Mary

Every year at Christmas and Easter time I make it a point to focus on one character or aspect of the Biblical accounts of these miraculous times. This Holy Week I’ve been  trying to put myself in the place of Mary, the mother of Jesus.

Dear Mary, perhaps the closest person on earth to the Savior, stood in agonizing terror as she watched her blessed, innocent Son cruelly tortured and crucified. What was going through her mind? Besides pain? Had she ever anticipated this moment? She knew the Scriptures. She had heard the warnings in the Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah, as well as the message of Simeon who had seen Jesus as a baby and candidly warned her about the “sword that would pierce her soul” (Luke 2:35).

When Mary saw the sky go black and felt the tremor of the earthquake, she must have known that God was speaking judgement on the unbelieving scoundrels who executed her beloved. But could she see beyond it? Did she think this was the tragic end? Was there a hint of hope? A glimmer of light in the darkness? I think so. She knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that Jesus was God’s Son. And she knew that God had more in store. This couldn’t be the end of the story. She may not have understood just how the plan of God would work out, but He had a plan. And she had to trust the Father.

Sometimes we face devastating loss and grief, but above the wailing of our soul and voice, God is speaking. Are we listening? Do we find a way to hold on to hope? Listen to His Words. “I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25). “I am with you always” (Matthew 28:20). “I will come again” (John 14:3). Aren’t those words reassuring?

Mary must have been present at some of the gatherings that followed Christ’s resurrection. Did she remember the psalmist’s words, “Weeping may endure for the night, but joy comes in the morning” (Psalm 30:5)? She had been weeping for more than a night, but her joy would endure forever.

Are you revelling in the joy of the resurrection that Mary experienced? Are you pondering all these things in your heart like Mary did? And are you looking beyond the present to the joyful morning when we are beyond all pain?