Chapter 1 A Consecrated Life - Far Eastern Bible College

cross, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God,
why hast thou forsaken me?” With all men against Him, and the Father
forsaking Him, who else was there for Jesus to turn to? No one at all!
He was truly despised, rejected by men, a man of sorrows and
acquainted with grief, esteemed as one smitten of God and afflicted.
You might remember some moments in your life when you felt
embarrassed or humiliated in some way. You probably did not like them
at all. They are painful even to think about them. But let me tell you
this: nothing you have endured can ever be compared with the shame
and humiliation that Christ endured on the Cross. How would you have
reacted if you endured what Jesus endured? I think you would probably
have felt very bitter and upset and all your thoughts would have been
focused only on your own pitiful condition. You would say, “Oh, woe is
me! How painful and helpless I am!” Who can be bothered about
thinking or being concerned about the needs of others at a moment like
that, when he himself is in great need of help? And yet as we come to
the next part of John 19 we see Jesus doing just that: This shows us the
second wonderful thing in His death, which is:
II. The Greatness of His Love
Let us look at verses 25–27 of John 19,
Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his
mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary
Magdalene. When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the
disciple 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 unto his
own home.
Now here is a really marvellously wonderful and touching scene.
As Jesus hung from the cross and saw His weeping mother there, He
felt tremendous love for her. She was very deeply grieved. He wanted
her to be comforted, and cared for. But being unable to do these things
now as a filial son, He asked His nearest disciple, John, to do so. None
of the brothers and sisters of Jesus seemed to have been there at the
cross, so Jesus could only entrust her to John. Some believe that John
The Mercies of God
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