Near the foot of the cross soldiers had gambled for His clothing. Painful nails had pierced through His hands and His feet before He was hung up to die, as though he were a common criminal. Long before in far better circumstances Cain had reached out and killed his own brother. Here on the cross in the middle of the worst possible circumstances the Lord Jesus showed the perfection of his human feelings. Seeing His mother, He commended her to the care of the disciple whom He loved. The finger of God had inscribed those words, “Honor thy father and thy mother,” (Ex. 20:12) on the tablet of stone. But the truth of it was embodied in the perfect human heart of the Lord. It could express itself even under the extremely trying circumstances of the cross. A cup filled with pure water can only spill pure water when it is bumped. The heart filled with the perfection of the divine nature could only show out tenderness to His mother and disciple.
Mary Cared for
Notice that Mary wasn’t someone who had some special righteousness or power. She needed to be cared for and the Lord provided for her. The Scriptures say nothing of what she did at the cross. Instead they focus on what Christ did. She was certainly blessed but was made a worshipper and not to be worshipped. The last time she is mentioned in Scripture she is at a prayer meeting along with many others (Acts 1:13-14). We would be greatly helped to follow her example and continue “with one accord in prayer and supplication” (Acts 1:14) to the Lord.
It Is Finished
In the garden God had said, “I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee” (Gen. 3:16). Now, at long last, when mankind had completely shown the absoluteness of his corruption and violence, that Scripture was fulfilled. Satan had been allowed to “bruise the heel” of the Lord by having man cruelly harm his body. But for all Satan’s cleverness and understanding of fallen man he has never understood a God of grace. His act of seeming victory only provided the opportunity for the Lord to accomplish redemption for mankind. In the hours of darkness mentioned in Matthew’s gospel, the Lord had “suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18). Now, with every Scripture that needed to be fulfilled before His death having been fulfilled, He could give the great shout of triumph and proclamation, “It is finished”!
Cruelty Brings Love
For one last time an unbeliever was allowed to touch the Lord Jesus. From that moment onward He would say to His own to reach out to “behold my hands,” but no man without faith was allowed to touch Him again. The final act of man’s hatred was for the Roman soldier to plunge his spear into the side of the Lord. It was too late to kill the Lord of life. He had already laid down His own life willingly. But that act of hatred immediately brought out the blood and water. It is that blood that makes an atonement or covering for sin. It is only that blood that “cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).
There were still many prophecies to be fulfilled. Isaiah 53:9 says that He would be with “the rich in his death” (Isa. 53:9). Now that redemption was accomplished, God the Father began to heap honor on the One who had fully glorified Him.
Further Meditation
1. What was “finished”?
2. Who saw Jesus Christ after he arose?
3. A very comprehensive, difficult and helpful work on these subjects is The Cross, the Blood and the Death of Jesus Christ by G. V. Wigram.