Did Mary, the mother of Jesus, end up perplexed and disappointed?
(Read Luke1: 26 – 38)
Can you imagine how blessed and excited Mary must have felt after hearing the words of the angel Gabriel, announcing to her that her future son Jesus will be called the Son of God, and that he will reign on David’s throne for ever?
What a glorious future was surely awaiting her, who will be nurturing the only Son of God the Eternal King of Israel!
A blessed and happy life was certainly awaiting her!
So, she thought…
After all, these were the very words that God transmitted to her through this angel, and God’s words are bound to happen!
Most certainly so!
And yet…, they did not happen. Not in her lifetime:
Less than a year after Jesus’ birth, at the occasion of his circumcision, it was prophesied to her that “a sword will pierce her own soul!” (Luke 2:34)
“What did this prophet, Simeon, mean”, she must have thought?
Nothing could go wrong, could it! God had promised that she would be blessed more than all women! (Luke: 1: 28)
Indeed, she was blessed for having given birth to the most important man who ever lived on earth, the only one who can save the living and the dead, if they repent of their sins and change their ways. (Luke 2: 77- 79).
To be precise, the blessings that will be hers in the eternal life are untold and many.
But here on earth, she certainly had a troubled life, filled with difficulties, fears and sorrows:
Barely a few weeks or months after giving birth, she and her husband had to flee from Israel, in fear, in the middle of the night, taking the baby Jesus quickly out of Bethlehem moments only before king Herod’s soldiers arrived to kill all the babies in that village, so as to get rid of the prophesied future King of Israel!
They hurried to Egypt, where they lived as miserable refugees, and where Jesus learned to walk and talk.
In the years that followed, after it was safe for them to return to Israel, Mary lost her husband and became a widower!
Jesus, her first-born son, had to take over his father’s business, carpentry, in order to provide for his mother’s and his many siblings’ needs…
(Mark, 6: 3)
In Nazareth, where they lived, it must have been particularly difficult for them all, since the inhabitants of that village had a particularly bad reputation: It was said of them: (John 1: 36)
“Surely there is no one who is good in Nazareth!”
Then, as Jesus started his ministry, Mary lost the person she loved most, Jesus not only having left their home and business, but also apparently disowning his family when he said to his followers:
“My true mother, brothers and sisters are those who listen to God’s Word and put it into practice in their life!” (Luke 8: 21)
Mary certainly adored Jesus, him being not only her son but also her God and Saviour, (Luke 1: 47) and we cannot even imagine how terribly painful it must have been for her to finally see her son badly beaten, humiliated, naked for all to see, and crucified like a common criminal!
A sword certainly pierced her heart that Passover day, (as it was prophesied).
All in all, the mother of Jesus lived a life filled with sorrows, not blessings…as she thought it would be.
But her faith and trust in God was not shaken.
She may have often been perplexed and hurt during her lifetime,j but she knew that she would never be able to comprehend God and his purposes which are often hidden from our eyes and understanding, on purpose; so that we may be tested and proven to be faithfully following him simply by trusting him even while living in complete spiritual ignorance.
(Isaiah 50:10): “All of you who fear the Lord and obey the voice of his Servant even though you may be walking in darkness, with no light at all to see and understand, learn to trust in the name of the Lord and rely upon God’s goodness!”
Strange, isn’t it, that the few in this world that fear and obey God’s words can expect to walk in darkness, with no light or understanding at all as to why God allows this or that to happen to them…
The rule being that God’s righteous ones must trust in him and cling to their faith, no matter what…
May we learn, like Mary did, to keep on trusting and faithfully following God and his Word, even when the promises of God that we make “our own” from the Bible actually fail us, and we find ourselves living in utter darkness rather than in the light that we were promised and expected.
One day, when in heaven, God’s Words will all be proven to be true!
But until we get there let us remind ourselves that:
“As the heavens are far above the earth, so are God’s thoughts (and plans for our lives) high above our expectancy or imagination” ( Isaiah 55:9)
Let us not loose faith and get discouraged when our life does not turn out to be as we expected it!
We must cling to God in faith, and trust in his faithfulness, no matter what.
Constantin Economides