Christian Community: What Jesus SHOWED US From the Cross
Easter. It seems so long ago, doesn’t it? But, I wonder if you might go back with me for a moment, because I think there is something of tremendous value for life as God intends it.
While Jesus hung on the cross he spoke some words that many of us (myself included) don’t give enough weight for living today. Consider these words from John’s gospel…
24b “So the soldiers did these things, 25 but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” 27 Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.”
John 19:24b-27 ESV
Jesus’ death is immanent. And when people are near death they focus on what’s important to them. Jesus says only 7 words. Four to his mother and three to one of his closest disciples. But it’s bigger than the number of words.
Jesus is creating relationships here to care for them. He is creating community to provide for John and his own mother in ways they didn’t see coming. All this as he hung on the cross. Dying.
But what blows my mind is that there are others standing there hearing these words. Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of Clopas, and Salome, Mary’s sister, who happens to be John’s mother are all standing there as well.
What Jesus is saying here is that those in the family of God share something more significant than flesh and blood. Faith in Christ unites us in a way that nothing else can. And one of the benefits of this unity in faith is to provide care for one another. The care of Jesus should be felt by everyone through our community of faith. Jesus established it at the cross and gave us the instruction to care for one another as a testimony to his care for us.
Pastor and author John Piper once said, “Christian relationships exist to keep us believing… without Jesus speaking through our brothers and sisters, we won’t survive.”
Is survival enough reason for you to truly embrace the community that God has placed in your life? What if I told you that Jesus’ love is so strong for you that not only does his death on the cross restore you to community with God through faith, but it also establishes community that is intended to provide for you in ways you didn’t know you needed?
Some of us that sit in churches are just in a cycle of sitting and getting. Our minds are oversaturated while our practice of community remains shallow. We need help in a trial, but no one knows. We need friendship in a season of loss, but we traverse the loneliness of isolation. We need to experience the love of Jesus in his body, but we are unwilling to ask our brothers and sisters for help. How do we get to this place when Jesus has brought us relationships for these very reasons?
We need to see that care in the community of faith was on Jesus’ mind on the cross. He has brought us together to model his loving care for us in the opportunity to love one another.
2 “Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.”
Galatians 6:2 ESV
The congregation needs care from its leaders and pastors. The leaders and pastors need care from their congregation. It’s interesting to me that an apostle’s care is in focus as much as a family member for Jesus. Jesus doesn’t make the distinctions we do when it comes to care in his community.
Perhaps the answer to our prayers we whisper in the dark is closer than we think. Perhaps the pathway to wholeness is found in the community Jesus established for us. Are we willing to lean in and find out?
