Ⅲ
Deborah rose up not only as a judge of Israel but also as a mother in Israel—Judg. 5:7:
A
When the church life in practicality reaches a peak, there should be some real mothers in every church; in Romans 16:13 Paul says, “Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother as well as mine”:
１
The apostle Paul needed a mother; without a sister as a mother to take care of them, all of those who bear the burden for the Lord’s service would be sorrowful; we all need the care of spiritual mothers, whose care is our real nourishment and our real protection.
２
Paul’s having a spiritual mother indicates that the saints in the church life in Rome had a life transfer through the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ; the best way to have a life transfer is by following the pattern of Paul, who did not determine to know anything but the all-inclusive Christ, and this One crucified—1 Cor. 2:2.
B
The Gospel of John is a book on life, not on the natural life but on the transferred and transformed life; originally, John was not Mary’s son, and Mary was not John’s mother, but by Christ’s life-releasing death, by His life-dispensing resurrection, and by His life union with them, His beloved disciple could be one with Him and become the son of His mother, and she could become the mother of His beloved disciple—19:26-27.
Morning Nourishment
Judg. 5:7 …Until I, Deborah, rose up; until I rose up as a mother in Israel.Rom. 16:13 Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother as well as mine.
1-2 I commend to you Phoebe our sister, who is a deaconess of the church which is in Cenchrea,…for she herself has also been the patroness of many, of myself as well.
The emphasis in Romans 16 is on the sisters, not the brothers, and there is mention of a mother but no mention of a father….’I commend to you Phoebe our sister” [v. 1], not a sister in the flesh….We do not have a verse to tell us the names of Paul’s mother and father in the flesh. The mother in verse 13 is a mother in the flesh in relation to Rufus, but more important, she is a mother not in the flesh in relation to Paul. (CWWL, 1975-1976, vol. 1, p. 47)
Today’s Reading
The New Testament tells us that Paul had at least two sons, one named Timothy and the second named Titus, but these were not his sons in the flesh. Paul uses a very intimate expression to call them sons: “…genuine child in faith,” and “…genuine child” (1 Tim. 1:2; Titus 1:4)….The New Testament tells us very little about the direct flesh relatives of the apostles….Peter did tell us that he had a son named Mark: “Mark my son” (1 Pet. 5:13). Surely Mark was not Peter’s son in the flesh…. Peter was Mark’s father, not his father in the flesh but his father in the spirit, his father in the common faith.According to the record in John 19, when the Lord Jesus was suffering during His crucifixion, He looked at His mother in the flesh. At that time four sisters were standing by the cross, watching how the Lord was being crucified. Mary was there, and her sister, and another two sisters also named Mary. Mary’s sister was the mother of James and John, so James and John were the cousins of Jesus. Near the end of His crucifixion, the Lord Jesus looked at His mother in the flesh, and in a sense it was as if He said to her, “Mother, don’t behold Me, but behold your son.” At the same time He said to His cousin John, “Behold, your mother” (vv. 25-27).
The Gospel of John is a book on life, not on the natural life but on the transferred and transformed life. To fulfill his purpose John gives us a record to show how the life of the believers of Christ could be transferred by the cross of Jesus and by His resurrection. If you look at the cross of Jesus, you will be transferred. The word of the Lord Jesus to John and to His mother was a word to show us that His life-imparting, life-releasing death transfers people’s lives.
Originally, John was not Mary’s son, and Mary was not John’s mother. But because of the crucifixion of Jesus, Mary, the mother of Jesus, became the mother of John. John, who was the son of Mary’s sister, became Mary’s son. This is not a story of adoption, and it does not mean that the Lord Jesus was like a judge to carry out the adoption as they all stood by the cross…. According to the life in the flesh, John was Mary’s nephew, and Mary was John’s aunt. But by looking at the cross, they received another life….In this second life the nephew becomes a real son, and the aunt becomes a real mother.
To have the practical church life to the uttermost, in the local church there should be some real sisters and some real mothers. [Recently] it was my burden to share with you that you need to be a serving sister, but now I am burdened to share with you that you need to be a mother. As long as there is a shortage of sisters like Phoebe among us, the church life is not practical. Yet the serving of that sister is at the beginning of Romans 16, in the first verse. When the church life in practicality reaches a peak, in every church there should be some real mothers. (CWWL, 1975-1976, vol. 1, pp. 47-50)
Further Reading: CWWL, 1975-1976, vol. 1, pp. 45-46 (also in the booklet The Serving Sisters in the Church Life), pp. 47-55 (also in the booklet The Loving Mothers in the Church Life)