03/10/2018
We all love our children; Mary loved Jesus, but raising a child means more than just love... it is a challenge. Do your children bring you more than love and joy? Sometimes our children are foolish, and can cause us pain, suffering, or even disappointment during their lifetimes. If you are a new parent, prepare yourself, if you have older children you know this to be true, so was Mary, the mother of Jesus, different, and immune from pain?
“A foolish son is a grief to his father and bitterness to her who bore him.”
Proverbs 17:25 ESV
No, There was no prophesy of foolishness related to Jesus , but listen to what transpired: There was a very old man who lived at the time of Jesus named Simeon, and he had been told by the Holy Spirit that he would not die until he had seen the Messiah. One day he came to the temple in the Spirit, and it was like any other day, he was just another day older, that is, until Joseph and Mary brought Jesus to the temple for His purification. When Simeon saw this child the Holy Spirit revealed to Him that this was indeed the Messiah. What happened next was a wonderful scene in which he held Jesus and joyfully told the Lord that He was finally going to let him die... he had seen the Messiah that he had been waiting for.
“"Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel."”
Luke 2:29-32 ESV
But, the mood suddenly grew serious, and Simeon went on to give an ominous prophesy to Mary as he spoke to her of Jesus. He told her that this child would mean that her own soul would be pierced by a sword because of Him. Have you received such a prophesy regarding your children, probably not, but perhaps you have received a sudden and unforeseen piecing brought on by their life.
“And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, "Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed."”
Luke 2:34-35 ESV
There was no prophesy of foolishness here, it was much more than that, but many parents have had their souls pierced by foolishness in the lives of their children, while others have been pierced by violent events similar to Mary. Perhaps this piercing came when faced by death in childbirth, a disability, maybe later in life as a hereditary trait emerged, or something in the living of life and the choices made like outbursts of anger, hatred, disrespect, illness, addiction, crime, prison, premature death, murder, or some other heart breaking outcropping of a life gone awry. Regardless of how our hearts and souls as parents are pierced the root of our suffering is the love we have for our children. Without that love there would be no warmth, no intimacy, or closeness, but there would also be no pain, or parental suffering. Sex would be a rude physical act of self-gratification, childbirth would be physically painful, unemotional, and anticlimactic, while child rearing itself would be reduced to feed and forget.
But here we are as parents, and we wouldn’t forego a moment of the love, even though it would take away our suffering completely. The price would be too high... no night’s holding a new baby close and smelling their breath, the scent of new life. No joy in first steps, first words, hugs, reciprocated love, or sports goals, plays, music, accomplishments, graduations, marriages, loves and children of their own.... we willingly bear the suffering interspersed in their lives for the ultimate joy that comes from loving them.
This was Mary. This was the mother of Jesus as she stood before Simeon. She lived in a world without the modern protections and medicines that we have today. She knew full well the heartbreak that parenthood could bring. In her world she saw it every day. The malnutrition, illness, the lameness, deafness, mental illness, and more. But His life alone was worth the risk and pain of all of that. So how much more pain would the life of the Messiah bring? What price in suffering would she be willing to pay for Him? What Love would He spark in her life? Her heartbreak and piercing came at the foot of the cross, and no mother should ever have to watch a child die in such a manner. At what point would her heart break completely? Yet she endured it all as she grasped to the Father of her child... God.
The pain that is magnified by our love can become all but unbearable. Ask yourself this question... what price in suffering am I willing to pay to know my children, how about to know Jesus Christ? What amount of heartache, or pain would you reach before crying out “Stop! That’s Too Much!” Would you ever come to a point at which you would wish to curse God and die as Job was told to do? There is so much pain and suffering in the world and when it occurs it always involves someone’s child, and the way through it is always the same, by clinging to our Heavenly Father... God.
We have the same reassurance Mary had. Her child was also the child of God, and our children are His as well.
So here we are approaching Easter, and the thought of the passion and crucifixion of Jesus Christ is heavy on our mind. We can’t begin to imagine His suffering, but in some way we each can feel the love and pain of Mary for her child. We stand at the foot of the cross and weep with her, our hearts break alongside hers, and the sword pierces us too. In this way the pain of Calvary is inside each of us, and our suffering becomes real. We grasp to the promise of God at times like this, and seek the comfort only He can bring us. Our hope is in the salvation and redemption that Jesus brings, but our comfort comes from the Father. Cling to Him as you cry, and feel His embrace.
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for the comfort you bring when my soul is pierced as Mary’s was, but I thank you more for giving me my children in whom I find, and place, such love. I understand that the greater my love for them, the greater my pain and suffering will be Father, and I can only imagine yours as your Son was crucified and took on the sins of the world. Jesus absorbed the sin of murderers, rapists, thieves and more, and the pain of this must have broken your heart. The perfection of Your Son, now the sin of mankind. Yet in this He conquered death and sin, and your pain became celebration. I pray Holy Father that my pain experienced in the lives of my children will bring me such renewed joy as well. I know there will be days when I will weep as Mary did, but I also know that I will come through them and find comfort in you. You are the great provider, comforter, and healer... heal me when I am pierced Father. Comfort me in my times of sorrow, loss, and disappointment. Help me to place my children’s lives in your hands, and to trust in you to turn their faces towards you. Roll the stone away Father, and let the smell of death become the perfume of renewed life through Jesus. Holy, Holy, Holy art thou, and great is your mercy and grace.
Rich Forbes