ANDREW FULLER & CARING FOR WIDOWS
One of the marks of true Christianity is to care for widows (see James 1:27; Timothy 5:3-8). Andrew Fuller traced this in part back to the cross. As he wrote in a circular letter sent out to the Northamptonshire Association of Baptist Churches in 1815:
“It is one of the most endearing traits in the character of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, while the salvation of the world was pending, he did not neglect to provide for his aged mother. Joseph is thought to have been dead for some years, and Mary seems to have followed Jesus, who, while upon earth, discharged every branch of filial duty and affection towards her. But now that he is going to his Father, who shall provide for her? Looking down from the cross on her, and on his beloved disciple, he saith to the one, ‘Behold thy son!’ and to the other, ‘Behold thy mother!’ What exquisite sensibility do these words convey! To her it was saying, Consider me as living in my beloved disciple; and to him, Consider my mother as your own. It is no wonder that ‘from that time that disciple took her to his own home’.” [The Situation of the Widows and Orphans of Christian Ministers].
“It is one of the most endearing traits in the character of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, while the salvation of the world was pending, he did not neglect to provide for his aged mother. Joseph is thought to have been dead for some years, and Mary seems to have followed Jesus, who, while upon earth, discharged every branch of filial duty and affection towards her. But now that he is going to his Father, who shall provide for her? Looking down from the cross on her, and on his beloved disciple, he saith to the one, ‘Behold thy son!’ and to the other, ‘Behold thy mother!’ What exquisite sensibility do these words convey! To her it was saying, Consider me as living in my beloved disciple; and to him, Consider my mother as your own. It is no wonder that ‘from that time that disciple took her to his own home’.” [The Situation of the Widows and Orphans of Christian Ministers].
