Jesus’ 5th Saying on the Cross
John 19:25-27 Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdelene. 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 Than saith he to the disciple, “Behold thy mother!” And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home.
I always thought this was somehow a little strange. Why would Jesus do this? Did He need to? Mary and Joseph had four other sons and at least 3 daughters! And do not be fooled they were raising their children in an Orthodox Jewish home, adhering to all the Laws and honoring God. Hebrew men take responsibility for their widowed Mothers!
How do we know there were other children after Jesus? Let’s look to the Word of God.
In Matthew 13:55, 56 55 Is not this the carpenter’s son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas? 56 And his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these things?
Jesus has all these family members and what? So—where are they? If they were there that day at the cross, it is not recorded. These “brethren” witnessed the miracles that declared He was the Messiah that all of Israel had been waiting for? They saw the signs and wonders that made it clear that YaH was showing the world who Y’shua is… Additionally, they knew the testimony of their parents concerning the conception by the Ruach Kodesh, (Holy Spirit)!
Does this mean that Y’shua (Jesus) didn’t trust Mary’s other sons to take care of her? They were all devout Jews! They would surely take care of their mother! And we see throughout the gospels—Mary and the brethren—so we can surmise that they already were taking care of her. Y’shua (Jesus) was about His Father’s business since He was 12. (I believe that it was at his Bar Mitzvah that YaHoVaH gave Y’shua the Revelation of Himself as it says in verse ONE of Revelation Chapter One…Selah (check it out sometime).
So here it is. Y’shua’s (Jesus’) family members are not there while he is being crucified! Were they ashamed? Did they believe he was the Son of God, the Anointed One? Did they believe like the Pharisees, when they said in Mt.27:42 “He saves others, himself He cannot save.” Were they angry because He spoke against the Sanhedrin and the rulers of God’s people? Did they have the partial blindness that many Hebrews still suffer from; looking on Him that they pierced and considering Him condemned ? Let’s look into this:
In Matthew 10:34-36 it says, 34 Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. 35 For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. 36 And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.
We also find in Psalms 69:8, 9: 8 I am become a stranger unto my brethren, and an alien unto my mother’s children. 9 For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me.
Now because Jesus fulfilled all things that He spoke and that God spoke regarding the Messiah’s coming, it is no wonder that these scriptures are clearly evident in his own life.
We know from the Word that Jesus and his family obeyed the Laws of Moses and celebrated all the Feasts of the Lord. So it stands to reason that if the siblings of His own household, those reared in the same home, did not even come when he was being crucified—it is because they were at variance with him.
I submit to you this day that the Bible is the Word of God and is Light, Life and Truth. But that means that it is also SPIRIT.
RELIGION! It stifles the Spirit of God! It is the very spirit of anti-Christ. When you have religion, you know that there is a God and you know Him, and you feel like if you do all the right things you might be able to please God. But you can be doing all the right things for all the wrong reasons.
Y’shua is coming against the Pharisees and religious leaders very strongly and even to the point of explaining the Father’s Kingdom and about blasphemy of the Ruach Kodesh. His brethren came with his mother to try to speak to Him. I believe they were concerned and upset at His stand against them. Here it is:
Matthew 12:46-50 (KJV)
46 While he yet talked to the people, behold, his mother and his brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him.
47 Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee.
48 But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren?
49 And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren!
50 For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.
RELIGION has always been a problem! Looking at the real relationship of someone who gives honor to YaH, we can see it in the scriptures regarding Simeon who was a High Priest, waiting for the Messiah to arrive. When the Spirit of God spoke to Simeon and told him he would not die until he saw the salvation of God’s people come in the flesh, Simeon knew the time was soon for he was up in age.
He was a religious leader in the same time frame as the Pharisees and Saducees. And Simeon knew the Lord when he saw him at 8 days of age, without the benefit of miracles and signs. How?
Because of the Spirit of God! He had a relationship with God and not just religion! Let’s look at the religious leaders that were around at the same time as Simeon was preparing his heart to receive the salvation of the world:
1) There was the voice of one crying in the wilderness. Johanan ben Zacharias, (John the Baptist-the son of Zacharias). But was he a recognized leader in the church? NO. But according the the lineage of Johanan and Y’shua, they were the true anointed high Priests. The Pharisees of the Sanhedrin were in their positions by bribery and from the world authorities–not YaH’s. Jesus said- John was of the Spirit of Elijah. They were both killed inside one year of their ministries.
a) there were those who believed in John’s message and were his disciples. They were out there laboring with him in the wilderness.
b) These people heard the Spirit of the Lord to know that the Messiah was coming
c) They were to prepare the Way of the Lord in their hearts and as many of the other people as they could reach.
d) REPENTANCE is how this is done and when you are walking in repentance, the Spirit of Elijah is upon you too.
2) THEN there were the other religious leaders of God’s people: they were formally recognized as leaders
a) They had their own agendas and did not hear the Spirit of the Lord to know that the Messiah was coming! They did not tell the people to repent! They weren’t repenting either. (But the timeline of Cyrus told them clearly that the Messiah was due to arrive in their time.)
b) They had traits that were not of God, such as:
1) Hypocrites, actors, wanted to be the focus at gathering and in the streets
2) Wanted to have places of honor and be called Master and wear special clothes that set them apart from the people.
3) They felt they were elite and better than the “little people”.
4) They oppressed the people, taking the offerings to give them a cushy lifestyle. Forced others to work and they would not do physical labor
5) They made false vows because they swore by the gold of the Temple showing their hearts to be materialistic, involved in idol worship of gold and what it buys!
So, maybe Mary and Joseph’s sons and daughters had religion as laid out for them by the Pharisees and Saducees and Scribes. Certainly being raised in small communities and travelling together to celebrate the Feasts of the LORD, these activities joined them in the bonds of friendship with many around them.
So I submit to you today—That the religion of the Sanhedrin is Dead Religion! It is the same today. If you want the resurrection power of Y’shua HaMaschiach (Jesus Christ) to be in your life you must go to the cross! THAT IS WHERE IT BEGINS! iT IS THE START OF A NEW LIFE!
Back to Mary. She is at the cross, yes—but to watch Jesus suffer and die! Jesus knew she needed more and He was determined to make sure that she got it!
She had to die to herself. This is a difficult thing to do. She needs help to do it! She even had to die to what she thought God was going to do with her son!
Now let’s look at this more carefully. Jesus looks down from the cross in the midst of His pain and agony—each breath a tremendous labor, and says, “Woman, behold thy son!” This is a dying statement and according to Jewish beliefs, carried a great deal of weight! The last words of a dying man STILL carries a great weight in most cultures today.
You know that His mother was going to listen to her dying son, her eldest son! Yes she was! And what was Jesus doing?
I believe Jesus was providing a Spiritual teacher for His mother. He was making sure that she would understand the ways of the Spirit of God. And He was positioning her to receive…
She needed to be there in the Upper Room on the day of Pentecost! Do you think her other sons would get her there? Maybe not! Maybe after the crucifixion they would have separated themselves from the disciples of Y’shua and tried to regain “face” among the religious leaders after their “brother” bashed them.
When Y’shua (Jesus) came back from Heaven, after providing the perfect sacrifice and applying His perfect blood to the Mercy Seat in Heaven—do you think that He showed himself to his family? Did they recognize Him? We don’t know. The Word doesn’t say…
But His disciples saw Him. More than twice…He showed Himself to over 500 people while in His glorified body.
So Jesus was putting His mother into the hands of one who would make sure she would get the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and Fire! John was the spiritual disciple. He had the prophetic eyes for life. Jesus put His mother into his hands. Into the hands of John the Revelator! HE would tell her that the Lord resurrected and that they saw an angel sitting on the stone that was rolled away! He would make sure she knew what was going on. AND she would tell her children…
She needed to receive the Spirit of God! And so did her children! It wasn’t enough to know who Jesus was! She of all people knew that He was the Son of God! She risked being stoned to death by her own people because she was pregnant while only engaged to Joseph! So She KNEW!
She, and they, needed more than just knowing. More than knowing the Laws of God and the religious practices based on those laws! They do not save us! No one on Earth knew as surely as she – that Y’shua is the Son of God!
But I tell you when the Holy Spirit overshadowed Mary a deposit was made. It was the fullness of the God-head bodily. You can read that in Ephesians. He was fully formed -the only begotten of the Father-and had no blood of Miriam in Him. Oh yes and He is the son of God! A fully formed God/man “zygote” was placed in the womb of Miriam and she became the incubator to bring forth the Lord into the Earth.
Jesus’ family was not saved! However they were familiar with Him, maybe too familiar. You can be born into a Christian home and not be saved. Let’s look at His family a little more…
His family was around when John the Baptist, their cousin, was put into prison, and Jesus did nothing. They saw Jesus hanging around with publicans and healing Centurian’s servants, and lepers and the unclean. Eating and drinking with tax collectors. John was then beheaded and Jesus did nothing. Maybe they thought His ministry was too extreme…we don’t know. All we know is they did not stand beside Mary at the cross.
Yea! His good family was probably over at the Temple witnessing the Cohen HaGadol slit the throat of the Passover ram to cover the sins of Israel for one year…They didn’t realize that the Son of God IS the Passover Lamb!
Oh don’t miss this folks! Without the Spirit of God behind the works you do they are dead works! Without the Spirit of God within the Word of God it cannot bring the resurrection power we all need to have eternal life! I mean the eternal life of our soul!
(Our spirits are made alive when we receive the Lord into our hearts.) But I submit to you this day that there is more! Now that you are familiar with Y’shua (Jesus)—GO further!
I submit that there is a Baptism of Fire! The Spirit of God is still moving as He did when He came to the disciples on the Day of Pentecost! And when He came upon Jesus in the tomb! YES! The same Spirit!
So, if you are sick and tired of following blind guides, hypocrites, and materialistic elitists, then come to the cross and repent! Throw off religion from you!
You too can become a disciple laboring in the wilderness and the Spirit of Elijah will be with you too! Repent of religion! AND if you have salvation but have never allowed the Ruach Kodesh to operate freely –release Him! Open your gift and use it! He desires to move through you to accomplish what you were created for!
OK. Now there is one more thing. In John 19:28 the next verse after the 5th saying, it says, After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst.
ALL THINGS were now accomplished…THAT is how important this positioning of His mother is! The Word says all things were now accomplished! His family and loved ones were now positioned to receive the Holy Spirit!
Turn over to Acts 1:14. Let’s read it, These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brethren.
So now we see Jesus’ planned positioning of Mary who also brought along the brethren. We can be sure that the disciples told Mary how that Jesus rose from the dead. The incidents we can all read regarding the resurrection and how He ascended right before their eyes! That would do it for most people!
I believe the brethren were persuaded by the testimonies of the Apostles and their Mother. (remember, no one on Earth knew more than she who He was!)
Prepare your heart! Get into position for you and your family to receive the fire! Bring the fire to as many people as possible! Prepare ye the Way of the Lord! Receive His Spirit for resurrection POWER!
