“And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior” (Luke 1:46,47).

Jesus’ mother rejoiced, but she would also grieve. She saw her special Son humiliated and nailed to a cross (John 19:25–27), but Jesus did not come down then and there and stand beside her. Why not? He had power to do so!

Instead, He chose to meet the far greater need of His mother. Mary needed more than restoration to emotional tranquility. Jesus did indeed meet this minor need, also, by assigning John to her, but the Lord was doing something for Mary vastly more profound.

He remained on the cross to save His mother from her sins. He wanted her and other sinners with Him in heaven forever (John 17:24), and He was and is the only Savior possible. Mary herself confessed a need for a Savior. As our text says, she, believing in Jesus, trusted in “God [her] Savior.”

It was also essential that the Lord stay on the cross for all saints who had gone on before. Old Testament believers were dependent on that once-for-all-time sacrifice of the Lord, too. They had been saved provisionally—trusting in the coming Messiah, but all the sacrificial animals combined could not save even one of them. Such sacrifices were efficacious only in that they pointed to the completely sufficient sacrifice of Mary’s sinless Son on the cross. The Old Testament had promised that the Lord would provide (of Genesis 22:8) a Lamb who would take away the sin of the world (John 1:29).

It was essential, also, that the Lord stay on the cross for New Testament and modern-day saints. All of faith enter heaven only because Mary’s Son, Savior Jesus, suffered death on a cross. Jesus was the just judge dying in the place of sullen sinners. Mary’s tears indeed, like those of Nain’s widow, have become full of joy. She’s now in heaven with her Son and Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. PGH