Sacrifice

Read John 19:24-27

So I want you to picture this scene with me: Here’s Jesus, hanging on the cross, all bloody and exhausted beyond words. Soldiers had already had their share of mocking him, beating him, and now they divided his undergarments. Near the cross were Jesus’ mother, Mary, Mary Magdalene, and John (“the disciple whom he loved.” They stood next to hanging Jesus filled with pity and sorrow. What could they do? Then suddenly, Jesus speaks.
He tells his mother, probably in painful, broken words, “Mother, here is your son.”
And then to John he says, “Here is your mother.”
The crowd stays silent as they process what Jesus just said.

I’m sure you know of this passage. But it’s important that you grasp and visualize what exactly is happening in this passage. Remember, Jesus isn’t just saying these words lightly. He’s on the cross! He’s suffering unbearable pain, and here, you can almost see him gasping these words out to his mother and John. And what did he say? Well, simply stated, he told his mother that John was now her son, and to John, that my mother is now your mother as well. The passage finishes with stating that “from that time on, this disciple took her into his home.”

What Jesus did was sacrifice. Yes, his crucifixion was also sacrifice, but this act of compassion towards his beloved mother and disciple was equally as sacrificial. You have to understand this. Jesus was dying. Yet he still took what air was left in his lungs to make certain of the welfare of his family. Now expand that, and you have the crucifixion. He suffered all the pain and humiliation all for the welfare of God’s family, His children. Do you get the picture? This is true sacrifice. Jesus is the true sacrifice.

Now you get it, but let’s connect it to your life. If Jesus sacrificed his all for us, and even sacrificed precious breaths to care for his family, how do we measure to that? I’m sure we sacrificed meat, Facebook, fast food, or any other distractions in life all for lent, but what does that act of sacrifice even mean for us? We’re so quick to sacrifice things all for the sake of “religion,” but do we even bother to sacrifice our time – our, oh so precious, time – for God’s people? For the ones we truly care for? Jesus cared for his mother and John when he was nailed to the cross, dying for our sins. Think about that. How should we respond to such sacrifice? As followers of Jesus, how can we be shine the light just how Jesus did? Pray that God would transform you into a “living sacrifice,” void of the old, and bursting with newfound light.