The hush fell over the crowd as Jesus was raised on the
cross. Standing nearby was the woman who
had spent 30 years of Jesus’ life raising him, caring for him, teaching him,
loving him – his mother, Mary. She
wasn’t alone, as she stood with her sister Mary and Mary Magdalene. The disciple whom Jesus loved, who we believe
to be John, stood with them as well.
(John 19:25 NLT) But I imagine
even surrounded by people she must have felt utterly alone. She had to stand by and watch as her son was
spit upon and cursed. Her son who had
committed no sin. Her child, her firstborn, her miracle from God was going to
die and there was nothing she could do about it. There can be no greater suffering than for a
mother to watch her child in pain and know there is nothing she can do about
it. To make matters worse, Mary must
have known that this was part of God’s plan from the beginning.
Mary and Jesus spent more years of his life together than
Jesus did with his disciples. We know
very little about Jesus’ early life, except for a few small scenes in his early
childhood. What we do know was that as a
young fourteen year old girl, Mary trusted God enough to carry his son, to
birth him and to raise him. I imagine at
some point in the thirty years that Mary and Jesus were together that they
might have had a conversation about his death. I often imagine that Mary knew what was going
to come and how her son was going to suffer. Did she watch her son everyday wondering when
this day would come? Did she pray for God to change His mind? She trusted God
enough to carry His son, now she had to trust Him to take her son from her.
She could have left.
There was nothing that required her to stay at the cross and watch Jesus
die. She could have said her goodbyes
and gone so she didn’t have to watch the tragedy unfold. But she stayed. Mary stayed because she loved her son. She couldn’t walk away from him anymore than
I could walk away from my children in their suffering.
I’m sure Jesus knew what difficulty it was for his mother to
watch him. And we know that he was
concerned for her because we are told in John 19:26-27 that Jesus told Mary
that John was now her son and told John that Mary was now his mother. Even as he was hanging from the cross, he was
honoring the woman who had birthed him and raised him. A scene of tenderness at a time of great
sorrow.
So here Mary was, watching her child take his last breaths
and commit himself to God’s plan. I have
to believe that even when that was happening that Mary trusted God. How could she not? She had seen his works, she had talked to his
angels, and she had carried his son.
Every day for thirty years she had witnessed a miracle.
She had thirty years’ worth of memories – smiles, hugs,
kisses, laughter, prayers – thirty years to carry her through his loss and the
rest of her life. I have to believe that
as Mary watched, she prayed for strength, for peace and for Jesus’ suffering to
be over quickly. She prayed – and God answered.
Mary trusted God and honored God with her obedience, and for
that he heard her prayers and answered them just as he hears the prayers of the
righteous man. (Proverbs 15:29 NLT) That’s
why when we pray for strength in difficult situations and trials, He hears us
and He answers.
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