THREE HOURS DEVOTION

There Were Women Standing At A Distance

Hymn

Reading: Luke: 23: 27,28.

‘A great number of the people followed him, and among them were

women who were beating their breasts and wailing for him. But Jesus turned to

them and said, ‘Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for

yourselves and for your children.’

Where are we, have we listened to these words. Let us put ourselves into the scene. It is still quite early, but we are tired. We have walked up the hill because we wanted to stay near Jesus, not because we want to see him dead; not because we felt it was the right thing to do - to be seen there. We are still here we are standing at the foot of the Cross; because we love him, we can’t bear seeing him suffer, we can’t bear to think of him being alone with the angry mob. this man who showed love to everyone.

I am looking around – who is here, do I know everyone. Let us look at them, who are they? Do we know them? Jesus knows some of them, of course his mother Mary is here, and there is Mary Magdalene, Salome, Mary the mother of James, but they are not the only ones, there are others standing here. They know there is nothing they can do, but they want Jesus to know they still believe in him, they want everyone to know, they want to be seen with him, they aren’t afraid or ashamed to be seen with the Messiah

But let me tell you what happened as we climbed the hill, that long winding hill - Jesus spoke to us women. He was telling us not to weep for him, but to weep for ourselves, for our plight is worse than his. What does he mean? will we ever know? Jesus is in agony, he has been tortured and yet he is thinking of us. Jesus spent all his earthly life looking after the sick, the poor, never thinking of himself, and even as we were nearing the top of the hill his concern was for us, he may have been in agony, but he still loves us, his concern is for us.

I wonder what he meant – perhaps he really is fulfilling a destiny. As painful as he knows his death will be he must know he will soon be with the Father, that he is fulfilling his destiny. But those of us left behind what will happen to us? Jesus is calling them/us to repentance, to salvation through faith. We in the crowd are weeping for him, but our tears are not enough, it is not sympathy which buys salvation but repentance.

He is saying some women would be better barren, and (that’s not what Jewish women think is right) than to be who they are, for their suffering will be great what does it mean – I wish I could really understand.

As I look around at the Foot of the Cross I realise that the group of women isn’t just the women of 2000 years ago. The group is growing and changing, I can recognise some of the faces, like us, many were not there on that first Good Friday. But they are all women who over the years have served Christ. We are all different, we come from different times but we are all supporting Christ in different ways. We have climbed the hill of Holy Week and we are staying by his side. Many are weeping, weeping for what seemed lost, not really understanding why Jesus had to be treated such - and yet we also wonder why the world hasn’t learned anything. Why Christ is still suffering for our sins today - what is happening, will we ever change? We want the nightmare to cease, for in many ways it is a never ending nightmare. I can St Theresa of Avilia praying devoutly and Hilda of Whitby is standing by her side, St Brigid is also there. St Catherine, Julian of Norwich, Hildegard of Bingen, and more recent social reformers Florence Nightingale, Elizabeth Fry is standing close to the Cross, and I can also see Mother Theresa, there are so many women not all visible to me, the famous, unknown women, the academics, the lonely and the poor but women who over the centuries have served Christ and are still serving Christ in their earthly life, and today’s women – all who call Christ their Lord are standing again today at the foot of the Cross.

Some in Church, some outside , some in freedom, some risking death, but still we gather, we still want others to know we love him. We gather to recall his death, to tell our generation of his sacrifice made for all, we still recall His death, we aren’t afraid or ashamed to be associated with Him, even those who risk death or persecution willingly remember Him each day.

What am I doing now, Am I truly staying close to Jesus or just at a safe distance, am I scared at being challenged, at being asked what I believe, asked why I am here. Am we ready? Are we ready to let the Cross change us forever. Are we scared at having to leave our comfort zone, do we say it is too much trouble to do anything about it, we don’t have the power to bring about a worthwhile change. Am I afraid to accept the truth, do I pass by on the other side and avert my eyes.?

Pilate and Herod may be dead but Christ is still suffering for our sins, still being persecuted, he is still weeping over Jerusalem, over the world. But let us listen to his words ‘daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children.’ We are weeping over Christ’s suffering but he wants us to weep for the world, as he does. He sees the real tragedy as being those who misjudge who he is, it is more than what he is suffering - it is what his death will mean to those who reject him. If they do this to the earthly Christ who was in their midst - helping all he met - what will future generations do to the Risen Lord who they cannot see, will even more turn away, condemn him. What are our neighbours here in Redhill doing - are we walking alongside the Risen Lord or are they like lost sheep, have they turned away from the truth, do they think they know it all - do not need Jesus in their lives? What are we doing to help? The women of today.

Lord Jesus, the women of Jerusalem wept for you;

move us to tears at the plight of the broken in our world.

You embraced the pain of Jerusalem, the city of peace;

bless Jerusalem today and lead it to the path of profound peace :

To you, Jesus, the King of peace who wept for the city of peace,

be honour and glory with the Father and the Holy Spirit,

now and forever.

Jesus, we praise you that though we see so little good within us,

you see a people worth dying for and worth sharing life with

for all eternity.

Give us the courage to stand up and be counted.

Give us the courage to stand fast to our faith

even in the face of opposition and ridicule.

Teach us how to trust in you and in your love,

that we may never leave your side, never deny our love for you

Mary and John

Reading John 19: 25-27

Meanwhile standing near the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his

mother’s sister; Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 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.

David Winter in his book ‘With Jesus in the Upper Room’ wrote ‘The sorrowing Mother stood by the Cross weeping, as they hanged her son; could there be a more intense agony than to witness the child of her own body being slowly broken and killed before her eyes? Especially when she knew that his life had been dedicated to acts of mercy and love, that he was the Man for others?’

We are still at the Foot of the Cross we have climbed the steep hill, we are at the Place of the Skull. The cross has been lifted into place and they have put the nails through his hands and his feet. He is groaning, Christ’s agony is continuing, the nails are digging into his hands and feet, his weight is stretching his muscles as he hangs there on the Cross. His face shows the agony, but he still had that compassionate look on his face, his love for us all is apparent.

Even in his agony he is looking around, looking to see whom is here. Oh! he has spotted his mother, she has seen his eyes looking at her, she is smiling him at him – Oh how must she feel. Her child hanging there on a cross, her own flesh and blood, in her mind probably still her baby. But listen - in the midst of his suffering Jesus is concentrating on the needs of his mother and best friend. He has just said ‘ mother. “Here is your son.” and to his best friend, “Here is your mother.” Jesus is asking them to take care of one another in the future when he will not be with them. Even in the midst of agony Jesus could think of the needs and pain of others, he put them before himself.

Most of the disciples had fled, but one was still there. John had remained loyal to Jesus and was with him when he was being crucified. John, the beloved disciple.

Let us think of Mary’s anguish, how the meaning of those words uttered by Simeon in the Temple must have been echoing round her brain - ‘that a sword would pierce her heart before it was all over’. I’m a mother I find it hard to comprehend her suffering, her anguish, her anger – how could anyone do this to her child. He may have been the Son of God, but he was still her child. Someone who had only done good, had spent the last three years of his life bringing hope to others, easing suffering, serving his Father, was being wrong accused, condemned.

Imagine watching the nails going through his hands and feet, the sword into his side. Hearing the abuse, the mocking, watching the pain and anguish on his face, that same face she had first seen in that stable in Bethlehem. Surely for the second time in her life she must have wondered what God was doing.

But for all her anguish, all her fear, Mary was that supreme Mother, she never left his side, she was prepared to suffer with him, to be there to hear his last call, just as she had heard his first cry. Even in his suffering Christ understood Mary’s suffering, her loneliness, her isolation, and also the loss being felt by John, his loyal friend. All the other disciples have run away, perhaps John’s love for Jesus was deeper than the other disciples, but John had the courage to stay at Christ’s side, to watch his suffering, and to be there for Mary.

(But let us think for a moment of those mothers who can’t love their children, those who abuse them. Let us pray for them. It is easy to judge, but we do not know the anguish that these mother’s may face, may have gone through, what may have scarred them. What they do may be unthinkable but let us pray for them and for all children that they be loved as Jesus was loved by his mother).

When Christ looked down and saw them together he said to Mary,’ dear woman here is your son’, and to John ‘here is your mother’. He loved them both, he wanted them to care for each other, to be there for each other. What are we called to do for those we love? Like best friends we should love each other through thick and thin, from the highest to the lowest points of life. And it is when life is at its lowest, that best friends are needed, when life is at its most painful that true friends are there to share the grief. We say you know who your best friends are by the way they respond in a crisis. But who is our best friend – who never lets us down? It is that man hanging on the Cross – it is Jesus.

Mary in whose footsteps the Mother Church should walk. Like Mary the church should be at the side of the condemned, Mary stayed at the side of her child, the Church should also be there for, walking alongside God’s children, those who it is easy to love and those who it can be difficult to like – but who should still be loved. As Jesus entrusted Mary and John to care for each other, so he has entrusted the Church to look after all his Father’s children, his children. But do we? Do we let them crucify Christ each day without speaking up, without murmuring, without noticing?

Let us remember the pain endured by so many of our sisters and brothers,

the distress of the sick who look for the presence of the church..

the suffering of the handicapped; who wait for our visits….

the timidity of the lonely, who hope for our friendship…….

the anguish of the starving; who trust for our bread…….

the anguish of the refugee; whose future looks so empty….

the emptiness of the sad, whose happiness is in our hands…..

the despair of the falsely imprisoned; who plead for our help…

Behold the man!

Jesus, the suffering one, is present in all those who suffer,

and we, if we have the faith, have the power to heal them.

Lord, give us the strength to bind up broken hearts.

Lord Jesus, your mother and your dearest friend stayed with you to the bitter end,

yet even while racked with pain you ministered to them;

be with all broken families today

and care for those who feel deserted.

You cared for your loved ones even in your death-throes:

give us a love for one another

that is stronger than the fear of death.

To you, Jesus, loving in the face of death,

be honour and glory with the Father and the Holy Spirit,

now and forever.

Lord Jesus, we are reminded today that you didn’t just accept death

for our sake but chose it; that you didn’t simply let things happen

but planned them in advance, knowing the way you would take, down

to the final agony on the Cross. You staked all, gave all, and you did it willingly

for the sake of people like us. Such love is too wonderful to comprehend, but

we thank you for it with all our hearts , and offer you our joyful praise in

glad response. Amen