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The cross - A place of responsibility

John 19:25-27 Now there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, 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.

John 15:13 Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. For John, to be at the cross was to stand at a place of responsibility. What we need to first understand is that John stood at the cross restored. He, along with the other disciples, had forsaken Jesus and fled for their lives at the garden of Gethsemane. But, John came back to the cross. He was restored and forgiven.

Christians may stray and deny our Lord, but we can still come back to the cross. It doesn’t matter what we’ve done. The cross is the place to go for forgiveness, deliverance and restoration.

For John to stand at the cross was probably not the safest place to stand or the easiest place to stand. It would have taken courage and love for John to come back to the cross. But remember what John wrote years later in 1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness”.

Jesus not only restored John but he gave John some responsibility. “John, you are going to take my place. I will no longer be on earth, to watch over my mother, so you are going to take my place. You are going to take my mother, and you are going to be a son to her.” For John, the cross was a place of responsibility.

All believers are taking His place here on earth. John 20:21 tells us that,“As my Father has sent me, even so, send I you.” You and I represent Jesus to others. To acknowledge the cross, is to acknowledge a place of responsibility. If you and I have come to the cross, we have a huge responsibility to love the Lord Jesus (because he has loved us on the cross), to love others (just like John loved Jesus’ mother), and to love others the same way Jesus loved us. The cross is indeed a place of responsibility. James Thornton

Additional scriptures for further study: Psalm 126:6; Matthew 9:36-38; Luke 14:27; John 13:34-35, Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 2:1-5,12-15; 2 Corinthians 5:18-21; 1 Corinthians 9:16-23; Galatians 2:20; 2 Timothy 2:15; 1 Peter 4:8