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AHHOTC: “DEAR WOMAN, HERE IS YOUR SON....”
SMWS- 03/15/09 Text: John 19:16-27
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SCRIPTURE READING
John 19:16-27
16 Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be
crucified. So the soldiers took charge of Jesus.
17 Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of
the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha).
18 Here they crucified him, and with him two others-one on each side and Jesus in the middle.
19 Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the
cross. It read: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF
THE JEWS.
20 Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where
Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was
written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek.
21 The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate,
"Do not write 'The King of the Jews,' but that this man
claimed to be king of the Jews."
22 Pilate answered, "What I have written, I have
written."
23 When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his
clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of
them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment
was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom.
24 "Let's not tear it," they said to one another. "Let's
decide by lot who will get it." This happened that the
scripture might be fulfilled which said, "They divided my
garments among them and cast lots for my clothing."
So this is what the soldiers did.
25 Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his
mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary
Magdalene.
26 When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple
whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother,
"Dear woman, here is your son,"
27 and to the disciple, "Here is your mother." From that
time on, this disciple took her into his home.
INTRODUCTION
1) Dear woman- here is your Son.
A) When you boil it down to its essence this is just a
son talking with His mother
1) Something that happens all the time
2) Like me giving my mother a phone call
B) But this wasn’t an ordinary conversation- because it
happened at an extraordinary moment in time
2) Jesus the Christ- the only begotten Son of the Living Godwas dying on the Cross for the sin of the world
A) His body had been beaten- and battered- and
bruised
B) All the weight of sin and guilt and disgrace was
pressed down on His shoulders
3) But even in the midst of His agony- Jesus took a moment
to speak to His mother
4) Dear woman- here is your Son
A) Momma- it’s Me. Jesus
1) The One you gave birth to
2) The One you love
B) Here I am- doing what you gave Me birth to do
5) This morning-
A) As we continue our sermon series on the things
Jesus said as He hung on the Cross
B) Let’s think about the remarkable woman who gave
birth to the Savior of the world
MARY- THE ONE WHO SAW IT ALL
1) Anybody know who this is? (Show picture)
A) Ten to one says nobody does
B) Her name is Camilla Bella- she’s an actress
2) The reason I’m showing you her picture is because she’ll
soon be staring in a movie called: Mary- The Mother of
Christ
A) Over the years- a lot of actresses have played Mary
in movies and television shows
B) And most of them look like Camilla Bella
1) Dark hair- brown eyes
2) Pretty- in an innocent sort of way
3) But you know what? The Bible never says a word about
the way Mary looked
A) I’m guessing it was probably like many of the
young women you see in the Middle East today
B) But you can’t prove it by the Bible
4) We also don’t know anything her backgroundA) Such as what her life was like before Jesus was
born
B) Or what happened to her after Jesus’ death and
Resurrection
5) But wouldn’t she have a story to tell!
A) I know when I get to heaven she’s going to be one
of the first people I want to talk to
B) Because- think about it1) She was Jesus’ first disciple
2) The first person to know who He really was
6) Mary was the one who had…/ She had…..
A) Listened in amazement as the angel told her she
would give birth to the Son of the most High
B) Felt the gentle kicks as He grew inside her body
C) Given Him birth after a long and difficult journey to
Bethlehem
D) Watched with pride as Jesus grew in wisdom and
stature, and in favor with God and men.
E) Been astonished as she heard Him preach along the
Sea of Galilee- and seen Him perform many of His miracles
F) Been there when they crucified Him on a Cross
outside the gates of Jerusalem
G) Shared in the overwhelming sense of joy and
wonder of Resurrection Sunday
H) Witnessed Jesus’ Ascension into heaven 40 days
after His Resurrection
I) Been with the disciples in the Upper Room when
Jesus sent the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost
7) Unfortunately- Christians have never quite figured out
what we’re supposed to think about Mary
8) In the book of Luke the angel Gabriel describes her as one
who had found favor with God
A) God saw something in Mary that was unique- that
set her apart
B) She had a depth of faith and courage that made her
ready to submit to all of God’s plans for her life
7) But beyond that- what should a Bible-believing Christian
think about Mary?
THE MOTHER OF GOD
1) Sid Winchester likes to call me the Pope
A) Now I know that he’s just having a little fun
B) But trust me- I’ve got….
1) No desire to be the Pope of anything
2) Not even SRBC!
2) But- if I was the pope- the first thing I’d do is change is
the Roman Catholic Church’s teaching about Mary
A) Mary has an exalted position in the RC church
B) She’s not really an object of worship
1) Although sometimes they make it sound like
she is
2) Especially when she’s called mother of God
The Mother Of God- The Biblical Truth
1) Now here’s where you need to understand some Biblical
truth and some church history
A) We’ll start with the Biblical truth
B) Turn with me over to Philippians 2:5-11
5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ
Jesus:
6 Who, being in very nature God, (This is referring to the
doctrine of the Trinity- that One God reveals Himself to us in
three distinct personalities: God the Father, God the Son, God
the Holy Spirit)
6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider
equality with God something to be grasped,
7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a
servant, being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man, he
humbled himself and became obedient to death- even
death on a cross!
9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and
gave him the name that is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
2) What we’ve just read is one of the most important
passages of Scripture in the entire Bible
A) God’s Word is saying:
1) That at a particular moment in history the
eternal Son of the Living God became a human being
2) A human being with flesh and blood and
bones- just like you and me
B) We call this event the Incarnation
3) The Oxford Dictionary Of The Christian Church puts it
this way: The doctrine of the Incarnation affirms that the
eternal Son of God took human flesh from His human
mother, and that the historical Christ is at once fully
God and fully man.
A) IOW: Jesus wasn’t partly God- and partly man
1) He didn’t give up being God in order to
become a man
2) He didn’t suddenly become God sometime
after being born as a human being
B) Jesus the Christ was unique in that He was- at all
times- FULLY God and FULLY man
4) Now most Christians understand why it’s important to
emphasize Jesus’ divinity- His godliness
A) After all-
1) If Jesus isn’t God
2) Then He’s just a man
B) A SINFUL man who couldn’t offer His life as an
innocent sacrifice for sin
5) But it’s equally important to emphasize that Jesus was also
a real flesh-and-blood human being
A) Let’s put it this way:
1) If Jesus wasn’t fully human
2) He couldn’t die
B) And if He couldn’t die- He wouldn’t have been able
to offer His life on the Cross as a sacrifice for our sins!
6) At this point you may be thinking: OK Steve- I got thatbut it still doesn’t explain why Catholics call Mary the
‘mother of God’
The Mother Of God- The Church History Part
1) Here’s where you come to the church history part
A) By the end of the first century- churches had been
established throughout the Roman Empire
B) By-in-large- these churches were made up of
Gentiles
1) Non-Jews
2) People who knew virtually nothing about the
Old Testament
2) Now one thing’s always been true
A) If you don’t understand the Old Testament
B) You aren’t really going to understand the New
Testament
3) Look at what happened in these Gentile churches
A) They took what they’d been taught before they
became Christians- which was pagan Greek philosophy
B) Imposed these ideas on the New Testament- and
came up with some major theological errors
4) The worst of these mistakes denied the doctrine of the
Incarnation
A) See- the Greeks had said that the physical universeincluding the human body- was evil
B) So preachers in these Gentile churches developed a
theory that came to be called Gnosticism
5) According to the Gnostics
A) The Son of God couldn’t have had a real human
body- because a flesh-and-blood human body was evil
B) Instead, they said Jesus only appeared to be a
human being
6) Let’s go back to our picture of Camilla Bella
A) Is Camilla Bella really up on that screen?
B) Of course not! What you see on the screen is…
1) A projected image
2) That reflects the true Camilla Bella- who’s
living somewhere in Los Angeles- I guess
7) Essentially- this is what the Gnostics taught:
A) They said Jesus only appeared to be a human being
B) But in fact- His appearance on Earth was more like
an image projected on a movie screen
8) The problem with Gnostic theory is the inerrant Word of
God
John 1:14
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among
us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and
Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Galatians 4:4-5:
But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son,
born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those
under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.
2 John 7
There are a lot of smooth-talking charlatans loose in
the world who refuse to believe that Jesus Christ was
truly human, a flesh-and-blood human being. Give
them their true title: Deceiver! Antichrist! (The Message
Bible)
9) You’d think these verses of Scripture would settle the
question of Jesus’ humanness once and for all
A) But you’d be wrong!
B) Despite what the Bible said- the Gnostics continued
to preach their messed-up theology
10) Finally- in 431 church leaders from around the world met
in the city of Ephesus to address the Gnostic problem
A) These leaders took a bold stand for Biblical truth by
affirming the doctrine of the Incarnation
1) That Jesus was fully God
2) And fully human
B) In trying to describe the truth of the Incarnationhow it happened- they called Mary the thetokos
1) Which is a Greek word means ‘God-bearer’
2) Or- in this case- ‘mother of God’
11) Now understand- the Ephesian leaders didn’t use the
word theotokos
A) To glorify and exalt MARY
B) They were trying to emphasize the truth that Jesus
1) Was the eternal Son of the Living God
2) And a flesh-and-blood human being who was
born to a flesh-and-blood human being
12) I just wish they would’ve said it like that
A) For one thing- it’s an accurate description of
Biblical truth
B) For another thing- it would have prevented many of
the mistakes that later crept into Roman Catholic doctrine
13) See- over time people forgot why the Ephesian leaders
used the word theotokos in the first place
A) Instead of focusing on what it said about Jesus
B) They put all their focus on Mary…which ultimately
resulted in some bad theology
14) For instance- have you ever heard of the doctrine of the
Immaculate Conception?
A) Don’t confuse this with the Biblical truth of the
virgin conception of Jesus
B) This is a Catholic doctrine that says Mary was
somehow born free from the stain of original sin
1) IOW: Mary was born- and lived her entire
life- without ever sinning
2) Turn to Romans 3. We’ll begin with the 10th
verse
10 As it is written: "There is no one righteous, not even
one;
11 there is no one who understands, no one who
seeks God.
12 All have turned away, they have together become
worthless; there is no one who does good, not even
one."
22 .......There is no difference,
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
15) So much for a doctrine of immaculate conception
A) The Bible says that every person on the face of the
Earth is a natural-born sinner
B) Including Mary- the mother of Jesus!
16) Later Catholic doctrine proclaimed Mary’s perpetual
virginity
A) This said Mary had only one child- Jesus- who was
conceived by the Holy Spirit
B) And that was it! She remained a virgin for the rest
of her life
18) Problem is- the Bible says Jesus had a number of younger
brothers and sisters
A) Matthew 12:46-47 While Jesus was still talking
to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside,
wanting to speak to him. Someone told him, "Your
mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to
speak to you."
B) For the record- these children were born to Mary!
19) Eventually a pope decreed that prayers should be offered
in Mary’s name
A) Which is why Catholics begin their prayers by
saying: Hail Mary, full of grace.......
B) Folks- the Bible never suggests that you need to
pray through Mary- or Peter- or Paul- or anyone else
1) The Bible says we have direct access to God
the Father through Jesus Christ His Son- PERIOD!
2) Romans 5:1-2 Therefore, since we have
been justified through faith, we have peace with God
through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have
gained access by faith into this grace in which we now
stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.
20) Well- enough of that
A) We’re not here to debate theology and doctrine
B) Instead- let’s go back to the question I raised
earlier: What should a Bible-believing Christian think about
Mary?
DEAR WOMAN, BEHOLD YOUR SON!
1) The answer to that question goes back to what Jesus said
to His mother as He was hanging on the Cross:
A) Dear woman, behold your son!
B) Then the Bible says He turned to John- the beloved
disciple- and said: Behold your mother
2) Folks, with those words........
A) The eternal Son of God was expressing His respectand admiration- and gratitude for Mary’s faithfulness to God
1) Girl had guts to do what she did
2) In those days they killed young women who
got pregnant before marriage
B) A human being named Jesus was expressing His
love- and concern- and devotion for the woman who had
given Him birth
1) Mary had embraced Jesus with the love only
a mother can provide
2) And He- in turn- loved her with all His heart
3) Dear woman, behold your son.....
4) Earlier I said that Mary was Jesus’ first disciple- the first
person to know who He really was
A) But here’s the question
B) When did Mary realize Jesus would have to die on
the Cross?
5) When Gabriel told her she would conceive and give birth
to a child he didn’t mention the possibility of crucifixion
Luke 1:30-33
30 But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary,
you have found favor with God.
31 You will be with child and give birth to a son, and
you are to give him the name Jesus.
32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the
Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his
father David,
33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever;
his kingdom will never end."
5) Face it: That must have sounded pretty good to Mary
A) Someday my Son will be crowned king of the
Jews. He’s the Messiah- the Christ- God’s Chosen One
1) Not gonna be any more crowded inns
2) Or smelly mangers
3) Or dusty carpenter’s shops
B) It will be Jesus- and me- living in a palace built
for a king
6) But I don’t think it happened like that. I believe that
somehow Mary always understood the truth
A) Whether it was through.......
1) Her knowledge of the OT prophecies
2) Or a direct revelation of the Holy Spirit
B) Mary knew that someday Her Son would have to
die for the sin of the world- for the sin that was in HER life
6) If so- this would have been the moment she’d dreaded ever
since she learned that Jesus would be born
A) These days women get abortions because they learn
their child will be born with a birth defect
B) Mary brought Jesus into the world knowing He had
a death sentence hanging over His head!
7) Can you imagine the anguish Mary must have felt when
she saw her Son hanging on the Cross?
A) He’d been stripped naked and beaten within an inch
of His life
B) His hands and feet had been nailed to the Cross.
C) His face was so disfigured His closest friends could
barely recognize Him
D) He was moaning in agony and crying out for
something to drink.........
8) And there was NOTHING Mary could do about it
A) When He was......
1) A baby and got hungry- she could nurse Him
2) A little boy and got hurt- she could hold Him
and kiss away the tears
3) A young man and felt exhausted- she could
cook Him his favorite meal
B) But now- in His hour of greatest need- all Mary
could do was stand there and watch
9) And it was at that moment that Mary came closer than
anyone else ever came to understanding what God was going
through when Jesus hung on the Cross
A) That was Jesus1) Her Son- hanging on that Cross!
2) HIS Son- hanging on that Cross!
B) She…/ He….
1) Was the one who’d given Him life
2) Was the One who had to sentence Him to
death!
C) Mary…./ God…..
1) Had held an innocent baby in her arms
2) Had declared the innocent Son of God guilty
of the sin of the world
10) And why did Mary do it? /Why did God do it?
A) Because she was faithful to God- and loved Jesus
B) Because He is faithful1) And loves you
2) And loves me
3) And loves everyone who ever has- or ever
will- live
John 3:16
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one
and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not
perish but have eternal life.
11) Let us pray