April 6 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading

John 19:16-27:

¹⁶Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified. And they took Jesus, and led him away.
¹⁷And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha:
¹⁸Where they crucified him, and two other with him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst.
¹⁹And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross. And the writing was JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS.
²⁰This 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.
²¹Then said the chief priests of the Jews to Pilate, Write not, The King of the Jews; but that he said, I am King of the Jews.
²²Pilate answered, What I have written I have written.
²³Then 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.
²⁴They 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 saith, They parted my raiment among them, and for my vesture they did cast lots. These things therefore the soldiers did.
²⁵Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene.
²⁶When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son!
²⁷Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home.

Devotional

Jesus on the cross; his mother standing near by. What must Jesus have felt, and what pain must have filled his mother's heart! Surely, this was the hour when a sword pierced through her own soul. Jesus does not say to her, Mother, I am sorry, but you see, I cannot do anything for you now. No, He provides for her. He commits her to the beloved disciple John, who took her to his own home. Jesus does not call her Mother. How could her mother-heart have stood it, if from the cross He had called her Mother? Besides, henceforth there was to be an end to the earthly mother-son relationship. Yet, Jesus was even now mindful of his mother's earthly needs.

How utterly alone Jesus must have felt when He hung on the cross! He had come unto his own, but his own received him not. His own people had rejected him. His own brothers did not believe on him. And his disciples had fled and left him alone. To all outward appearances his cause seemed to be a lost one. And now there stood by the cross the two that were so dear to him, his mother and the disciple who had leaned on his bosom, whom He loved. He gives them to each other before He dies. And He trod the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of God alone.

Prayer

Almighty God, our heavenly Father, we thank Thee, that Jesus Christ bore the fierceness of Thy wrath against our sin, and made peace between Thee and us. Help us to live in peace with each other. Bless our home life. May parents and children be led by Thy Spirit to do Thy will. For Jesus' sake. Amen.

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Scripture in Devotional: Luke 2:35; John 1:11; 7:5; 6:32; Matt. 26:36; John 13:23; Isa. 63:3; Rev. 19:15.

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