"Mary" Christmas

Savior, Redeemer, Messiah, Lamb of God, Jehovah, Emmanuel, Jesus the Christ, Son of God.
Son of Mary

I have been reflecting on the reasons we celebrate this time of year this evening. With all the expected excitement of the season it is almost easy to forget the little baby it is all about.

In thinking about this tiny person born for great things, I have been unable to stop thinking about his Mother.

Jon and I played Mary and Joseph three years ago in our church's production of a live outdoor nativity. The production is such that the audience takes a live walk through Bethlehem outdoors to different sets presenting the events of Christ's birth night.

The first stop was with the angel Gabriel and I, Mary. The audience listens as he tells her of what is to come and the child she is carrying. We did the scene many times for every group to come through for almost 5 nights. There was one particular time we ran through the scene that I began to suddenly fight back tears. I became emotional at the lines I had heard repeated by the angel countless times before.

"And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. 31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a Son, and shalt call His Name JESUS. 32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the LORD God shall give unto Him the throne of His father David" (Luke 1:30-32).

"33 And He shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of His Kingdom there shall be no end. 34 Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? 35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the Power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that Holy Thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God"

The Son of God. This is how we think of Christ, the magnitude of such makes his strength, influence, sacrifice and legacy understandable. He was after all, the son of God.
But his Mother. She was just a woman. Asked to do the impossible from the very beginning. To carry a baby, immaculately and miraculously conceived.
It seems obvious then, that she was in fact far from being "just a woman". Mary needed to encompass all the strength, determination and faith of all womankind to do what she must.

Holding her new born baby, she must have felt the rush of overwhelming emotion that all new mothers feel. She must have felt the inadequacy, fear and incredible love that Mothers for all time feel when holding their precious gift from God.

In this moment, though she knew that he was the king of kings, lord and redeemer, he was first and foremost her baby boy.

What a responsibility she had. What faith.
It seems more and more that there are elements of the world I want to shield my children from. It is hard to look at such a precious child and the harshness of the world and know they need to find their place in it. More difficult yet to look at your precious child and know that he is the one to save it.

Did she know what was to come? Did she know of the babies killed after their departure from Bethlehem. Did she know what kind of Mother she would need to be to raise the perfect man? I suspect much of the compassion, love, kindness and wisdom he imparted on others in his life did not come to him from his birthright but from a Mother who loved him dearly and taught him well.

I think of her in his infancy, toddlerhood and early boyhood. She was his Mother, in every respect of the word, with all the needs of any child. And he would never stop needing her. The Son of God, savior of the world. His mother never left his side.

I can barely think of the absolute shattering of her heart as his last day came. Though it was what he was born to do, Christ himself asked, in the final hours to his God for the cup to be removed from him. This was not an easy thing for him to go through. He knew this but he moved forward. For his mother, she had been prepared for the impossible since his conception since no mother could bare what she was about to.

In testament to her great strength, faith and deep devotion to her son she went through this torturous crucifixion with him.

Even when he wondered in the final excruciating moments of his life where his father was, crying out "My God My God, why has thou forsaken me?" He never had to question where his mother was.
Right in front of him.

As painful, as it was, the selfless sacrifice he went though for the never ending sins of the world. His Mother had to watch him do it.

When, on the third day Christ returned, I believe a resurrection was necessary, less as proof of his identity but for his Mother's comfort. He knew that she had born more than a mother's heart is naturally capable of.

I am so grateful for her example, the trials and hardships she faced with grace and with courage. I believe when God gives us one of his children, like Mary, he also blesses us with the capacity to raise them in a way that will deliver them back to him, should we accept the sometimes difficult path that presents. I know I need his guidance and assurance as I try to raise these men who may not be born with a purpose as legendary as our savior, but one as important as making this world better in following him.
I look to Christ for his example in life, in deep gratitude for his sacrifice that offers me salvation. I also look to his Mother whose example still lives, on this day, when she held her new baby, so long ago.