“Then He said to the disciple, ‘Behold your mother!’ ” (John 19:27). 

Jesus made an oral testament to John, the beloved disciple, to provide as He would for her after His death. It was a binding agreement in the company of others, if accepted, to care for her needs as the second oldest son. Even though there were other children, his responsibility was to treat her as He would treat her in absentia. John, knowing Jesus, was to compensate for the void that would otherwise be in her life. This example is a challenge to every son and daughter to consider the needs of parents. To honor our father and mother is to provide for them what is needed. Jesus told John to look carefully at the woman that would become his mother. And He told His mother, Mary, to look carefully at the man who would become her son. A new relationship was forged at that very moment. As we look at our mothers, if we could for a moment see what Jesus saw in His own mother. She was the vessel chosen by God for Him to enter into the earth. We owe a great degree of gratitude to our mothers, regardless of their weaknesses. They were the chosen vessels from which we were born.