The Women At The Cross (Barry Hudson)

We preachers try to so impress our hearers with life-changing truth that we sometimes overstate our case. I believe this has been done when we say Jesus died all alone on the cross. Yes, He was forsaken by those materialistic, fickle Jews, by His apostles, and even by His Father as He took our iniquities upon Himself, but Jesus was not all alone.

In that poignant scene of the cross we see the faithful women in Jesus' life. True, three of the gospels say that these women were standing at a distance, viewing the events of the cross; but John 19:25 says they were standing by the cross.

These women of Galilee were dear friends of Jesus. They ministered to Him of their own means (Luke 8:3; Mark 15:41). Their sympathy, love and concern for Jesus in His ministry, and now in His death, must have greatly encouraged Jesus in the midst of cruel ridicule and unbelief. Salome, the mother of James and John, was at the cross. If we had been there, we might have stayed away out of bitter resentment. In Matthew 20:20, she requested that Jesus give her sons chief places in the kingdom. Jesus taught her and her sons how wrong their ambitions were.

Salome -- the woman Jesus refused; and yet, she was there at the cross, constantly devoted to Jesus even when she didn't get her own way. Many give up on the Lord when they don't get their way, but Salome teaches us to trust the Savior in spite of disappointment.

Mary Magdalene was there. She had known the misery of being possessed by seven demons, but after Jesus cast them out, Mary was a new woman. His love had rescued her and her constant love for Him never died. Even at the cross, when people said He had failed and was a blasphemer she kept on loving Him as demonstrated by her return to the tomb on the day Jesus was raised from the dead. Isn't it wonderful that the first one to see the resurrected Christ was this devoted woman disciple? Likewise, if we remain devoted to the Lord, we shall see Him in all His glory (2 Thessalonians 1:10).

Then there was Mary, His mother. As she stood below the cross, it may be that she thought of the day when she stood in the temple as a young mother. She and Joseph were bringing their little boy to dedicate Him to the Lord. An old man stepped out of the crowd and prophesied that this baby would be a Leader of men, a Ruler of nations. And then he said directly to Mary, "And a sword will pierce your own soul." At the cross, that prophecy was fulfilled.

The sword pierced her soul as she thought back on the last three decades. She was the first one to plant a tender kiss upon His brow, but now that brow was crowned with thorns. She had held His little hands as He took His first steps, but now those hands were spiked to a cross. She had guided those little feet in the right way, but now they were nailed to a tree.

She must have remembered how He astounded the scholars of Jerusalem with His knowledge and had said to her, "I must be about my Father's business." This was the beginning of separation. (Parents, it hurts, doesn't it?) Mary knew that things were going to be different in the future. She didn't always understand, but she stored the information in her heart and pondered it. At the cross, the puzzle starts to make sense and it pierced her soul.

Openly, publicly and shamefully, Jesus was crucified. And there Mary stood, feeling the sword go through her soul. She saw Jesus struggle to catch His breath, and then He breathed no more. If we could get into this mother's heart, and picture this scene at Calvary, especially these last moments, it would make His sacrifice more real to us.

I'm impressed that Mary stood silently. If anyone would know the real truth, it would be a mother. Her silence is an eloquent testimony that Jesus is God the Son come in human flesh. She unashamedly stood by His cross and loved Him until the end. How sad when Jesus provides a son for His mother! But Mary and John belonged together because in His death they were losing more than the rest. Mary was losing a son and John was losing his Master who loved him beyond the rest. Neither Mary nor John would ever have Him again as they had once known Him in tender and loving association. Jesus understood their mutual love for Him and, while dying, gave them each other.

Let us never underestimate the importance of these women. Others fled, but these devoted disciples risked everything to comfort Jesus in His sorrow. It could not have been easy to witness the agony, shame and indignity of His death, but they firmly stood there. It is one thing to stand by Jesus in His hour of joy and victory, in the day of His power when He cured diseases and cast out demons and raised the dead. It is, however, another thing to stand by Him at the cross, when heaven seemed closed to His cries and the devil seemed so victorious. But these women stood fast. Nothing could overpower their love and sympathy for the Savior. May we ever be as devoted and unwavering in our commitment to the Lord as these women were.

TRUDGING UP THOSE HILLS (Gary Ogden)

Calvin and Hobbes, I love 'em. Some of you won't know whom I'm talking about, but comics aficionados will recognize them as a boy and his tiger companion. Calvin's a pistol and Hobbes can be quite philosophical at times. Comic strips can and often are a reflection of our lives and times.

In a recent strip, the duo is out sledding in the snow. Calvin complains, "I hate trudging up these hills. I didn't come out here to work! I came out here to ride and have fun!"

Hobbes replies, "Well, you can't ride the sled if you don't climb the hills." Calvin counters, "I could if you pulled me up." The next strip shows Calvin alone with a grumpy look on his face. His friend has "abandoned" him and he says, "He's so lazy and selfish."

Calvin has his counterparts in our real world. They came here for a fast ride and to have fun and they intend to have fun come what may. If sin should happen to be in the formula that's no obstacle. Fun is fun no matter its source. These fun-lovers love pleasure more than anything else in the world, or for that matter, in heaven. The Bible calls them "lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God" (2 Timothy 2:4). They search for fun in every aspect of their lives, and while fun and pleasure are not wrong, in and of themselves, they can consume us.

These folks hate, like Calvin, "trudging up these hills." If they aren't having fun, they're impossible to live with. They get thoroughly disgusted at the drudgery and trudgery of life; and reality dictates that life will have its times of difficulty. It can't always be a downhill slide, no matter what our preferences.

It would be nice for our work to be something we enjoy and I think that for the most part, such is possible. But work cannot be all fun and games. It would be called something besides work. I'm thankful for those who take their work seriously and who find a way to work through the boredom and drudgery to do a good job anyway.

Our spiritual labors for Christ can be depicted as an uphill climb, perpetually. Anybody who has in mind that Christianity is a piece of cake needs to look for dessert elsewhere. Try climbing the hill of persecution and ridicule and see how much fun is in it. It's a tough go. Sometimes, some get weary of the uphill climb to heaven. The Letter to the Hebrews in the New Testament is an effort to recover those who become "weary in well-doing." It was written to saints in the first century, when the pressure to remain faithful to Christ was very great. It is a good book to read again and again when we find ourselves beginning to hate trudging up these hills.

Hobbes jerks Calvin back to reality when he reminds him, "You can't ride the sled if you don't climb the hills." Quite an astute statement for a stuffed tiger! Have you ever sledded down a snow-covered hill? It is one of the true joys of life. The steeper the hill, the greater the thrill! The exhilaration during the run and at the bottom of the hill is indescribable. When you've completed the run, you're ready to go at it again and again.

The tiger's telling us that reward comes from diligent effort. Some people want a paycheck without having to work for it. They'd like a year-end bonus but don't want to go above and beyond in order to receive it. They'd like the commission without having to sell.

How many want to go to heaven but aren't interested in doing what it takes to go there? While you can't "earn" your way to heaven, don't think that you can get there by being spiritually lazy. Peter reminds us of the diligent effort that will be rewarded with an "abundant entrance into the eternal kingdom" (2 Peter 1:5-11). He's telling us, "If you want to go to heaven, you have to be willing to climb the hills." The Lord promises "rest from their labors" for those who die while faithfully serving Him (Revelation 14:13).

Calvin wanted to be pulled up the hill so that he could enjoy the ride up as well as down. He wanted his cake and eat it, too. Some in the work place want the profit-sharing but they aren't happy sharing the responsibilities to make a profit. In the spiritual realm, some are hoping to go to heaven on the coattails of a family member, or the whole congregation. Their philosophy is, "I could have a wonderful life here and in eternity if you would just pull me along."

While we do need to be an encouragement to one another, no one can pull my load. The Bible says, "For each man shall bear his own burden" (Galatians 6:5). If you depend totally on other people to fulfill your responsibility or make you happy, you are following a damaging "Calvinistic" philosophy.

When Calvin is left alone with the sled, he points the finger of blame the other way. He thinks Hobbes is lazy and selfish because he refuses to pull him up the hill. One of our great faults in today's world is the refusal to accept personal responsibility for our own actions and attitudes. So many want to point the finger of blame at society by saying, "You people haven't done enough for me, so I will turn to a life of crime." Folks at work can't figure out that productivity is down because they are being unproductive. Some Christians love to point the finger of blame at other Christians for their own personal failure to be faithful.

Too often, we are too lazy and too selfish to carry on in a mature and responsible way. "Go to the ant, lazy one," and learn, "You can't ride the sled if you don't climb the hills."