When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, ‘Woman, here is your son.’ Then he said to the disciple, ‘Here is your mother.’ And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.–John 19:26-27
Every year on Good Friday, I join with colleagues and the chaplain at MCI-Framingham to participate in a Good Friday service. Women incarcerated in the prison prepare powerful reflections on a story that feels so very real in that space. Local clergy are invited to share a brief reflection to complement their testimonies. Here’s what I will share today, reflecting on what this text reveals about God’s valuing of our human relationships:
I love this passage. On the cross Jesus looks out at two people he has loved so deeply, and he asks them to love each other. Behind his words, I hear him say: “I trust you to love and care for each other. I have taught you the power of God’s love to heal and change us. Now, I teach you that God’s love is at work through your love for each other.” Jesus says that to John and Mary, and Jesus says that to us.
Wow! God treasures us so much that God chooses to work through us to bring God’s healing love into that world. What a wondrous gift. God values us and our capacity to love. God trusts us and our love.
It is a wondrous gift. It’s also a little overwhelming. That’s a lot to live up to. We know all too well the imperfect nature of our love and our relationships. We have all experienced the hurt that happens when fear and pain and anger and addiction get in the way of our loving each other. Most of us have relationships that have become so broken we don’t know how to fix them. Most of us have hurt someone we love. Most of us have been hurt and struggle to know how to let it go. It’s hard to trust other people’s love, and sometimes it’s hard to trust our own love.
And so I find myself wanting to talk back to Jesus. Really, Jesus, I want to say. You know all our shortcomings. Do you think it’s wise to entrust us and our relationships to be a source of love for our world?
Before I talk back, though, I pause long enough to remember that Jesus sees us more fully than we see ourselves. Jesus sees us through God’s eyes. Yes, Jesus sees all our limitations, our mistakes, our struggle to trust. And Jesus sees deeper than that, to our belovedness, to our capacity to heal and grow, to our potential to love. Jesus trusts us even when we cannot trust ourselves.
Jesus understands how hard it is to be a human being. Jesus knows our fear and our brokenness. Jesus does not expect us to be perfect. He just asks us to keep trying.
He asks us to keep trying to find help to heal our own broken hearts. He urges us to keep trying to repair broken relationships and to pray for God’s healing spirit to do what we cannot. He challenges us to keep trying to choose kindness, to act with compassion for others and for ourselves. He asks us to keep trying to remember that God loves us and that God believes our efforts to love one another matter.
“Woman, behold your son….Behold your mother.” “I believe in your capacity to love,” Jesus says to John and to Mary and to each one of us. “I trust you to keep trying. Your love matters.”
Teach us, Jesus, to keep trying to love. Amen.
–Debbie Clark