Look Beyond This

When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to His mother, “Woman, behold your son!”

John 19:26 NKJV

I was probably in my early twenties before I sat down and contemplated the kind of suffering Jesus endured on the cross. Listen, I was raised in the Baptist church, so I was quite familiar with the fact that Jesus died and got up on the third day with all power in His hands. I walked down the aisle at nine years old and said out of my own mouth that I believed He laid His life down and picked it back up just for me. So, it’s not that I wasn’t aware of what happened on Calvary. Shoot, I could have told you all about the nails in His feet and hands. The crown of thorns on his head. It’s just that…well…I wasn’t AWARE. I just had not considered the realities of that kind of pain. Not only physical pain but the spiritual pain of His separation from His Father.

I probably started contemplating Jesus’s pain at that point in my life because I was experiencing some genuine pain of my own. I was questioning my faith. I was questioning my place in the world. I was questioning if God truly had a plan for my life. Around this same time, the movie “The Passion of the Christ” came out. And you know I went to see it. The well-rehearsed narrative of the crucifixion that existed in my head did not compare to what I saw on that movie screen. I was horrified. And in awe that Christ would endure that kind of suffering for me. You know I cried like a baby in that movie theater. To hear of His pain was one thing. To see a glimpse of what He went through was another. An unimaginable pain.

And in the midst of that pain, Jesus did what Jesus does. He continued to look out for you…and me…all of us. John 19:26 finds Jesus on the cross. Mary, His mother, is no doubt having the worst day of her life. It is Good Friday to us, but I know in this moment, it is a ghastly Friday for her. Her innocent son has been beaten and is now hanging on the cross. There is nothing she can do except watch, and weep, and pray. I can imagine she felt hopeless. I can imagine she felt helpless. Jesus sees His mother and calls out to tell her to look at her son.

Now, Jesus was not referring to Himself. Nope. Mary did not need a reminder to look at Jesus. She had her sights fixed on Jesus and all the suffering that He was enduring. Jesus was referring to John, the disciple whom He loved. He wanted Mary to shift her focus. He wanted Mary to look beyond this present suffering and see the future that was set before her. He did not want Mary to be stuck at Calvary.

What unimaginable pain have you experienced? What hard blows has life dealt you? What suffering has landed at your door? The longer I live, the harder life hits. And quite often the pain leaves me stunned and staring. Weeping. Praying. And stuck. I cannot see past the insurmountable pain. I get consumed by my present suffering. I have had my fair share of ghastly Fridays. I have felt hopeless. I have felt helpless. And I know that I am not alone. Rain falls on the just and the unjust. But this one scripture convicts me. This one scripture reminds me just how precious I am to God. While Mary’s feelings at the moment were valid, Jesus told her that John would be with her on the other side of this moment. Jesus did not want Mary to be stuck. And He does not want us to be stuck either.

Look beyond this. Whatever your “this” is. Jesus came that we should have life and life more abundantly. He died and rose again so that we would have life and life more abundantly. He died and rose again so that we can LIVE. Look beyond this. #wepreach