Leadership through Discipleship #7

John – The Power of a Relationship
A relationship that cares

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 19:26-27).

Who would you trust to care for family members if you were no longer able to look to their interest? Naturally we would look first to other family members, but occasionally there is no one else able to be a caregiver. What do you do then? Close friends can be counted on to come to your aid when you need help, but which of your friends would you ask to care for an aging parent? This is a real test of a relationship … when a friend asks you to care for his mother!

The request that Jesus made on the cross is telling of the relationship that had developed between Him and the Beloved Disciple. In the painful last minutes of life Jesus felt that there was a sufficient quality to His relationship with John that He could ask this huge favor, “Take care of my mother. Treat her like your own.” John’s response appears to be immediate, “From that hour that disciple took her to his own home.”

What a change has taken place in the life of the disciple John. Here one of the “sons of thunder” has become so close to Jesus that he is willing to be a caregiver to His mother. A “hot-head” becomes a caring friend. The man who once wanted to call fire down from heaven to consume Samaritans who refused to welcome Jesus now risks his own life among those who crucified Him as he stands with Mary near the cross. While other disciples fled in fear and Peter denied knowing Him, John apparently was the only one to stay near through the trial and became the only eyewitness to write of the crucifixion.

John truly cared about Jesus. A caring relationship develops over time and demonstrates genuine love. Anyone can say they love, but it is only proven by caring actions. This same disciple wrote of the true essence of love, “My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth” (1 John 3:18).

We can say we love, but do we care? We can say we care, but do our actions demonstrate our devotion? All the disciples would have confessed their love for Jesus, but only one had the kind of relationship that caused him to stay near the Lord until the end.

What kind of relationship do you have with Jesus? How much do you care?