where he was. Salvation is with
his father in his carpenter shop. Could you do this for me, Salvation?"
All of her conversations with him were a declaration that this
is her saviour. Every time she called it, every
time she heard her name, she heard rebellion. It's extraordinary how the people
are named in the scriptures, aren't they? It's so emblematic
and they speak so powerfully. They're not just names that are
sort of given away for no meaning whatsoever. They all have powerful
and deep meaning. Why was the Lord Jesus Christ
on the cross and why was she standing there? Quite simply, the saviour of
their rebellion must pay the debt of all of their sin. Why the blood? Their rebellion
is only saved by the blood. Without the shedding of blood,
there is no remission of sins. She stands there in silence. The three Marys, extraordinary,
isn't it? Their rebellion, their rebellion,
their rebellion stands there. And John stands with them. Do
you know what John's name means? Jehovah is a gracious giver. What was happening on the cross?
God gave his only son. gave him. But what a picture of devotion,
what a picture of grace under such extreme agony. How did she maintain the strength
to stand? and not wail in agony, to stand
and not speak a word, to stand with John and the other Marys,
just to stand and behold. Behold the Lamb of God, behold
the man, behold your King, behold your Son. What is salvation? Look unto me, and be ye saved,
all the ends of the earth. Salvation is exactly what Simeon
had come to him in the temple, isn't it? God was revealed to
him. He held an eight-day-old baby
and said, this is God. This is God's salvation in human
flesh. This is the comfort of all of
God's tried children. Behold your son, behold thy son. When the world had cast out her
son, she stands closest to the cruel tree. She was bound by
a chain of love to the dying Christ. Never, someone wrote,
never such bliss at human birth, never such sorrow at an inhuman
death. His disciples deserted him, his
friend betrayed him, his nation rejected him and despised him,
and his mother stands by the cross in silent testimony to
them all. He must tread the winepress alone. Only He who is Almighty God can
bear the sins of all of the children of God. Only He who is Almighty
God can bear the wrath, the just wrath of God Almighty upon all
the sins of all of the rebellious ones. Only He Only he could bear
the fire of the wrath of God and consume the fire and die. But to go back to Mary, how much
did her presence add to his sorrows? His sorrows were magnified, weren't
they? His physical pain was intense,
his spiritual pain was intense, his pain as a son was intensified
to the maximum. I do love that verse in Lamentations
1.12. He says, Is it nothing to you? Lamentations 1.12. Is it nothing
to you, all ye that pass by? What a crowd passed by the cross
that day. Herod caved to a crowd and to
the evil and the anger of their opposition and hatred of the
Lord Jesus Christ. A man who had the power of Rome
and had the testament in his own lips that this man had no
sin about him at all, who knew that the Pharisees and the Sadducees
and others had delivered him up there for envy. Such was the
nature of this crowd that that man betrayed his own conscience,
betrayed his own law, and that crowd followed the Lord Jesus
Christ all the way up to the cross and there stands Mary as
this crowd mocks and spits on the Lord Jesus Christ. She stood
there. Simeon said that the hearts of
people will be revealed in the life and the death particularly
of the Lord Jesus Christ. is that nothing to you or to
you that pass by. Behold, and see if there be any
sorrow like unto my sorrow, Lamentations 112, which is done unto me wherewith
the Lord hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger. All we rebellious ones see sin
as a light thing, something so small generally that we can fix
it by something that we do, or we can lessen it by the things
of our doing. reminds us, her presence there,
adding to the pain of the Lord Jesus Christ, reminds us that
the only possible way for your sin, the sin that you are committing
right now, the sin that you are right now, to be taken from you
is for the Lord Jesus Christ to have it laid upon him. And
he must suffer. He must suffer, and he must suffer
alone. In these words of the Lord Jesus
Christ we see that he was perfectly obedient to the law of God. God
says that his law must be magnified, Isaiah 42. His law must be magnified
and honoured. Someone must keep the law of
God perfectly and completely with love in his heart for it. And he did. The Lord Jesus Christ
honoured your mother and father. Our Lord fulfilled that law even
from the cross. He fulfilled it. Mary was perfectly
honoured by her son. May we do the same. Honour to
honour goes way beyond obedience. It involves love and affection,
and it involves care in the deepest way, and it involves care for
all ages. It's not limited to children. He magnified the law perfectly
and completely and honoured it. And that law, that law which
he perfectly kept, was the law which was so completely and perfectly
broken by all the rebellious, and all of their rebelliousness
was laid upon him. The other thing I want us to
see in verse 26. Jesus therefore saw his mother
and the disciples standing by. What a lovely description of
John. He never talks about himself, but I love how he describes himself.
The disciples whom Jesus loved. And he saith unto his mother,
Woman, behold thy son. Then he saith to the disciple,
Behold thy mother. And from that hour the disciple
took her into his own home. Why did John go back? None of the other disciples did.
Every one of them was hiding away for fear of their lives. The one answer is the Lord did
it. The other answer is that the scriptures must be fulfilled.
Psalm 38 verse 11 says, My lovers and my friends stand aloof from
my sore, and my kinsmen stand afar off. It seems from my reading
of the Gospel accounts that at the beginning Mary stood close
by the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ with the other Marys in
John. And then Mark's Gospel in chapter 15 says that they
stood afar off. They may have been moved away. Why was John there? In John and
Mary, there is an apostolic witness to the cross, to the blood and
the water flowing from his pierced side. In John and Mary, of the Lord Jesus Christ is witness
to from His birth until His death. We need a righteousness from
God Almighty that extends from our birth until our death and
all through our lives. Such is the life and such is
the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. And finally just
a couple of things. There must be a giving of his
mother into the hands of the church where she will be cared
for in her hour of need. The relationship of family in
the true church is superimposed above and beyond all earthly
relationships. Mary now is in the hands of the
family of God where the Lord Jesus Christ dwells with his
people. John takes her to his own house. And after the glories of the
resurrection, on Resurrection Sunday, where does John run to? To bring the news to his own
house. Mary must be told as a matter
of priority. Mary in Acts chapter 1 meets
with all the church gathered and she's named there in particular. They all continued in one accord
in prayer and supplication with the women and Mary the mother
of Jesus and with his brethren. Acts chapter 1. What a saviour. What a saviour. She stood, sustained by the sovereign
grace of God and sustained by love and devotion. John stood
by the cross, sustained by grace and love and devotion. They stood
together bearing the testimony of the totality of the earthly
life of the Lord Jesus Christ. They stood there as a testimony
that the Scriptures must be fulfilled before them. They stood there
as the religious world mocked the Lord for his faith. They
stood there when darkness overshadowed the world. They stood there as
the earth was shaken. They stood there until the spear
pierced his dead body and out flowed the water and the blood.
The water to cleanse and the blood to redeem. To go back to Simeon's question
in Luke chapter 2, what do you see when you behold the Lord
Jesus Christ? A sword shall pierce thine own
soul, Mary was told, that the thoughts of many hearts may be
revealed. How revealing of everything and
everyone is the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. Those who
have been forgiven much, love much. May the Lord grant us the
grace to stand and adore, to stand and love, to stand and
hear the gracious words which proceeded from his lips. They
spoke, Mary and Mary and Mary and John. They spoke so powerfully
and didn't say a word. How powerfully Mary declares
the Saviour's love and sacrifice. Behold thy Son. What do you see in the Son? Behold
thy Son.