I can’t stop thinking about Mary today. It is Maundy Thursday, the day of the last supper of our Lord.
Where was Mary?
It’s the day that Jesus comforted, fed, and prayed for the disciples.
Where was Mary?
It the day that Jesus was betrayed by his dear friend Judas, whose feet he had just washed.
Where was Mary?
It’s the day he wept and prayed, sweating drops of blood in the Garden.
Where was Mary?
It’s the day the soldiers came to take him away to what he knew was going to be a horrific death.
Where was Mary?
More than likely she was there, but the Scriptures don’t tell us because women were often not always mentioned by name back in those days. That’s why when they were mentioned, it’s a big deal and we should pay attention…
…like when Mary was mentioned at the foot of the cross.
As a mother of a son who is only a year older than Jesus at his death, my heart cannot take what that must’ve been like seeing my son brutally beaten and hanging on a cross, suffocating to death. I don’t know that I could’ve been there. The horror of what she saw must’ve been the most gut-wrenching heartbreak imaginable, and yet she never left him. She stayed until the end.
In the movie Steel Magnolias (if you’ve been following me for a while, you knew I would go there!), Shelby’s mom is pictured never leaving her side while she lay in a coma. When they finally realized there was no hope, she says this:
“We turned off the machines. Drum left; he couldn’t take it. Jackson left. I find it amusing…men are supposed to be made out of steel or something. I just sat there. I just held Shelby’s hand. There was no noise. No tremble. Just peace. I realized as a woman, how lucky I am. I was there when that wonderful creature drifted into my life. And I was there when she drifted out. It was the most precious moment of my life.”
I can’t help but picture Mary thinking something similar, but on a much bigger scale. She was there when the Son of God came into this world, and she was there when He left it. It was the most precious moment of her life.
And then I realized: she was chosen for this...chosen to suffer with her Son.
In Luke 1:28, the angel of the Lord calls her “blessed among women.” Why? Yes, she is the mother of our Lord, but what suffering that brought! Why would anyone be considered blessed to bear such pain and sorrow?
There is only one answer: it is an HONOR to suffer with our Savior.
When Jesus tells the disciples in Matthew 20:22-23, “Can you drink from the cup I drink? ….. You can, and you will,” he is foretelling their future. Every single one of the disciples except John died as a martyr, some on a cross themselves. Though John did not die as a result of being killed, he was boiled in hot oil and when he didn’t die from it, was exiled to the Isle of Patmos where he wrote the book of Revelation.
When Jesus tells us in Matthew 16:24 to take up our cross and follow Him, we must remember the cross is not a pleasant place. It is a place of suffering. I think anyone who grieves knows what this means. Our grief is our cross to bear for the rest of our days. The pain, though duller on some days than others, is still always present. It is a long, slow, painful wait until we see our hope fulfilled. But wait, we will, just like Mary, who waited in her grief at the feet of her Son and Savior. Why do we wait in the midst of what is at times unbearable pain?
Because Sunday is coming. ❤️
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