WWJD By Dr. Richard Youngblood
Question: As we come to Mother’s Day, I was wondering
if Jesus ever took time to honor his mother.
Mary, the mother of Jesus,
obviously played an important role in bringing him into this world; however,
outside the birth stories in the early chapters of the gospels of Matthew and
Luke, she is mentioned very few times in the New Testament. She made a request
of Jesus at a wedding feast in Cana that led to his first miraculous sign, changing
water to wine (John 2:1-5). One time
during his ministry, Jesus was told that his mother and brothers had come
looking for him. To emphasize the
importance of his spiritual relationship with his followers, he asked: “Who are
my mother and my brothers?” Looking at
those seated around him, he said: “Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does God's will is my brother and
sister and mother” (Mark 3:33-35). Mary was present at the foot of the cross when
Jesus was dying (John 19:25-27) and was also in the upper room with the disciples
after Jesus had ascended back to heaven (Acts 1:14).
Although
his actions and teachings placed priority on his spiritual relationships
(Matthew 10:37), Jesus never spoke or acted in ways
that were disrespectful or unloving toward his mother. He even corrected the Pharisees and teachers
of the law, saying: “For God
said, 'Honor your father and mother' and 'Anyone who
curses his father or mother must be put to death.' But you say that if a man says to his father
or mother, 'Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is a gift
devoted to God,' he is not to 'honor his father 'with it. Thus you nullify the
word of God for the sake of your tradition” (Matthew 15:4-6).
Unlike
the Pharisees and teachers of the law, no one has ever shown greater love and
respect for his mother than Jesus. The
apostle John wrote: “Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his
mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, 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” (John
Although Jesus was taking on the
responsibility of dying in payment for the sins of the entire world, he did not
neglect his beloved mother in the flesh.
He fulfilled both his responsibility toward his spiritual family and his
fleshly family. He made no excuses and
did not declare that his gift was “Corban” (cf. Mark
[Send questions or comments to
University Church of Christ, 801 N. 12th,