Alright, if you've got your Bibles, turn with me to John 19. John 19. We're going to look today at the third of the seven sayings of Christ on the cross. We're just trying to work our way through these as we've been studying Jesus on the cross. We just kind of stopped and said we want to hear what Jesus says while He's on the cross. He's on the cross for somewhere around six hours and He says seven different things. It's not just seven sayings, but I think it's eight sentences and about 50 words in these six hours. So he says very few things while he's on the cross. And as we're studying these things, we need to know that if he's on the cross for this length of time, six hours, and he says very few words, then every single thing that he says is very important and is full of meaning. So we've been taking these sayings and just trying to get everything we can out of them. And today, I think this one is just as important. We're going to look today at the third of the sayings, and this is His loving words. These are probably the most loving words that He would say on the cross. So I want you to hear these words. I want you to have ears to hear. I want you to have a heart that would feel these words that He's going to say. Not just that we would hear these things and understand them or they'd be theological truths, but I want you to actually feel these things today. I want you to know the love of Christ in these words. So let's stand together. Again, the title of the sermon today is The Loving Words of Christ. And it's just three verses here. Verse 25 of John 19 going down to verse 27. And you'll see that I think we have seven words here this morning that I want us to study and to hear these loving words of our Savior Jesus Christ. Starting in verse 25, it says, And now, there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas and Mary Magdalene. And when Jesus therefore saw his mother and the disciples standing by whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son. Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother. And from that hour that disciple took her into His own home. It doesn't sound like much. I get that. You say, well, that's not a whole lot to study today. But this is rich and full of meaning. Very important. These are loving words flowing from Jesus in a time of great hatred where everybody around Him seemed to hate Him and be His enemies. Here we have love flowing from our Savior. So let's pray together and we'll look at the loving words of Christ. Father, I thank You for these words. I think these words are valuable, important, deep, meaningful. I think these words should be etched in our minds and upon our hearts, especially these words. Last week and maybe the week before, they were very deep and theological. These, I think, are very emotional. And we need to feel these words. We need to feel the emotion of Christ on the cross. We need to feel the emotion of His mother around the cross. And I think this is an emotion, this is a passage that is meant to be felt. So God, I pray that You would, by Your Spirit, engage every single one of us here today. Engage our minds and engage our hearts. And I pray that it would change our will, that we would live differently because of the love of Christ. Teach us, please, by Your Spirit. And we ask and pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. You can be seated. I want to start with a question this morning. I think it will be a self-examination for every one of us in here. I want to look around the room and ask every single one of you the same question. I want you to think about it throughout the sermon, not just here at the beginning, but all throughout the sermon and especially at the end. I want you to be able to answer this question. And the question is, do you personally know the love of Christ? I'm going to ask that again. I want you to think about it. Do you personally, I'm not asking for your family, I'm not asking for your mom or your dad or anybody around you, I'm asking for you personally, do you know the love of Christ? And I would say if I asked every one of you here personally, one-on-one, as you're leaving here today, you'd say, yes, I know the love of Christ. But I want to clarify what I mean by, do you know the love of Christ? I'm not asking you if you've heard of the love of Christ, because I would say everybody in here has heard of the love of Christ. We've all sung the song, Jesus Loves Me, this I know for the Bible tells me so. We know about the love of Christ. We know that is the message that everybody shares. Jesus loves you. Jesus loves you. Jesus loves you. We've all heard that statement. I'm not asking if you've heard it. I'm not even asking if you believe it. Because I think as a fact, everybody in here believes Jesus loves them. I don't think there's a doubt in anybody's mind that Jesus loves them. I think this is a fact that you learned when you were in vacation Bible school. A fact that you learned when you were downstairs in Sunday school and your teacher taught you Jesus loves you. Maybe the first thing you ever learned was Jesus loves me. For God so loved the world. So I'm not asking you if you believe it. I'm not asking if you've heard it. I'm asking if you know it. Ephesians chapter 3, Paul said he wanted them to know the love of Christ. He wants you to personally have experienced it. He wants you to have felt it. He wants you to be moved by it. To be overwhelmed by the love of Christ. To be controlled by it. To be consumed by it. To be filled with the love of Christ. So again, I ask, Do you know the love of Christ? And if you don't, the very place you need to go to feel the love of Christ, to be moved by the love of Christ, to be controlled by it, is to the cross. Go to the hill called Calvary where Jesus is dying for our sins. The cross is the proof of the immense love of Jesus. When we go to the cross, we find that the death of Christ is the purest and greatest act of love that has ever been committed in the history of the world. If you want to feel the love of Christ, you go to the cross. The Bible says, greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. The Bible says, here is love. I love that, 1 John 1, 1 John 4. Here is love. And I think our world needs to hear that today because we think that the love of Christ is Jesus washing feet. That's an example of service. The love of Christ is found here is love. Not that we love God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be a propitiation for our sins. That's love. That's where we go to find love. It's at the cross. The Bible says in Romans, but God commended his love toward us and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. If you want to feel the love of Christ, if you want to be consumed with the love of Christ, you need to go to the cross. And not just to the cross, but in those six hours on the cross, if you really want to see His love, you go to these words. The whole six hours is the love of Christ being poured out on us as He's dying for our sins and as a substitute in our place. But if you really want to dial it down and say, where is the most loving place on the cross? You find it here. We're narrowing it down into these words as He speaks these words to His mom. His mother is there watching Him die. And it's here that He speaks the most loving words. This is where His love is supremely displayed. In these seven words, we see the love of Christ. So I want to dig into these words and I want you to feel this. There will be great emotion in these words. This should be the most popular sermon I've ever preached. All you hear is about love. Well, I'm preaching on love today. I'm the happy preacher today. No hellfire and brimstone today. It's all love today. Everybody's going to love a sermon on love. So let's look at these words. The loving words of Christ. And as I usually do, I've broken these three verses down into three points. And I want to start with, in verse 25, not the love that Jesus has, but I want to start with the loving devotion of His mother. As you see there in verse 25, it says, and now, which could be but, as it contrasts with verse 24, as we're talking about verse 24, these soldiers who are casting lots for his clothes. It says that they parted my raiment among them and my vesture they cast lots. These things therefore the soldiers did. And so they're sitting there around the cross and they're throwing dice seeing who can win his clothes. He gets nothing. And they're going to take it all. And in comparison there, in verse 24, it's full of hatred. Verse 25 would be full of love. It's not just hatred. It's not just cruelty around the cross. Here standing by the cross, I like that standing by the cross. At the foot of the cross. Close at the cross. We seem to think of the cross as being very tall and the crowd being very far away. But historians say the cross was anywhere between 7 and 9 feet tall. So it's not really that tall. You can actually almost be face to face with a person on the cross. So there's some people standing at the foot of the cross, around the cross, who are so close to the cross that they can reach out and touch Jesus on the cross. These people have front row seats to what's going on. They can hear everything that He says. I mean, this is a close proximity to the cross. They're there. Who's there? The answer is given to us. Standing by the cross of Jesus. Standing at the foot of the cross, being able to reach out and touch him. Maybe even if the cross is seven foot, I mean, you can almost look into his eyes. If it's nine foot, it's not even that much higher. And you can be able to reach out and touch his feet and to say, oh, I know his feet. Who's standing there? His mother. Mary, you've not heard much about her. You hear a lot about her at the beginning. You see a few things through the middle and then you find her here. She's probably now in her late 40s or early 50s. She's a widow. Her husband has passed on. We don't hear anything about him. She has other kids. Jesus has brothers and sisters, half-brothers and sisters who are not there with her. So she's standing there at the cross as her firstborn son is dying. And there with her is her sister Salome. It says there, her sister. There's five people there. Jesus' mom, His mother's sister Salome, who would be James and John's mother. They're the sons of thunder. So she's there, a sister. There's another Mary there, the wife of Cleophas, which was the mother of James the Lesser. And then there's another Mary there. You see that? Out of the five people who are standing at the cross, there's three Marys. I think there's some meaning there. The name Mary or Miriam would be bitter. Bitter times three around the cross. Suffering, pain around the cross. His other Mary would be Mary Magdalene, the one Jesus cast out, I think it was eight demons out of her. And then there's John. John had fled. It says there, the disciple that he loved, John had fled. John had left and went home. But for some reason now, John has come back and he's there. And all five of these show great devotion to Jesus, great courage. It's dangerous to be there. They're looking for anybody who would be connected to Jesus that they put them on the cross, too. I mean, everybody else has deserted him. Where are the men now? These cowards have fled. But here's four women and John standing at the cross. And why are they standing there? That's the question. And I can't speak for all of them. I went down through there and I thought, let me try to figure out why they're there. What made them stay when everybody else deserted Jesus? When all the disciples fled to their own home, why are they there? When all the friends, the ones who should be there, the ones who followed Him when He was feeding them food and healing their bodies, they should be there too. Why these five and everybody else gone? I was just racking my brain. Why would they be there? Meg Magdalene had the demons cast, although okay. I mean, she'd follow him to the gates of hell and back. Salome? I don't know. The other Mary? I don't know. John? Maybe he felt bad and came back. I don't know. But the answer I get is I think they're there for Mary. Because I know why Mary's there. If you're a mother here today, you know why Mary's there. Because she loves Jesus more than anything else in this world. You cannot ever underestimate the love of a mom. And the Bible even says that there is no love like the love of a mother. I mean, even the Bible says that the father don't love like a mother does. I mean, you carry a child for nine months. You watch over that child all the way up until it's grown up. And even when they're grown up, I'll tell you this, I've never stopped worrying about you. It never stops. They're never out of the mother's mind. I guarantee you I know why Mary's there. She loves Jesus. So I think those others came because they couldn't drag Mary away. I think they went and got John. I think Salome said, John, I can't get her away. You're going to have to do something. So John comes. I've got to be there for her. And all those are gathering around the cross just to be there for Mary. She's there out of love. Her love compelled her to be there. Her love controlled her. Her love for Jesus consumed her. Even when it's dangerous, she says, nobody's taking me away from the cross. What devotion? And it says she's standing by the cross. She's not sitting. I've been to several funerals where the mother lost a child and they'll say, sit down. Get her a chair. It's the worst thing you can ever imagine. But there she is standing. Not fainting, not running, not sitting, she's standing. And she's doing it because she loves Him. Of all the people in all the world, I don't think anybody loved Jesus like Mary did. And her love kept her there. Her love kept her from straying away. Her love kept her from fleeing. Because love will stay even when it's dangerous. Love will stay even when it's hard. If you love Jesus, there's no way you would run away. There's no way you'd flee. There's no way you'd be a coward. And out of all the people, she stays because she loves Him. And I think if you're a Christian long enough, you'll get the chance to, out of safety from my own popularity, reputation, that I could run and hide. Or I could stay by the Savior's side. And it'll be love for Him that compels you to stay. The love kept her there. And it's the love that, this love, that loving devotion that she had, that now Jesus gives her some of the most blessed words in all Scripture. So I want to move to point number two. Not just the loving devotion of His mother, but I want to show you the loving duty to His mother. Because now Jesus looks down. You see that now stood by the cross of Jesus, His mother. His mother's sister, that's Salome. Mary, the wife of Cleophas. And Mary Magdalene. And then there's John standing there too. And it says in verse 26, when Jesus therefore saw. And I want to stop right there. He saw. The word there means He gazed at. He looked down on. He sees her. What do you think He saw when He looked down? See, I just think my way through these passages. Not even with commentaries out. I'm just sitting there reading this and I'm thinking, what did Jesus see when He looked down? I mean, now, she's looking up at Jesus, standing there, and He looks down and He sees a small little group. And this is a sidebar, but I think those five people blessed Jesus' heart. In a scene full of hatred and a scene full of enemies, don't you think it blessed Jesus to look down and see five people that loved Him? In a world, this is a sidebar, in a world that hates Jesus, that is indifferent to Jesus, don't you think even a small crowd of people that love Him blesses Him? So he looks down and he sees his mother. You see that? He sees his mom. He's not even really looking. This is eyes gazing down at his mom. He's not even paying attention to the other Marys and to Salome and to John. He's locked in on his mom. And I think what he sees when he sees his mom is he sees that she's struggling. He sees that she's suffering. He sees that she's having a hard time. He sees what she's going through. See, 33 years earlier, She was told in Luke 2, a sword shall pierce through your own soul. She went to the temple and Simeon held the baby. This baby will be for the rising and the fall of many. And he will be the cause of your soul being pierced through the sword. You will suffer because of him. And she had suffered. She'd seen Jesus hated and rejected and all kinds of bad things happened to him. But here, That sword is piercing her soul. Here, if Jesus is a man of sorrows, she has become the mother of sorrows. Here is sorrow upon sorrow. Here is burden upon burden. Here, her perfect, innocent son is dying in such a public and awful way. Can you imagine what's going through her mind as she's looking up at her son dying on a cross? If you're a mother here today, think about watching one of your children die. And not just one of your children, this is Mary watching the Son of God die! What's going through her mind? She's probably thinking of the crown of thorns that's on his head. And she's thinking, that's the very same head that I kissed when he was a baby. And she's seeing His hands out wide and she's thinking, that's the hand that I held as He took His first steps. And she's thinking of the blood pouring down His body that she held and cradled as a child. You can't understand the suffering that she's going through. Her heart is breaking. She's thinking of memories. She's pondering in her heart the promises of God. He told me what He'd do. And she believes everything He said. Her eyes are filled with tears. And Jesus looks down at her and He sees that. You better believe He sees that. In His own agony, in His own suffering, as He's fighting the greatest battle that's ever been fought, where all the demons of hell are after Him. When He should have been totally consumed with His self, He looks down and sees His mother so broken, so lonely, so heartbroken, And in that moment, his heart goes out to her. What a Savior. His heart goes to her. He sees her need. His heart draws near to her. It's amazing that in the first three statements that Jesus has made from the cross, it's all been about others and not about Him. He's suffering and his mind is on, Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. A thief, I'll remember you. Today you'll be with me in paradise. And now his heart goes out to his mother. What a Savior. And you need to know this. And I know this is another sidebar, but Psalm 34 says he's always near the broken hearted. There's an old preacher that says if you'll preach to the broken hearts, you'll never lack of an audience because there's always going to be people who are broken hearted. There's always going to be people in the church who has their soul pierced through. So if you're sitting here today and you've had your heart broken in some way. It could be a child that's died. You need to know that it's Jesus's heart that goes out to you in the midst of that terrible pain that you're going through. Maybe you have a bad disease and you've been told you have cancer and your soul is pierced through and it's Jesus's heart who goes out to you. Maybe you had a spouse left and you've been divorced and it's broken you and it's broken your family. Know that Jesus' heart goes out to you. Maybe you've been abused. Maybe you were born blind or deaf or lame. It's Jesus' heart that goes out to you. It's the love that even on the cross, His heart goes out to you. He feels for you. You need to know that. He feels for you. There's compassion for you in the depths of your need. When you're struggling the most, He looks down on you with compassion. That's who He is. I said that the last words show who a person really is. And His last words show just how loving Jesus is. So his heart goes out to her. And this is who He is. This is what He does. And I've seen it over and over in funerals, in hospitals. I've seen the love of Christ pour over people's lives. So he sees this. And watch what he says. Just follow with me. He saw his mother. He saw the disciples standing by whom he loved. John's writing this. He won't even say his own name. All he'll say is, I'm the one Jesus loved. He, you want to know what John knows? John knows the love of Christ. He's felt it. He's experienced it. And he says to his mother, what a moment. Aren't you glad those five people were there so they could hear these words? I'm glad they stayed. I'm sure these words were etched into every one of their hearts for the rest of their lives. He looks at his mom and he says, woman. First word, woman. Notice that he didn't say mother. He says woman. There's a great severing that's taking place here. And he looks at her and he doesn't say mom. He says woman. And I think if you picture it as he's nodding at her, woman. And this isn't a word of disrespect, this would be a word of great respect. The word woman here would be like saying ma'am. Ma'am. It's polite, it's respectful, but it's not mom. Ma'am. Behold your son. And he's not talking about himself. Again, hands out, so he's not pointing. I think he looks at his mother and says, woman, behold your son. And his eyes now go to John, the disciple he loved. Woman, here's your son. Woman, this is now your son. And then the next phrase, he looks at John, just his head going back and forth, and he says, unto that disciple, behold now your mother. Do you see what he's doing there? Woman, this is your son. Disciple, this is your mother now. He's basically telling his mom to adopt a brand new son. I'm stepping out. And again, this is moments before He dies. And if you look down through there in verse 28 at the start, it says, And after this, Jesus knows that all things were now accomplished. He's done. Everything that He needed to do before He died has been done. This is the last thing He does before He says, I thirst, and it is finished. I mean, this is moments away from Him dying on the cross, and He's looking at her saying, This is the last thing that needs to be done. The last thing on my to-do list is to hand my mother over to the disciple who I love. Do you see what he's doing there? He's making sure. He's dotting every i and crossing every t. I must make sure that in the worst time of her life that she'll be taken great care of. What love! This is amazing. He's saying this is now your son. And history says that John would now call her mom. And that she would call him son. This is literally an adoption taking place here. Take her home. Take her into your heart. Take her into your arms. Take her into your life. Take care of her with Jesus's last breath. He's loving his mother. all the way to the end. His last duty on earth before he dies for our sin is to make sure his mom's taken care of. And I want to say this about John. Can you imagine? He says, Mom, he's going to take care of you. And I'll say it in a second, but I don't think when he said, John, this is your mother now, that John said, oh, I don't have enough already to do. I can't believe he's handing her off to me. I think this was one of the greatest blessings and privileges of John's life. We're going to talk about it in a minute because I think this is an example to us on how we ought to take care of our parents when they get old. I think it's one of the greatest privileges that God could give a child to be able to take care of their parents as they grow old. And when John gets this, and I think John deserted Jesus, and John strayed, and John went away. Now when Jesus gives him this responsibility, it's as if he's saying, I trust you with one of the greatest things in my life, my mom. I know you strayed. I know you went away. I know you wasn't by my side. But you're here now, and I'm giving you this privilege. And it's going to be the sweetest thing you'll ever do. I'm handing my mom to you. And John took it. What a blessing. Jesus shows here, first of all, that He's in complete control. I mean, here He is dying on the cross, moments away from breathing His last breath, and He's giving orders. He didn't ask them. He didn't say, Mother, will you now go with Him? And John, will you please take care of her? And John's sitting there thinking, I don't know about that. And his mother's saying, not that guy. They both say, okay. He's in complete control while He's on the cross. But I want you to see, too, that he honors his mother, showing obedience not to his mother, but to the law. Because from Mount Sinai, the fifth commandment says, honor your mother and father. I mean, it's written in tablets. It's written in stone. And I think today's generation has forgotten all the commandments, especially the fifth commandment. I believe we're raising a generation of brats. I'm going to get myself in trouble for that one. That one wasn't in my notes. A generation with no appreciation, no respect, no honor. They don't even know the fifth commandment. I think if we taught our kids all the Ten Commandments, that our kids would be raised to do a little bit better than what they're doing. But especially that fifth one. Honor your mother and father. That on Mount Sinai, there is written in tablet, in stone, by the very hand of God, honor your mother and father. I mean, it's the fifth commandment. And the kids here today, especially mine, need to know that. Honor your mother and father, which means that in childhood, you obey them. Jesus obeyed His mother. And then from Mount Calvary, we see Jesus obey that commandment. that he not just obeyed his mother in childhood, he honored her in adulthood. So that's how you honor your mother and father. It's not just I obey until I get out of the house, because I tell my kids that. You obey me as long as you're under my roof, you'll abide by my rules. I finally get to say that. My mom and dad used to say that to me, and I used to say, that's terrible, I can't wait to get out. And now I say to my kids, while you're under my roof, you abide by my rules. And it's not my rules. These are God's rules. You must obey your mother and father. You must do what I say. What I say goes. I love that one. I say in our house, majority rules. And I'm the majority. And that's what He's doing. He's obeyed her in childhood and now He's honoring her in His adulthood. This is perfect obedience to the law all the way up to the end. We know that about Jesus. It's been said that He is perfect in every way. He's innocent of every charge. That He never did a single thing wrong. And here He is, His last breath, and He's following the commandments. He's in the middle of the most important spiritual work that's ever been done in the history of the world. And he's still meeting simple family responsibilities. He wants to make sure that his mother's going to be taken care of. He passes on the responsibility to the one he can trust the most. People have asked, why didn't he? He had brothers and sisters we know of. Why didn't he hand her off to a brother and sister, somebody else in the family? Because they weren't believers at that time and he couldn't trust them. They're not even there. They're not even there to take care of their mother when she's suffering and struggling through her son's death. So he says, I'm handing her over to somebody I can trust. This is an example to us of our duty. Parents are given over to children in their old age to take care of them. And if there's no children, they're handed over, 1 Timothy says, to the church. This is God's social security system. I said it in a sermon not too long ago in 1 Timothy. It's going to switch one day. Right now, I take care of five kids. And we spend more time at McDonald's than you could ever imagine. Happy meals, hamburgers, chicken nuggets. You name it, we buy it. And every time we pass a McDonald's, even if we've just eaten dinner at the house, Seth's made a huge feast, we pass a McDonald's and it's like, can we stop? So I mean, and the processors are going through the roof and we're sitting there paying $8 for a Happy Meal. And they don't even come with a toy half the time. And so we're taking care of them, a roof over their head, clothes on their back, food in their belly, I mean just all the time. And I love to do that, but one day they're going to get older, they're going to get out of the house and marry and have their own kids, and I'm going to get real old. My hair is going to get a lot grayer than it is now. And I'm going to be struggling, and it'll be their turn to buy me a Happy Meal. It'll be their turn. I've got five. You say, Josh, why do you have five? I want to make sure that at least one of them take care of me when I get older. If there's five, they'll take great care of me, because that'll be their job. I take care of them to a point, and then when it's their turn, they take care of me. This is exactly what Jesus is doing. She took care of him, and now he's taking care of her. He's fulfilling his earthly responsibilities. And Timothy in 1 Timothy says, if you can't do this, you're worse than an infidel. If you can't take care of your own family as they're growing older, if you can't be a Christian in the most basic way at your home, then you're worse than an unbeliever. This is our responsibility. This is our duty. There are no excuses. If Jesus can do it here, we can do it anywhere. Jesus had the best excuse of anybody that's ever lived. He could have easily said, I'm dying on the cross here for the sins of the world. I think I can back out on this and let her take care of herself for a minute. And I've seen that where people say, I'm busy. I've got a job. I've even seen preachers do that. I've got a spiritual duty that I can't take care of my parents anymore. If Jesus can do it when he's doing the most important spiritual duty that's ever been done, we can do it in whatever we're doing. He's dying on a cross and taking care of his mother. No excuses. It's our responsibility. It's our duty. And I want to say this again. I've already said it once. It's our privilege. It's sweet when God lets us take care of our parents as they grow old. So you say, is this it? There's nothing else here? That these words are teaching us just to take care of your parents? No, I think there's so much more here. I think it goes even deeper. So let's move to the last point and I'll be done. We've seen the loving devotion of His mother, the loving duty to His mother, and I want to show you the loving death for His mother. Because Mary's losing a son. Verse 27, and from that hour, what hour is he talking about there? From that hour, the disciple took her into his own home. Do you see that word home? They've added that there. It's in italics. The disciple took her into his own, his own heart, his own life, his own home. What hour is that? From that hour that Jesus died, she now belongs to John. Jesus is going to die. It says, after this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that Scripture might be fulfilled, He says, I thirst. And now there was a vessel full of vinegar. They filled it with a sponge of vinegar. And He put upon it hyssop, put it into His mouth. And when Jesus, therefore, had received the vinegar, He said, it's finished, bowed His head, gave up the ghost. He's done. He dies in that hour. From that hour of His death. And I'm sure she watched. Some people say that she left before that last cry. But I believe that she was right there as he said, it is finished. And maybe even she cried out, oh, my son is gone! You get that? She says, oh, my son has died! She watches him take him down off the cross and even to be buried. And John did exactly as he was told to do. He took her into his own. From that moment, from that very hour, she belonged to John. Her son is gone. And in that hour, everything changed for her. In that hour, her son is gone. She'll see him again. John 20. Just over a passage here. John 20.10. I found this this week. This is after the resurrection. John and Peter have a foot race to see who can get there the fastest. They literally did. They ran both together in verse 4. The other disciple did outrun Peter. John is riding this. He's like, I got there before he did. I'm faster than Peter. It's like something my boys would ride. And came first to the sepulcher. But down in verse 10, they didn't find the body. They found the napkin, the handkerchief, but not the body. And when they saw that he wasn't there, it says in verse 9, they knew not the Scripture that he must rise again from the dead. Then the disciples went away again. Where did they go? to their own home. It says in John 19 that He took her to His own home. Again, that's in italics. He took her to her own. And then here, He goes back to the home. What does He go to the home for? Because that's where Mary's at and He wants to go and tell her, listen, He's not there. He is risen. So she'll see Him again. But the next time she sees Him, He won't be her son. That earthly, natural, fleshly, physical relationship has been severed. She now belongs to John. The next time she sees Jesus, she's lost a son. But she's gained a savior. The next time she sees him again, she's lost an irreplaceable son, but she has gained an incomparable savior. The next time she sees him, he would have died for her sins. Everything changes in that last breath. My son is dead. He is now my Savior. And he's died for her sins. Mary was a sinner just like every one of us. And Jesus is on the cross dying for her sin. paying for her sin. He's dying for the sin of mine and the sin of yours, and He's dying for her sin. He left her nothing as a son, but He gave her everything as a Savior. In His death, He becomes her Savior. Mary was in desperate need of a Savior just like we are. Mary, just like the rest of the world, needs a Savior. And from that point on, when He dies, my Son, my Son, now becomes my Savior, my Savior. He's our Lord and Savior. In the upper room in Acts 1.14. And I'll turn there. It's just over a page. You might want to turn there too. They're in the upper room. Jesus has ascended. It says in verse 12, Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet. Which is from Jerusalem on the Sabbath day's journey. And they would come in. They went into the upper room. Where above both Peter and James and John and Andrew and Philip and Thomas and Bartholomew and Matthew and James, the son of Alphaeus and Simon, Zealots and Judas, the brother of James. These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication with the women. And Mary, the mother of Jesus and with his brethren. His brothers, James, Joseph, Simeon and Jude. And his mother's in the upper room. And what's she doing in the upper room? And I know this, you won't, this doesn't affect us at all. But those people in the upper room aren't praying to Mary. Mary's praying to Jesus. And when she prays, she doesn't pray, oh son. She prays, oh savior. And the church, it says historically that John went to Ephesus, to the church at Ephesus. And they took her with Him. And she was with Him until the end of her life. And in that church, she worshiped just like everybody else, her Savior. And in that church, she sings too. Not her son, but her Savior. And in that church, she learns about not her son, but her Savior. She knew all the physical things about Him growing up, but now she's learning doctrinal things about her Savior. The relationship has changed in his death. In his death, he goes from being her son to being her savior. And in heaven, get this. And she's in heaven today. She doesn't call him son. She calls him savior. There's no special place in heaven for her. There are no elite Christians. You would think that if she was son, if she still considered him son, if it was me and I'm in heaven and I've got my place there, I'm going to have my mom sitting right beside me. Right? Isn't that what we do? We love our mom. We want her right there with us. And if it was still a son and mother relationship in heaven, there'd be Jesus on the throne and Mary right beside. He's my son. There's no elite Christians. The relationship she has to him is the same relationship I have to him, Savior and Lord. And it all changed in that dance. She gets to heaven the same way as the rest of us. You know how the thief got to heaven? Faith in Jesus Christ. The man on the middle cross got the thief into heaven. Today, you'll be with me in paradise. You want to know how Mary got to heaven? The same exact way as the thief. He did it in his last breath. She was favored her whole life, but they all got to heaven the same way by the man on the middle cross dying for her sin. When she gets to heaven's gates and they say, well, why should you get in? She could easily throw the, he's my son card. Right? You think that would get you into heaven? I birthed him. In a stable. There was animals. I raised him. I was there at the foot of the cross. I get here because of what I did. The only way Mary gets in is by faith in Jesus Christ. The same way as any of us. There's no favoritism in heaven. Mary plays no role in her salvation. She's no co-mediator. We don't pray to her. She is the same as all of us. Not accepted or allowed into heaven because Jesus was her Son. She's accepted, allowed, and entered into heaven because Jesus is her Savior. John 1 says that we're not saved by flesh and blood. We're saved by faith in Jesus. We're saved by sin bearing substitutionary death on a cross. All of us goes the same way. And I know you think, why are you telling us this? Because you've got a whole bunch of people in this world who think Mary is a co-redemptress. That she's something more than what she is. That we pray to her. Mary gets there the same way we do. By faith in Jesus Christ. And here, and I'll close, here, In death, not only does he die for her sin and become her savior, but he shows her real love. I don't think she knew real love. Back to that question I asked, do you know the love of Christ? I don't think she knew real love until the moment he died for her sins. Oh, there was love. I have no doubt that he loved her as a son loves a mother. Are you right? That's a natural love. Like I would love my mom. And she loves me. And we love each other. That's a natural here love. And that's a great love. But there's no love like the love He showed on the cross in dying for our sins. And when He dies, she sees a love that she had never seen before. I think it's here that she truly knew what love was. I think it's here that she really experienced love. I think it's here that she felt that love. I think it's here that she realized the depths of the love of Christ and she knows what we know. See, this sermon isn't about how much he loved his mom as a mother and a son. This sermon is about how much he loved her as a Savior. Because if he loves her as a Savior like that, then he loves all of us like that. That's amazing. that He has shown us the same love He showed her. That He not only took care of her, I love this, He made sure she was taken care of in life, and He made sure she was taken care of in death. Because that's exactly what a Savior does. He makes sure we're taken care of here, and He makes sure we're taken care of there. What a Savior! What love! This is the love that Paul was talking about, and I want you to turn there, and I'll be done. Ephesians 3, and I'll close. Ephesians 3, verse 14. I want to read a few verses here, and I'm going to get down to the ones I really want to mention, just as a way of closing here. He says in verse 14, for this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He's praying here for the Ephesians. I found myself praying this for you today, this week. I had a guy walk in my office this week and I was in the middle of praying this for our church. He said, did I interrupt you? I said, no. He left and I went right back to praying what Paul prayed for the Ephesians here. For this cause I bow my knees. under the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would, here's the request, that He would grant you according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith, that you would be rooted and grounded in love, and that you may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and the length and the depth and the height and to know the love of Christ which passes all knowledge. I was reading that and I could not stop with what, I couldn't move on from the breadth and the length and the depth and the height that you would comprehend just how big His love is for us. And He goes in four different directions here. And you can underline those and you can study them later what He means by that. Some people say that there's four directions that the cross goes and there's four directions of His love. The cross goes up, the cross goes down, the cross goes left, the cross goes right. And here's four dimensions of His love. And I want to just show you this. It says the breadth of His love. I love that the love of Christ is so broad that it will go all the way, His arms reach all the way around the world. And if you read Ephesians, it'll tell you that it's a love that is so broad, that it'll reach one direction all the way to the Gentiles, and one direction all the way to the Jew, people who couldn't be further apart! And He reaches out to both, and can save them all! What love? You say, I don't get the Gentile and Jew thing. How about this one? His love is so broad. The breadth of His love is so wide that He reaches all the way to the Republicans and all the way to the Democrats and He can save them on both sides. What love? That's the breadth of His love. His arms reaches all the way to the corners of the world and wraps around them all. What love? The breadth of His love. You need to know that. The length of His love. How long does He love? From eternity past to eternity future. Ephesians 1 says that He has predestined us in love from before the foundation of the world. He loved me in eternity past. You say, how long ago was that? A long time ago. And He is loving me all the way into eternity future. You say, how long is that? Long time. His love is that long in how He loves us. And it never stops. And nothing can separate us from that love that's in Christ Jesus. How about this one? You want another one? We've said the breadth. We've said the length. How about the depth? That's the one that goes down. How far did His love go down? Ephesians 2 says, And you have the quickened who were dead. We were in a pit of our own sin. How low could you go? You who are dead in sins. Keep reading. wherein in times past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience, on whom also we had our conversations in times past, in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and we were by nature, by birth, children of wrath, even as the others. is as deep as you can go. We should have sung Love Lifted Me today. Because I was sinking deep in sin. How about this? I was dead in sin. I was sinking deep in sin. Far from the peaceful shore. Buried so deep down below that nothing could save me. But His love reached way down and pulled me up. That's the depths of the love of Christ. Know how low you've been. That's how low the depths. reaching way down to pull me out. You want one more? The height. That's the cross pointing up. How high is He going to take us? Ephesians says that He's going to lift us up and take us into the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. All the way up to the presence of God Almighty. That's love. that He reached way down, takes me way up, reaches His arm way out to get me. Love me from eternity past to eternity future. What love that could take you to the heights of heaven. That one day I'll be there with the thief. I'll be there with Mary. And we'll all be worshiping the same Savior who loved us and died in our place. What love. Verse 19. Let me read verse 18 again. Let me read verse 17 again. that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith, that you being rooted and grounded in love may be able to comprehend with all the saints." All the saints. That's the thief. That's Mary. That's Paul. That's Peter. That's James. That's his brothers. That's his sisters. You know his brothers and sisters got saved and they don't have a special place in heaven where there's Mary and his brothers and sisters and they've got a little elite section over there and there's a thief section over there like a little smoking section. They're in the back corner. I hear people say that if I can just get in the back corner of heaven, I'll be alright. I'm seated in the heavenlies with Christ Jesus. There's no second class citizens in heaven. No, no, no, no. That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith as you're being rooted and grounded in love. That you may be able to comprehend with all the saints. Understand this. Know this. What is the breadth and the length and the depth and the height? That you will know the love of Christ. which passes all knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God. And then Paul says, I just can't take it anymore. Now unto him who's able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen. Praising, praising, praising for his great love. And let me close with this. Do you know the love of Christ? That's the question. I'm not asking you if you have heard about it. We've all heard about it. I'm not asking you if you've believed it. We all believe it. I'm asking you if you've experienced the love of Christ. That's what I'm asking. That's what I want to know. Have you truly experienced it? Have you felt it? And I know that I'm not big on emotions, but there's an emotional aspect to our faith. Where you get involved deep down in your soul. We're not just here. I love theology, but theology must drive our emotions! And if you know the love of Christ, then you can't help but be thankful for it. You can't help but be consumed by it. You can't help but be compelled by it. That you'll be devoted to Him and love Him and serve Him with all of your days if you truly know this love. Do you know it? Have you felt it? Do you feel it today? Deep down inside your heart, do you feel the love of Christ? And if you don't, you say, no, I don't have any idea what that's like. Church to me is dead. Church to me is cold. Service to Him doesn't matter. I don't know what you mean by love. I take you to a cross. And I say, see what He did for you. See Him dying. See His hands outstretched. See His head with a crown of thorns. See His feet with a nail pierced through. See Him dying and put your faith in Him like Mary did. And you'll know the love. You'll know it. Know the love of Christ. If you could see the love here, and you could hear the love here, and you could know the love, I don't know how you could ever turn Him down. Come to Him by faith. Come to Him by faith. Put your faith in Him. Don't let your religion be a cold, dead religion. We need a fire started in our hearts. And the fire starts at the cross of Christ. Boy, you want love. Go here. And if you say, I do know his love. Pastor, I know it. I personally know it. I've experienced it. I felt it. I feel it now. And I tell you to live like it. Yes. Live like it. Let it compel you the way it did Mary. We live in a world today that's going to do everything they can to keep you from the Savior's side. They're going to try to cancel you. They're going to try to say all kinds of evil things about you falsely for His namesake. But let His love compel you to stay by the Savior's side. Let His love compel you to serve Him. Let the love that you have for Him compel you to be devoted to Him. To be like the five around the cross when everybody else deserted and everybody else was cowards and everybody else wouldn't speak up and were afraid to be there. Those five were still there because the love they had compelled them. Let that be us. And when everybody else deserts and everybody else goes away, That our love says, I must stay close to Christ. That old song says, keep me near to the cross. We'll give you one quote and I'm done. Charles Spurgeon said this, if you love Christ, live as if you love Christ. That's a good quote. If you're here today and you say, yes, I've experienced it. Yes, I feel it. Yes, I know it. Yes, I'm consumed by it. Yes, I'm overwhelmed with it. Yes, it's flooded up my life. Then you need to go out here today and everybody should see it in you. That person loves Jesus Christ. If you love him, live like you love him. And again, it's not our love, but his love that matters. He loved us way before we ever loved Him. I love that old song, and I'm not going to sing it because I can't sing. Oh, how I love Jesus. Oh, how I love Jesus. Oh, how I love Jesus. Oh, how I love Jesus. Because He first loved me. That's it. Post that today. Oh, how I love Jesus. Oh, how I love Jesus. Oh, how I love Jesus. Oh, how I love Jesus because he first loved me. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you for your love. What an expression of love we've seen here today in this passage. I think there's a love of Christ for the Father. There's a love of Christ for the law. There's a love of Christ for a mother. There's a love of Christ for sinners. This passage is full of love and we thank you for it. Thank you for your great love for us sinners. We thank you that you are our Savior. That you didn't mean a whole lot to us. You were Jesus. Before we got saved and that relationship changed the moment we put our faith in you and you became Savior and Lord. And we thank you for it. We bow the knee. And God, I know my love is not what it ought to be on most days. I'm like John. I'm prone to wonder, prone to run, prone to be a coward. I'm prone to stray. And I'm thankful for your love that won't let me stay. You always bring me back to your side. And I thank you for that. And we ask and pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.