John and the 3 Marys

One would be forgiven if they thought that the above title referred to a popular band from the 70s featuring the soulful bass voice of a hairy chested man along with pleasant choruses from the vocals of 3 beautiful women. You would also be forgiven - or at least I sure do hope - should one of your favorite bands fit this moniker. One such band at the top of my list is called “Bony M” and is known for such hits as “By the Rivers of Babylon”, “Rasputin” and “Hooray! Hooray! It’s a Holi-Holiday”. If you have time I’d really recommend listening to “By the Rivers of Babylon” (which really is a classic) to hear Psalm 137 sung in a disco/reggae style.

 

But this is Holy Week and we are talking about the Bible and not under-appreciated ensembles from bygone eras and while John and the 3 Marys may sound like a pop disco band from the 70s they are actually a group of individuals that displayed costly loyalty towards Jesus during the most difficult time He would ever face.

 

We don’t often think about this but imagine what the Cross meant to the eternal Second Person of the Trinity. He had existed forever and will exist forever but chose to enter the realm of time and space and embrace the limitations of a human body and human soul. He became truly Man while also being truly God - a mystery that has been mused on by philosophers and theologians for the past 2 thousand years. But in embracing all that it means to be human He then went even further and bore societal rejection to the point of public humiliation, torture and execution.

 

That’s a very different state of being than that of the invulnerable, self-existent mode that He had known for all eternity. So to say that it was a difficult time is an understatement.

 

But during that time, when He was at the lowest He would ever be and while the masses were hurling their insults and mockery, 5 people stood by Him.  We see this in John 19:25-27 that His mother Mary, His aunt (who is not named),  Mary the wife of Clopas, Mary Magdalene and John the disciple - all were there in the sight of the whole world standing close enough to Jesus to hear Him whisper.

 

That Naked Guy

It was no small thing to be standing by a convicted criminal in those days. We know the story of Peter openly denying the Lord as he was warming his hands by the fire and we know that all of Jesus’ other disciples scattered as well. There is even the audacious account (Mark 14:50-52) of one of His disciples almost getting seized along with Jesus but managing to slide out of the captor’s grip on his clothes, leaving him free - but without any clothing - to scurry off naked into the countryside.

 

The questions that this story raises are pressing:  

 

Wasn’t it April???? Who were this guy’s parents? Was he raised by wolves?  Don’t you know it’s too cold to only be wearing one layer of linen in the early spring?

 

And the consequences are severe because should this guy have returned to Lord like Peter did then he will forever be remembered as “that naked guy who ran away”. Which will admittedly make for some awkward introductions at Heavenly dinner parties where more often than not he may find himself as the butt of a joke (sorry).

 

Loyal Love

Dad jokes aside we are left with the realization that those most close to Jesus - who had seen Him do so many wild miracles over the past 3 years - all abandoned Him in His greatest time of need. 

 

Except for these five.

 

And that seems to be no small thing in Jesus’ Mind. We see this mostly with Mary Magdalene and John. Ms. Magdalene has the privilege of being the first person to see the Resurrected Christ (John 20:14-18). For the purpose of brevity we won’t discuss how this illustrates Jesus’ principle in John 14:21-24 that loyal love towards Him will cause Him to reveal Himself to you in a greater way. Mary was loyal to Jesus in His darkest time and He made sure not only that she saw Him but that she saw Him first.

 

John is similar. Not only did John prove so trustworthy in Jesus’ eyes that He gave him the responsibility of caring for His elderly mother but John’s life was different from all the other disciples. All other 11 disciples were martyred but John lived out his days and died a natural death. Peter seemed know this might be coming when after being restored into relationship with Christ and told that he would die a martyrs death, then turned and asked what would happen with John. Jesus responds with a telling “What is it to you if I make it so that he never has to die?”

 

Whatever you make of that statement it is to be sure that Jesus was moved by John’s loyalty. Everyone had fled Him in his time of greatest need except for these 5. They stood with Him as He languished on the Cross and that mattered.

 

May that be true about us oh Lord. May we be loyal to You.  Amen.