The Lord set an example of His love for His earthly mother

A Mother's Day Tribute--Jesus sets an example of love for His mother

A MOTHER'S DAY TRIBUTE

The Lord set an example of His love for His earthly mother

It is Mother's Day this weekend . I want to share one revelation which shows that our Lord Jesus loved His earthly mother when he was on earth, and He is our best example of a son's love towards his mother.

Here in Singapore, it has become a common trend for some children to place their parents in old folk's home. The old folk's home here are not the same as those abroad, which are well planned, well equipped and with good environment. Not here! Those here are not conducive at all , some of them so filthy , so hot , so cramped. I have seen a few of them and it was shockingly apathetic.

Yet some children would desert their parents after placing them at these folk's homes and then disappeared , refusing to pay their bills. So much so that the Government has to implement a law to protect the parents . Children have to take care of them or the law will be enforced.

I Timothy 5: 4 says "put their religion in practice by caring for their own family and so repaying their parents and grandparents, for this is pleasing to God."€

Whilst many Christians care and look after their parents, there are some who believe that doing God's work is of utmost importance and they would overlook caring for their parents. Maybe they thought that it was wrong to put their parents before God's work .Hence they must serve God first and let other children or even other relatives take care of their parents.

I struggled in the past with this kind of conflicting interpretations of the Christian practices. Luke 14 : 26 says " If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters-- yes, even his own life-- he cannot be my disciple."

Is that why some Christians ignore taking care of their elderly parents? I was puzzled over this for a long time. Does God want us to stop taking care of our parents? Are we to follow this verse so strictly that we would stop to be their caregivers ?.

I love my mum very much. She is the reason why I came back to the Lord. It is because of her baptism that brought me back to the church after 3 years of leaving the Lord, and eventually I returned to Jesus . My mum is instrumental to what I am today.

She is my prayer partner , we would spent time praying about many prayer items . I would pray in English and she is Hokkien , a Chinese dialect. And we saw many prayers answered in the past. She was there for me in many crisis of my life, my support, my strength.

It has been many years since. Now she is 86. Last year, she was admitted to the hospital 6 times within a year, once even for one long month. It caused so much stress to my family and , needless to say, also having to deal with the financial burden. Though I could not help out much, my other brothers and sisters who are wealthier helped out , as the hospital bills were very hefty .

When she was in the hospital last year, I agonised over her health. Is her day near? Is she going home to the Lord? I love my mum very much, she is more than a mum to me, she is my friend, someone I share my life with, I tell her my secrets too, she is also a very supportive mum, I just love her so much.

So when she was at the hospital , I cried to God. I asked him, "Please extend her life, I need her very much. I can't bear to let her go. Lord, I don't think you would understand about my love for my mum. Your time with your earthly mum was so short , you may not love her as much as I love my mum."€

I am sorry , but I questioned Jesus about His love for His own earthly mother.



After a few days, the Lord gave me a surprise. He led me to John 19: 21.

John 19 : 25 to 27 Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clepoas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, "Dear woman, here is your son, and to the disciple,"Here is your mother." From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.

Let me explain the scenario of this scene. Imagine you were the person who was going to die ahead of your mother and you loved your mother very much and you could not bear to leave her behind. Yet you had to leave this earth because of something more important you had to do. So what was the next best thing for you to do? You would entrust her to some one that you trusted most or someone closest to you. You would want to entrust her to someone you trusted and whom you knew would take care of your mother after you had left this world.

This was actually what the Lord did at the cross. Before His last breath, He did the last thing that He knew He had to do, He entrusted His earthly mother to His most trusted disciple and most loved disciple, John .

He did not entrusted his mother to just anybody or even an old folk's home or anyone else?. He entrusted her to someone whom He knew that He could depend on and whom He trusted and loved very much. He chose the best person to take care of His mother !!.

The Lord was so patient and so kind to reveal this to me, that even the cross when he was dying and breathing His last breath, he cared tremendously for the future well being of His earthly mother. As He had to leave ahead of her to return to the Heavenly Father, Jesus did the next best thing any good loving son would do, that is to entrust her to someone He trusted and whom He loved most.

After this wonderful and enlightening revelation, I felt so comforted that our Lord loved His earthly mother and therefore He would understand my love for my mum. Because of this revelation, I also knew that God wanted us to love our parents and to take good care of them and also to provide for them to the best of our abilities, even to their old age.

My friends here at CB and all Christians, It will be Mother's and Father's Day soon. Go and honour them, go and love them . Our Lord Jesus Himself has loved His too. He had set us an example for us to follow , the Lord loved His mother as in John 19. May He be our eternal Example and our Guide always.

One last point, please read these verse:

Exodus 20 : 12 -Honour your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.

Ephesians 6: 1-3 --Children ,obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. "Honor your father and mother" which is the first commandment with a promise that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.

May we honour our father and our mother whilst they are still alive. AMEN

From Hwa Silverpen
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