You know, you can read a passage from the Bible 100 times, and experience something new in that passage every single time. The Bible isn't just some dusty old book of stories you have crammed into your bedside table. Hebrews 4:12 says the word of God is "living and active!" The Bible is the word of God, speaking to you when you read it, and what He wants you to get at that moment comes to life.
I was reading from the book of John this morning to set my heart on Good Friday , and I'm reading right along through the crucifixion story like I've done before, and I stopped at two words. And when I read these two words, I totally lost it. The two words are "his mother." Jesus is hanging up on the cross and John 19:25 says "Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother." Losing it again now just typing it out. His mother!! If you're a mom, and especially the mom to a little boy, you can't read that not be moved.
I don't know that I've thought alot about Jesus' earthly existence, especially his childhood. He had a mama. She rocked him and bathed him and fed him and cleaned his boo-boos. He probably stuck cheerios up his nose and played hide and seek in the wheat bushels. And now his mama is standing at the foot of the cross, her son has been beaten and whipped and stripped of his clothes....now he's hanging there, and there's nothing she can do. She may have pleaded with God to find another way. She would have traded places with him in a second, as I would for one of my kids.
Sweet Mary. The mother of Jesus. She didn't choose to be the mother to the Savior. God chose her. She's had to have total faith for 30+ years now, and now it's ending like this. Standing at the foot of the cross, while her son hangs there, taking on the sins of the world.
Makes me wonder what plans God has for my kids. Of course "my" is the wrong word. They're God's, and He's allowed me to be their mama for awhile. I will watch them suffer through many things (although probably not death on a cross) and I won't be able to stop it. I pray that I can have the faith of Mary, knowing that God is going to use my kids for His purposes in ways that may be painful and unpleasant and I'll just want to make it stop! Praise God that He has a bigger purpose for them than what I can see or dream for them.
Friends, I pray you have a glorious weekend, remembering Jesus' death on the cross for YOU.....and rejoicing on Sunday that the tomb is empty. He is Risen!! Alive! And therefore we live.
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3 comments:
I'm right there with you, April. The boys and I watched the "In Christ Alone" video Angel posted together earlier today and they wanted to know who that woman was. I asked Noah if he could imagine me watching him be brutalized like that. Sometimes I think that in our zeal to *not* worship Mary, we as Protestants swing too far the other direction and don't remember that she has many lessons to teach us in the example her life was. Sunday is coming!!
obligatory comment so I have the "email follow up" option.:)
Love this post! While I don't have boys and can't relate to the son part, I can relate to the mom part. I always wonder how Mary didn't curse God. First of all, he got her pregnant in a way she could explain, so she had to live with that shame and then she has to watch her son being beaten and crucified. And I can only imagine she was made fun of by the guards as well. This was a great reminder to me, that my girls are not my own and even if it looks crazy to me, God knows what He is doing and loves them far more than I do.
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