Motherhood Exemplified!

I was sitting quietly at home one day when suddenly a bright light shone into my room. And I heard a voice say, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!”

“What? Who? Who are you? Who’s the favored one?” I thought to myself while trying to figure out whether or not I was dreaming…

It was an angel! I had heard of angels appearing to people in the Torah. This angel said his name was Gabriel. Gabriel? Gabriel was the angel who appeared to our prophet Daniel! Oh how could I now be seeing him? And why would he appear to a poor young girl like me?

Before I could recollect what was happening, he went on, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.”

Oh my… this is overwhelming! I have found favor with Yahweh!

“And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

I really don’t know how I mustered up the courage to ask the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”

“The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.”

Overshadow… I heard about shadows a lot in the Torah; tsel (צֵל). Our Father David often sang of taking shelter in the shadow (tsel) of the Almighty; in the shadow (tsel) of His wings. And now the Angel Gabriel is telling me that the tsel of the Almighty will come upon me! And the child born of me will be holy; “qadosh” ( קָדוֹשׁ)… the Son of God!

And then as if to help me believe that nothing is impossible, the Angel Gabriel told me that my relative Elizabeth who was really old in age and barren, has also conceived of a son and is in her 6^th month of pregnancy! Indeed “nothing will be impossible with God.”

I felt overwhelmed by awe and expressed, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.”

Then Gabriel left.

Every mother knows what it feels like to a have a human being grow in her womb. They are often speechless at the miracle of creation. I was beyond speechless. This baby growing in my womb was conceived of by the Holy Spirit of the Almighty Yahweh! And He would be like no other human who ever walked or ever will walk the face of this earth.

And then I thought about what Gabriel had said about Elizabeth and so I got up and visited her in her town of Judah. When I entered Zechariah and Elizabeth’s home, and Elizabeth heard me greet her, she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!”

Oh Lord Almighty, how are you doing this? How did Elizabeth know? The very same Holy Spirit who overshadowed me is indeed at work in Elizabeth too, for she would not have known this if You had not revealed it to her!

Elizabeth went on to excitedly cry out, “And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”

Oh “my soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.”

I spent about three months with Elizabeth and then returned home.

A few months later, as I was about to give birth, there was a decree from Caesar Augustus that everyone must be registered. So Joseph took me up from Nazareth to Bethlehem. We came across an inn, and Joseph asked if there was a place for me to stay and give birth. But there was no place for us at the inn. Exhausted from the journey and suffering the full pains of labor, we found an animal stable and I laid there, with Joseph by my side. The Lord sustained me through the labor pains until I gave birth to this precious little baby boy whom the angel told us to name Jesus. And we placed him in a manger.

While we were still in Bethlehem, and Jesus still lay in the manger, shepherds came to visit the baby. They told us that an angel had appeared to them while they were keeping watch over their flock at night and the glory of the Lord shone around them. The angel bore good news of a great joy for all people; “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you; you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” They said there appeared with the angel a multitude of heavenly host who praised God and said, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased.”

I remained awe-struck and treasured everything that happened, pondering them in my heart.

When the time of purification came according to the Law of Moses, we took the baby Jesus to the Temple to present him to the Lord. And a righteous man, Simeon, entered the Temple, being promised by the Lord that he would not die before seeing the Lord’s Christ. He took the child in his arms and said, “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 people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.”

Joseph and I marveled at what was said about Jesus. I haven’t stopped being overwhelmed since Gabriel appeared to me!

We then returned to Galilee, to our town of Nazareth. And what a joy it was to watch Jesus grow!

Some years later, when Jesus was 12, we went up to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover, as we did every year. We travelled to and from in a large group with our relatives and friends. As we were heading back, having travelled a day’s journey, we suddenly realized that Jesus wasn’t with us. Oh no! Where is he? We asked all of our relatives and friends, but no one knew where he was. Oh, I had thought he was in our large group somewhere, but he wasn’t! So Joseph and I turned and headed back to Jerusalem again. First day, second day, we couldn’t find him! Any mom can relate how my heart sunk at this point. Where’s my son? After everything overwhelming that had taken place over the years, how could I lose him now?

It was three days later that we finally found him at the Temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. All who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. Joseph and I ourselves were amazed! I ran to him and took him in my arms, and asked him why he did this to us. We were so worried about him and had looked for him everywhere! His response stunned us and everyone who heard, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” To be honest, I didn’t really know what he meant. My heart was still pounding hard from worry. But as with everything else that took place, I treasured his words in my heart. As always, he humbly submitted to Joseph and I, and returned to Nazareth with us.

And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.

So much can be said of Jesus’ life-restoring ministry… what a proud mom I was!

But it seemed like time flew and Jesus began to share that He must suffer and leave us, and that where He is going, we cannot follow now, but will follow afterward. He told us not to be afraid, that He would be with us always, that we will live because He lives, and that He will not leave us as orphans but will send us a Helper to be with us forever. He even said that it is better for us if He leaves. To be honest, we didn’t really understand what He meant, and we were afraid.

Am I about to lose my son? Must I go through the agony of seeing my son suffer unjustly?

Then they came. And he went out to them with such authority like I’ve never seen. And he handed himself over to them.

They put on him on trial, they beat him mercilessly. The words of the prophet Isaiah came to my mind as my eyes couldn’t stop weeping in agony as every whip that landed on his back landed on my soul, and as the sword that pierced his side pierced my heart. “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.”

I followed him as they made him carry his own cross. He fell under its weight and the thud shook every cell of my body. I couldn’t bear to see this baby that I had carried for nine months, this innocent child who did nothing wrong, this strong and gentle man who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil… I couldn’t bear to see him go through all this suffering! Why?!

Then they crucified him. And as I stood at the foot of the cross in unspeakable anguish, Jesus looked down at me and then at John. He told John to take care of me. Oh how does he think of me in the midst of all this pain? I’ll be fine, he’s the one dying in excruciating pain. Yet, this is the Jesus I have known for 33 years. This is my son. Among the brief six or seven words that he uttered on the cross, were those words to make sure I would be well-cared for.

Then he let out the scream of a victor, “Tetelestai!” It is finished! And he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

Even though I faced unspeakable pain, it was only a matter of three days when he would rise again and appear to us repeatedly. He was Jesus the Messiah who humbled himself and became a man to bear the burden of sin that we could not bear, to die the death that we could not die, and to give us the life that we could not earn.

Oh “my soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.”

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I could think of no better example of a mother who gave up her all for her son, whose heart was pierced, and yet who humbly surrendered her will to God. She had learned from her son who “humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

May we as mothers learn from her example. And may we point our children to Jesus and teach them to follow her faith-filled words, “Do whatever He tells you.”

Happy Mother’s Day to every mother who celebrates Mother’s Day on March 21^st 🙂