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You may turn in your Bibles to 
John chapter 19. John chapter 19. We'll read verses 17 to 30, and then 
our focus this morning will be specifically on verses 26 and 
27, which is the third saying of our Savior from the cross. Just pick up reading in John 
19 at verse 17. And he bearing his cross went 
out to a place called the place of a skull, which is called in 
Hebrew Golgotha, where they crucified him and two others with him, 
one on either side and Jesus in the center. Now Pilate wrote 
a title and put it on the cross. And the writing was Jesus of 
Nazareth, the king of the Jews. that many of the Jews read this 
title, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, 
and it was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. Therefore, 
the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, Do not write, 
The King of the Jews, but he said, I am the King of the Jews. Pilate answered, What I have 
written, I have written. Then the soldiers, when they 
had crucified Jesus, took his garments and made four parts, 
to each soldier a part, and also the tunic. Now the tunic was 
without seam, woven from the top in one piece. They said, 
therefore, among themselves, Let us not tear it, but cast 
lots for it, whose it shall be, that the scripture might be fulfilled, 
which says, They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing 
they cast lots. Therefore the soldiers did these 
things. Now there stood by the cross 
of Jesus his mother and his mother's sister Mary, the wife of Clopas, 
and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus therefore saw his 
mother and the disciple whom he loved standing by, he said 
to his mother, Woman, behold your son. Then he said to the 
disciple, Behold your mother. And from that hour, that disciple 
took her to his own home. After this, Jesus, knowing that 
all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, 
said, I thirst. Now a vessel full of sour wine 
was sitting there, and they filled a sponge with sour wine, put 
it on Hyssop, and put it to his mouth. So when Jesus had received 
the sour wine, he said, it is finished. And bowing his head, 
he gave up his spirit. Amen. Let us pray. Our Father, 
we come now to consider this saying from the Savior on the 
cross, and we pray that you would help us to understand it, help 
us to make the practical application, help us to worship the Lord who 
said it. How we praise you, God, that 
you have included us in your gracious covenant. How we praise 
you that you have saved us and caused us to see the glory of 
this passage, to see that Christ finished the work of redemption 
at Calvary, and he has purchased securely the salvation of all 
whom he died for. We give you praise and glory 
for these truths, and we pray now that you would guide us and 
instruct us, and we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen. Well, 
today is obviously Mother's Day, so a hearty Happy Mother's Day. to all of the ladies here who 
have had children, who are having children, and who will have children. So we've covered all the tenses 
there. It's probably one of the most 
difficult jobs in the universe, and probably one of the most 
thankless jobs in the universe. And perhaps as we read in Mark 
chapter 3, you might have thought, boy, Jesus didn't really show 
a lot of respect and honor for his mother. I mean, his mother, 
his earthly mother, and his brothers came, and they announced that 
they had arrived, and then Jesus says, nevertheless, those who 
do the will of my Father They are my mother, they are my brothers, 
they are my sisters. Well, Jesus did love his mother 
as this third saying from the cross evidences to us. There were a total of seven sayings 
when the Lord Jesus Christ was on the cross at Calvary in those 
final hours. The first was when he said, Father, 
forgive them, for they do not know what they do. Luke 23, verse 
34. The second is when he said to 
the thief on the cross, today you will be with me in paradise. That's Luke 23, verse 43. The third, as I've said, is here. 
Woman, behold your son. And to John, he said, behold 
your mother. The fourth is when he cried, 
my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me according to Matthew 
27, verse 46. The fifth saying is, I thirst, here in John 19.28. 
The sixth is, it is finished, John 19.30. And then Luke 23.46 
records, Father, into your hands I commit 
my spirit. So in this eleventh hour of our 
Lord Jesus Christ, as He utters these sayings, in a very real 
sense, we see what matters to Him. Now, of course, all of His 
words, the entirety of the Bible, matters to Him. But when a man 
comes to die, we ought to give attention to those things spoken 
in the last few minutes. And here, this third statement 
is very instructive for us. Woman, behold your son. Then 
he said to the disciple, behold your mother. And from that hour, 
that disciple took her to his own home. Now I want to look 
at three particular observations from our text this morning. The 
first is that it's an example. What Jesus does here serves as 
an example for each and every one of us. That we ought to honor 
our mother. that we ought to revere her, 
that we ought to respect her, that we ought to care for her. And that when a man, a woman, 
a boy or a girl does not do that, they are actually inviting upon 
themselves the very wrath and fury of Almighty God. Secondly, we'll notice that this 
is an example of Christ's active obedience. What do I mean by 
active obedience? Well, Christ needed to perform 
all righteousness in order that we would have a perfect righteousness. See, we are not just saved, we 
are saved by His death, but we're saved by His life as well. We 
not only need our sins removed, we need a righteousness that 
avails with God. That's what the act of obedience 
of Christ means, is that throughout His life, He always, always obeyed 
the law of God. Because we cannot, because we 
do not, we needed somebody to obey the law for us. And Jesus 
does that. And here in this instance, it 
at least illustrates something of obedience to the fifth commandment 
in honoring one's mother. And then thirdly, we'll notice 
the sovereignty of Christ. It's an interesting fact in this 
historical narrative. The one who looks to be the victim 
is actually in charge of the whole affair. He is the one that 
yields his life up. He is the one that gave himself 
for this. He is the one that, even on the 
cross, is exercising sovereign control over everything that 
is taking place. And it's helpful for us to understand 
that. But first of all, with reference 
to the example set by Christ, we have to say what it isn't. 
It isn't the Roman Catholic doctrine of Mary being a co-mediator with 
Jesus. Roman Catholicism teaches that 
Mary had a part in offering up her son for the sins of humanity. That she was a mediatrix, which 
is the female version of a mediator. Well that is heresy. That is blasphemy. She did not 
join in the covenant of redemption made between the Father, the 
Son, and the Holy Spirit as a participant in this whole affair. If you 
go back for a moment to Luke chapter 1, when Mary is commissioned 
as a servant of the Lord, she rejoices in God her Savior. Luke chapter 1, beginning in 
verse 46. Mary said, my soul magnifies 
the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. She needed a Savior just as we 
need a Savior. She was a sinner saved by grace, 
albeit chosen for a remarkable task, nevertheless, she was a 
sinner saved by grace. We don't want to exalt her, but 
we also want to devalue. I mean, certainly, she had a 
blessed role. In fact, that was one of the 
pronouncements made, that she was blessed among women, which 
actually was shared by Jael, who drove the tent peg into the 
head of Sisera. Back in Judges 5, she was celebrated 
as having been Blessed among women. She served a particular 
task in the furthering of God's kingdom in the same manner that 
Mary does. She served the kingdom of God 
in advancing it specifically by bringing forth this son, the 
Lord Jesus Christ. Her biblical theology is excellent 
as well. Notice in verse 48, for he has 
regarded the lowly state of his maidservant. For behold, henceforth, 
all generations will call me blessed. For he who is mighty 
has done great things for me, and holy is his name. And his 
mercy is on those who fear him from generation to generation. 
He has shown strength with his arm." Reference to the prophet 
Isaiah, where the prophet declares that God will lay forth his holy 
arm in the sight of all the nations. He has scattered the proud in 
the imagination of their hearts. He has put down the mighty from 
their thrones and exalted the lowly. He has filled the hungry 
with good things and the rich he has sent away empty. He has 
helped his servant Israel in remembrance of his mercy as he 
spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his seed forever. She 
understood the promise made to Abraham was come to fruition 
in her own womb. The salvation of Israel had come 
through the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Roman Catholicism 
says that in this saying of our Lord from the cross, he was committing 
the church to the care of Mary. That's not what's going on here. 
J.C. Ryle says, we surely need no 
stronger proof than we have here that Mary, the mother of Jesus, 
was never meant to be honored as divine, or to be prayed to, 
worshipped, and trusted in as the friend and patroness of sinners. Common sense points out that 
she who needed the care and protection of another was never likely to 
help men and women to heaven or to be in any sense a mediator 
between God and man. It is not too much to say however 
painful the assertion that of all the inventions of the Church 
of Rome, there never was one more utterly devoid of foundation, 
both in Scripture and reason, than the doctrine of Mary worship. Jesus is not committing the Church 
to the care of Mary. Jesus, as a godly son, is committing 
the care of his mother into the hand of the beloved disciple 
John, so that she would know something of protection, care, 
sustenance that would no longer be available to her from Christ 
as he would be ascended on high to the right hand of God most 
high. So if it isn't that, it is certainly 
an example of her devotion. Remember Jesus said that the 
disciples would flee from him? Mary's there at the cross. A.W. Pink says, after the days of 
his infancy and childhood, we see and hear little of Mary. 
During his public ministry, her life was lived in the background, 
but now when strikes the supreme hour of her son's agony, when 
the world has cast out the child of her womb, she stands there 
by the cross. baffled perhaps at the unprecedented 
scene, paralyzed at his sufferings, yet bound by the golden chain 
of love to the dying one, there she stands. His disciples may 
desert him, his friends may forsake him, his nation may despise him, 
but his mother is there, where all might see her, near him in 
death as in birth. Who can fully appreciate the 
mother heart? It takes us a long time to learn 
this lesson, doesn't it? It takes us a long time to learn 
that there's precious few people who will always be there for 
us. We like to think everybody loves us and will always be there 
for us. The disciples of Jesus deserted 
him. Do you think your friends are 
going to be there in your time of greatest need? I like to think 
they will be, but a case of biblical realism 
often invades my heart. Your mom will be there. Jesus' mother was there. Some 
of you children, some of us as even adults, don't always get 
this fact. There are some exceptions, there 
are some wretched mothers out there, I grant that. But as a 
general rule, mothers will always be there for you. And this scene illustrates that 
fact. It also illustrates the kindness 
of the Savior. I purposefully read the larger 
context so we could see what was going on. He's suffering, 
isn't he? There's agony. He's been betrayed. He's been delivered up. He's 
on the cross. And yet, he's concerned for his 
mother. More than likely, since we haven't 
heard anything else about Joseph, he probably was dead by this 
time. Jesus' brothers, up until this 
point, were not converted. And so Jesus had been caring 
for Mary, and now that he is going back into heaven, he doesn't 
just conclude, oh, she can just function because, you know, that's 
the way it happened. He looks out for her concern. He says to her, very specifically, 
woman, behold your son. Then he said to the disciple, 
behold your mother. And from that hour, that disciple 
took her to his own home. He didn't turn her over to the 
care of the state. He didn't put her in a nursing 
home. He put her in the care of a beloved 
disciple for both her physical sustenance and for her spiritual 
well-being. He's not saying to his earthly 
brothers, I hate you, you're horrible, and I don't want you 
to care for your mom. But he is highlighting the principle 
that all things being equal, she ought to be with a believer. 
Notice that he refers to her as woman, and people take that 
and say, wow, that's kind of offensive. He does that in John 
chapter 2 at the wedding feast in Cana of Galilee. Woman, why 
do you come to me? My hour is not yet. Well, remember 
that when Jesus embarked on his public ministry, she sort of 
passed from mother to disciple. She was always a disciple, but 
she had affirmed that role, or she had come into that role in 
its fullness. He is not being harsh. He is 
not being callous. He is not being cold. He is being 
just the opposite. He is demonstrating care. He 
is demonstrating a transfer of responsibility. And lo and behold, 
when we get to Acts 1, 12-14, Mary is with John, being cared 
for. So in the final hour of our Savior's 
life, as he utters things that are peculiar to various situations, 
sinners, the first saying, Father forgive them, to the specific 
sinner at his side, the thief, today you will be with me in 
paradise. And he cries out on his own behalf, my God, my God, 
why hast thou forsaken me? When he says, I thirst, when 
he says, it is finished, when he says, Father, into your hands, 
all of these have a specific application. And in this third 
saying, it illustrates his care and concern for his mother. Now, if you want to be a godly 
man, a godly woman, a godly boy, a godly girl, you better love 
your mom. and esteem her, and respect her, and care for her, 
and as far as you're able to, provide for her. Jesus practiced 
what He preached. In Matthew 15, there's an instance 
where they come to indict the Savior. In fact, turn there to 
Matthew chapter 15. Just so you can see it fleshed 
out that Jesus is practicing what He preached. Matthew chapter 
15. Matthew 15, beginning in verse 
1. Then the scribes and Pharisees 
who were from Jerusalem came to Jesus, saying, Why do your 
disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not 
wash their hands when they eat bread. He answered and said to 
them, Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because 
of your tradition? See the difference? He neglects 
the tradition of the elders. Why do you transgress the commandment 
of God? And then he gives a concrete 
illustration or example of their transgression of the commandment 
of God. And out of the ten commandments, 
which they were guilty of breaking of, he goes to the fifth commandment. You know, when you do a study 
on biblical law, you will see that God takes parental authority 
very seriously. He doesn't roll with the attitude 
of disobedience or disrespect. He doesn't think it's just a 
bit of childish folly for you to assert rebellion against the 
authority, which is your parents. In fact, in several instances 
in the Old Testament, honor your father and mother is conjoined 
with blasphemy against God. In fact, some reckon, we talk 
about the first table of the law being the first four commandments. Many reckon that the first table 
of the law are the first five commandments. That honor your 
father and your mother is uniquely theological. So much so that 
when you disobey your parents, you are raising the fist at God 
most high. Notice verse 4, Matthew 15. For God commanded, saying, Honor 
your father and your mother, and he who curses father or mother, 
let him be put to death. But you say, whoever says to 
his father or mother, whatever profit you might have received 
from me is a gift to God. Then he need not honor his father 
or mother. Thus you have made the commandment 
of God of no effect by your tradition. Hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy 
about you, saying, These people draw near to me with their mouth, 
and honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me, 
and in vain they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments 
of men. Notice verse 5, But you say, 
Whoever says to his father or mother, Whatever profit you might 
have received from me is a gift to God. Imagine if your parents were 
dependent upon your aid. And you happen to be a scribe 
or a Pharisee. And you, with pious intention, send them a 
note instead of a check. And that note says, Dear Mom, 
Dear Dad, The Lord has laid it upon my heart to do a far more 
holy thing with the money that I should give to you. I'm going 
to take that money and I'm going to put it in the hat at the temple. Because that genuine gift to 
God and to his temple far surpasses your earthly support. Now, it just so happens that 
if you were a scriber, a Pharisee, when you put that money into 
the hat, it somehow ended up in your pocket. but it had the most noble intention, 
the most pious surroundings. I want to further the kingdom. 
You further the kingdom by feeding your parents. I fear we've bought into this. 
Something so mundane as making sure my mother or my father has 
food That doesn't really advance the kingdom of Christ. I'll write 
checks for missionaries in China. I'm not saying Chinese or missionaries 
in China don't need checks, but your parents do. That's what 
Jesus is saying here. You think you're so holy and 
righteous and you've ripped off your parents? How dare you? This is, this is just an amazing 
application of Isaiah the prophet. These people draw near to me 
with their mouth, he says, and honor me with their lips. Their 
heart is far from me. You're going to come into the 
temple. You're going to lay out all your gifts. You're going 
to celebrate and praise Yahweh. And all the while, your mother 
is eating God's food because you're too cheap to give money 
to her. How dare you? Biblical religion is about honoring 
your parents. Biblical religion is about calling 
your mother. I just read in James 2 this morning, 
pure and undefiled religion in the sight of God and the Father 
is what? Oh, that I go to China and I witness. Oh, that I give 
tracts to everybody in my workplace. Oh, but I give a lot of money 
at my church. Biblical and undefiled religion 
is visiting widows and orphans in their distress. You know, some of us are so wicked, 
we'll go visit widow and orphans and still neglect our parents. There's nothing honoring about 
that attitude. Jesus flashes it out at the cross. What's important to the Savior? 
A lot of things. And one of those things specifically 
is the temporal care of his own mother. Woman, behold, your son. Then he said to the disciple, 
behold, your mother. And from that hour, that disciple 
took her to his own home. He's why I don't know who. It's a general rule when Jesus says, 
care for my mother, you care for his mother. And that's what 
John did. And again, in Acts chapter 1, 
that's exactly what's going on. Now, we can imagine that when 
the brothers were converted, they all loved on her, they cared 
for her, all of that. We're sure of that. James was 
a godly pastor, the half-brother of our Lord. He ministered in 
the church in Jerusalem. More than likely, she was well 
cared for and looked after. As I said, this illustrates the 
active obedience of Christ. Jesus did this because we don't. 
Jesus did this because we don't. We rise up as young people and 
we actually think it's okay for us to reject and to rebel against 
parental authority. Solomon has some hard words for 
that kind of a mindset. Actually, the words of Agur, 
the son of Jaqay, his utterance in Proverbs 30 verse 11, there 
is a generation that curses its father and does not bless its 
mother. we're in that generation. I mean, 
I'm sure there's been that throughout the generations, but that's one 
of the things, or one of the marks in our society. It's a 
lack of respect for parental authority. I mean, that's the 
first thing he says in describing this wicked generation. He goes on from there. In other 
words, he equates. There is a generation that curses 
its father and does not bless its mother. He equates that, 
or puts that on the same level as everything else he says. There 
is a generation that is pure in its own eyes, yet is not washed 
from its filthiness. There is a generation, oh how 
lofty are their eyes, and their eyelids are lifted up. There 
is a generation whose teeth are like swords, and whose fangs 
are like knives, to devour the poor from off the earth, and 
the needy from among men. You see all these bad guys in 
the street, or all these bad guys in the prison, or all the 
bad guys that reject authority? It began at home. And then in verse 17 of Proverbs 
30, the eye that mocks his father and scorns obedience to his mother, 
the ravens of the valley will pick it out and the young eagles 
will eat it. It's terrifying. If you're a wretch to your parents 
and you start seeing ravens overhead, you might want to shield your 
eyes according to the scripture. I don't know any of us who would 
look at this as something favorable. To have the ravens pick our eyes 
out and young eagles eating them. Oh, that's graphic. That's a 
horrible picture. Yeah. And it illustrates a horrible 
crime. The rejection of parental authority. See, Christ did what he did because 
we don't do what we're supposed to do. That's what the act of 
obedience of Christ is all about. In order for Christ to carry 
out the messianic task as God's Savior and as the race's last 
Adam and Redeemer for his people, he had to render personal, perfect, 
and perpetual obedience to God's law. That's the theological illustration. That's the illustration of the 
theology behind what Jesus is doing. The Bible is filled with 
expressed statements of his obedience on our behalf. That's the whole 
point of Romans 5. There's a first Adam, there's 
a last Adam. All in Adam died, so all in Christ 
are made alive. See, God deals representatively 
with us. He deals with us in Adam or in 
Christ. And in order for us to stand 
before God clothed in a righteousness not our own, that righteousness 
had to be fulfilled by our champion. That's what the Bible's about. 
It's about the hero. It's about the Christ. It's about 
the Lord who always did what his father said. There was never 
a time when he didn't obey. There was never a time when he 
said no to the fifth commandment. There was never a time that he 
let fly a word of rebellion or rejection against his mother, 
against his earthly father. What's it say when they find 
him at age 12 in Jerusalem as he's throwing down in the temple? They were concerned for him, 
and he said, didn't you know I had to be about my father's 
will? Nevertheless, he left and he continued in subjection to 
them. We actually get this idea. You 
don't know what it's like submitting or obeying this person. What's 
it like for someone who is holy, harmless, and undefiled to submit 
to or be subject to people that aren't holy, that aren't harmless, 
and that aren't defiled? You think you've got it tough. 
Well, it wasn't tough for Jesus. Psalm 40 was written of Christ. 
It's quoted in Hebrews. says, I delight to do your will, 
your laws within my heart. He always yielded obedience to 
the commandments of God. The servant songs of Isaiah portray 
this would be the case. The declarations of Christ in 
his earthly ministry. My will is to do what? My need 
is to do the will of him who sent me. Again, this area of submission 
to authority. I think we struggle with this. 
If we don't struggle with it as children of parents, we struggle 
with it as wives to husbands. We as husbands, we struggle with 
it with anybody over us. And you know what it's all symptomatic 
of? The struggle with the authority of God. We live in a world of 
structure. We live in a world of order. 
I realize there's bad government. We're not going to discuss all 
that right now. But as a general rule, according to Romans 13, 
if you're not being told to sin, you need to submit yourself to 
every lawful authority. Jesus did this because we don't 
do it. The fact of his submission to 
authority. Where is he in this scene? He's on a Roman cross. That submission to authority 
illustrated, played out, vividly depicted for each and every one 
of us. The active obedience of Christ 
is illustrated in this event through His obedience to the 
fifth commandment. He cares for and he tends to 
the physical needs of his mother. He doesn't yell at the scribes 
and Pharisees in Matthew 15 and upbraid them for their violating 
the fifth commandment and then on the cross show no regard or 
concern whatsoever for his earthly mother. He is consistent. He is relentlessly consistent. If the fifth commandment means 
enough to him to indict the scribes and Pharisees in a theological 
battle concerning obedience to God, he is going to be consistent 
in carrying out that obedience at the cross. And then thirdly 
and finally, we need to see in this not just a moral example. 
Not just a great example of Jesus. Oh, we should be like him. We 
should be. It is that. not just a display of the active 
obedience of Christ. Though we should see that and 
praise him for it, it is a display of his absolute sovereignty. 
Notice verse 30. So when Jesus had received the 
sour wine, he said, it is finished, and bowing his head, he gave 
up his spirit. Go back to John 10, 17 and 18. 
John 10, 17 and 18. Therefore, my Father loves me 
because I lay down my life, that I may take it again. No one takes 
it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay 
it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I 
have received from my Father. When we watch, when we look at, 
when we read the Passion Narrative, yes, see the heinousness of unbelieving 
Israel in delivering up their Messiah. See the culpability 
of the Roman government in carrying out the execution of an innocent 
man. See those things to be sure, 
but see the sovereign Christ who wasn't caught unawares, who 
wasn't caught off guard, who wasn't operating according to 
contingency or a plan B, but who from beginning to end orchestrated 
this entire event so that you and I could go to heaven. That's what we need to see. We 
need to say hallelujah, what a savior. We need to see one 
who was willing to obey, who was willing to die, and who would 
rise again and ascend into the heavens to the right hand of 
the throat of God, where he must reign till all of his enemies 
are made his footstool. If we come away from this and 
only focus on the guilt of man, and we see the heinousness of 
the participants, we've missed a very valuable part of it. Christ 
operated according to a higher plan. He was not bound by the 
laws of the Medes and the Persians. He was bound by the decree of 
God Most High. And he would operate accordingly 
He would carry out the father's plan. He would render up that 
obedience and he would give his life. And so it would be said 
in verse 30, it is finished. And bowing his head, he gave 
up his spirit. He did this for the sake of his 
people. Well, brethren, let us learn 
in conclusion. I said it's not only example, 
but it certainly is example. I love what C.H. Spurgeon says 
about child's responsibility to the parent. When I say child, 
you haven't stopped being a child. You're still your parent's child. One of my babies turned 18 yesterday. He's still my child. He may be 
a man according to this world, but he's my child. And he better 
never forget that. I'm my mother's child. You're your mother's child. There's never a time when you 
stop being a child. So we're not just saying, you 
little five-year-old, you little ten-year-old, you little twelve-year-old, 
this is for you. It's for every one of us. Spurgeon 
said fathers and mothers are the most natural agents for God 
to use in the salvation of their children. I am sure that in my 
early youth, no teaching ever made such an impression upon 
my mind as the instruction of my mother. Neither can I conceive 
that to any child there can be one who will have such influence 
over the young heart as the mother who has so tenderly cared for 
her offspring. A man with a soul so dead as 
not to be moved by the sacred name of mother is creation's 
blot. Never could it be possible for 
any man to estimate what he owes to a godly mother. How can I 
ever forget her tearful eye when she warned me to escape from 
the wrath to come? I thought her lip eloquent. Others might not think so, but 
they certainly were eloquent to me. How can I ever forget 
when she bowed her knee and with her arms about my neck prayed, 
O that my son might live before thee? He says in another place 
that his own mother would testify to her children that if on the 
day of judgment you were found outside of Christ, I will stand 
with him in condemning you. Because I told you about Jesus 
and his salvation. But you know what? It's not just 
a godly mother. You don't have the right to leave 
and say, well, my mother wasn't like C.H. Virgins. Honor your 
father and your mother. Not honor your godly father and 
your godly mother. Not honor them as far as they're 
honorable. You have a duty under God to 
honor your parents. Now, that's language used of 
God. How do you honor God? You pick 
and choose. Do you just harbor ill thoughts 
and disaffection and hardness of heart toward God? No. Better 
not. You're not supposed to do that 
with your mom or your dad either. And in saying this and kind of 
focusing here on mothers, it's not saying, oh, go out and be 
a wretch to your fathers, you know, because they're just horrible 
guys. No. Honor parental authority. There is an example here. Albert 
Barnes commented on this scene, what an example of filial attention, 
what a model to all children, and how lovely appears the dying 
Savior, thus remembering his afflicted mother, and making 
her welfare one of his last cares on the cross, and even when making 
atonement for the sins of the world. Sometimes we get busy, 
don't we? I haven't called my mom in two 
weeks, man! I've been busy! Jesus is making 
atonement for the sins of the world, and he calls his mom. Isn't that amazing? We have no 
excuse. We may say, oh, my mother, she's 
an unbeliever. Well, win her with your love. 
Show her what a Christian's all about. showing what care and 
concern and being like Jesus really looks like. And then secondly and finally, Robert Raymond makes a good point 
with reference to the active obedience of Christ. With grateful 
praise, the Christian adores the Savior for his obedience 
to his father's will and law. Without it, there would be no 
salvation. There is an uprising, there is 
a movement among evangelical and reformed scholars today to 
attack the active obedience of Christ. We don't really need 
it. All we need is his death. We 
don't need his life. That is an affront to the gospel. That it is being entertained 
in academic circles doesn't give me a lot of confidence in those 
academic circles. I think the church is better 
served by a man named J. Gressa Machen, who on his dying 
bed said, I am thankful for the active obedience of Christ. He would echo Raymond's sentiments. 
Without it, there would be no salvation. Praise God that he 
sent Christ. And if you don't know Christ 
today, the answer is not go home and call your mom. Go home and 
be a good guy or a good girl. The answer is not moral reform 
or trying to make it better. The answer is to believe on the 
Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. That's your first order 
of importance. Look to the cross. Look to Christ. Believe the Bible. Believe the Gospel. And you shall 
be saved. That's what's most meaningful. 
Well, let us pray. Our Father, we give You thanks 
for the Scriptures. We give You thanks for the Savior 
so clearly portrayed in our Bibles, God. We thank You for the act 
of obedience of Jesus. We thank You that He always fulfilled 
the law of God and that He died as a sacrifice and that He rose 
again and that all those who look to him in faith will have 
everlasting life. God, truly, this is gospel. This is good news. And we would 
pray for each and every one of the mothers here that you would 
just encourage them and build them up and strengthen them and 
help them, God, to do that most wonderful task of rearing little 
ones for the kingdom of Jesus Christ. We know that you seek 
a godly offspring. We know that blessed is the fruit 
of the womb, Lord, We know that these are good gifts from your 
hand, and we just pray that you'd help us as fathers and as mothers 
to exercise this stewardship in a godly and responsible manner. And I pray for each of the children, 
for each of us with parents, that we would take seriously 
what the Bible says concerning this issue of honor to our parents. Help us, God, to resolve to be 
more like our Lord Jesus Christ, to let our conduct be worthy 
of the gospel. Forgive us, Lord, for falling 
short. Forgive us for living in neglect. 
Forgive us for our sins. And we pray in Jesus' name, Amen.