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John 19:26-27 NLT
When Jesus saw his mother standing there beside the disciple he loved, he said to her, “Dear woman, here is your son.” And he said to this disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from then on this disciple took her into his home.
I find ‘family’ a difficult word to grasp. It carries such a wealth of meaning, which varies from person to person. I grew up in a stable and loving family. All was well until I became a teenager. Up till then I had related really well with Dad. But now the wheels slowly came off.
Finding faith at university seemed to further strain the relationship and as I found my early adult feet, distance grew between myself and all my family. I remained self-confident and was fully involved with my new sphere of Christian service. My emotional needs were met by those in Church and life unrolled before me with seldom a glance in the rear-view mirror.
Today I have Mum living in our home, which is a healthy mixture of joy and tension. I realise I don’t carry any special sense of belonging to those I am related to by blood. My mind considers what family might look like once Mum, who is the lynchpin in holding us together, dies. My assumption is that we will drift back into our own lifestyles and that I am unlikely to maintain much of a relationship with my siblings.
Is such drifting important? Does it have any effect, either positive or negative, upon us individually or as a blood family? Mum often speaks of how she feels alone, given that the speed of life ensures she has little physical contact with her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Yet she is of a generation that never mastered computer communication, so is consequently disempowered in an age of social media and Facebook families.
My question: did Jesus create a fresh family on the cross? Or was he dutifully making provision for his mother? Theologians make many a case from these verses. I remain unsure and I’m in continuous conversation with God about the character, relevance and importance of family in our rapidly fragmenting world.
QUESTION: Where, if anywhere, do you experience family?
PRAYER: Lord, whatever the shortcomings of my physical family, thank you that through Christ there is an eternal family to belong to.
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