We have all heard it said: “Ignorance is bliss.” If that were true, I should be experiencing a lot more bliss in my life than I am, Amen? When it comes to Mary, the mother of Jesus, however, I wouldn’t say that ignorance is bliss but I would say that innocence is. Over the many, many centuries the question of why God chose a young, naive woman from the outskirts of Nowhere to be the mother of His child … the means by which He would enter into time and space … through whom He would take on flesh and become fully human … has been debated ad infinitum … and I don’t have the answer …. Only God knows. But I have a thought … an idea. I believe that part of the reason was her innocence.
The angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee to deliver a message to a woman named “Mary” who was a virgin engaged to be married. I don’t know about you, but I’d find a visit from one of God’s archangels to quite unsettling … well, actually, terrifying. “Greetings, Favored One! The Lord is with you” (Luke 1:28). Needless to say, Luke reports that Mary was “perplexed” by Gabriel’s greeting … to put it mildly, I would think (v. 29). “Do not be afraid, Mary” (v. 30a). Yeah … too late! Even scarier would be the fact that Gabriel knows my name.
Again, Gabriel says, “You have found favor with God. That must be very important for her to understand if Gabriel repeats it twice. And her reward for having “found favor with God?” (v. 30). The favor that God is about to ask Mary to do is … give birth to His Son! “And now,” says God’s messenger, “you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name Him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His ancestor David. He will reign over the House of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end” (Luke 1:31-32).
Say what? Can you run that by me again? That’s quite a chunk of information to take in and digest. I mean … to begin with … I’m a virgin … engaged to be married. How is that going to happen without me breaking my pre-nuptial vows? “Not by any worldly way, I can assure you,” says Gabriel “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 holy; He will be called Son of God” ( Luke 1:35).
By now I would have either fainted or started beating the bushes, telling whoever it is to come out … the joke’s up. More likely, I would have started crying and asking “why me?” and begging Gabriel to find somebody else. “You sure you’ve got the right woman, Gabriel … there’s another ‘Mary’ living a couple of blocks over on Jehovah Street … very pious, very religious … maybe you’re looking for her?”
Gabriel tells her about how God answered her cousin Elizabeth’s prayers and gave her a son in her late years. And Mary’s faith … Mary’s belief … Mary’s trust in God … gave her the courage to say: “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word” (v. 38).
Ignorance or innocence? So many times, I don’t think we know what we’re signing up for when we answer God’s call. When Jesus called the disciples to follow Him, we know that visions of success, notoriety, power, kingdoms, crowns, and thrones danced in their heads. But that’s not what happened, is it? If they knew what was going to happen to them, would they have signed on? When Jesus told them what was going to happen to them, they said they were onboard with it … until things started to heat up and then they headed for the hills.
Ignorance or innocence? So many times I don’t think we know what we’re getting in to or giving up when we answer God’s call … and I believe that it’s a good thing … a necessary thing … because the only thing that we have to step out on … the only thing that we have to base our “yes” on is what Mary had to base her “yes on ... her absolute trust in the One who calls us. “Here am I, the servant of the Lord, let be with me according to Your word” (v. 38). “For nothing is impossible with God” (v. 37), remember?
Let’s contrast her reaction with another “servant of the Lord” … Zechariah … who belonged to the priestly order of Abijah. “Once when he was serving as priest before God and his section was on duty he was chosen by lot to enter the sanctuary of the Lord and offer incense” (v. 8-9). While he was in the sanctuary, an angel of the Lord appeared. “When Zechariah saw him, he was terrified, and fear overwhelmed him. But the angel said to him, ‘Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will name him John. You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth’” (Luke 1:12-14). Zechariah said to the angel, “’How will I know this is so? For I am an old man, and my wife is getting on in years.’ Am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news.’” At this point, Zechariah’s response should have been like Mary’s: “Here am I, the servant to the Lord; let it be with me according to Your word” (v. 38). But he didn’t. “But now,” says Gabriel, “because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time, you will become mute, unable to speak until the day these things occur” (v. 20; italics mine).
Why do you think God shut Zechariah’s mouth? Again … there are centuries of scholarly debate … but try to picture what would of happened if God hadn’t silenced Zechariah until “the day these things occurred.” What kind of witness doesn’t believe what they have witnessed? Think about it. Zechariah doesn’t believe what Gabriel told him … what kind of witness would he be? What power would there be behind his witness? Zechariah would have burst out of the Temple … screaming and raving that he saw an angel … that the angel was Gabriel, who told him that he was going to have a son named John … who was going to be filled with the Holy Spirit and would turn many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God with the Spirit and power of Elijah. How is a witness like Zechariah who doesn’t believe what Gabriel says going to stand up to the many fervent challenges his witness will receive?
“Yeah … right, old man! Been sniffing a little too much of that incense, have ya? It’s gone to your head. You just ‘thought’ that you saw an angel. What you really saw was just some smoke. John? The angel told you to name him ‘John’? Really? Why? No one in your family has ever been named ‘John.’” His jealous friends and so-servants of God would have tried to discourage him, telling him it was all an hallucination. Others would have analyzed it down to nothing … impossible! … forgetting that all things are possible with God.
How many times did Jesus tell plain, ordinary people that their faith had healed them? Remember when a man asked Jesus to heal his son … “if you are able” (Mark 9:24). “’If it is possible!’ Jesus replies. ‘All things can be done for the one who believes.’ Immediately the father of the child cried out, ‘I believe, help my unbelief!’” (Mark 9:23-24).
“Although [Jesus] had performed so many signs in their presence,” says the Apostle John, “they” … meaning the scholars and priests … “did not believe Him” (John 12:37). I think God chose the people He did because they were innocent. And, because they were innocent, they trusted Jesus and obeyed Him. We saw how the political and religious leaders and the religious scholars reacted. They were blinded by their own prejudice, their own pre-conceived notions and understanding of how they thought God could or would fulfill His word, His prophecy in scripture. “Truly I tell you,” said Jesus, “Unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of Heaven” (Matthew 18:3). “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to Your word” (Luke 1:38).
Did Mary know what the scriptures said would happen to this “Son of the Most High?” That it would be His Heavenly Father’s will to crush Him and cause Him to suffer (Isaiah 53:10) … making His life an offering for the sins of the people? That He would be silent before His accusers and then be led off as a lamb to be slaughtered (Isaiah 53:7)? That His hands and His feed would be ‘pierced’ through (Psalm 22:16)? That the men who pierced His hands and feet would cast lots and gamble for His clothing (Psalm 22:18)? Do you think that as they rode into Bethlehem to comply with Emperor Augustus’ decree that “all the world should be registered” (Luke 2:1) that Mary realized that their journey fulfilled Micah 5:2: “But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrath, who are one of the little clans of Judah, from you call come forth for me one who is to rule Israel, whose origin is from old, from ancient of days.”
I don’t believe she knew what the scriptures had to say about this holy child that she would give birth to … which is why I believe God had Simeon give her a word when they went to dedicate Jesus at the Temple. This child, God told her through Simeon, will be “a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel” (Luke 2:32). But, Simeon goes on, He will also be “destined for the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed – and a sword will pierce your own soul too, [Mary]” (Luke 2:34b-35).
There are a few of you here this morning that know the pain of that particular sword because the sword that pierced Mary’s soul has pierced your soul as well. I have felt the pain of losing a close friend … I have felt the pain of having one of my brothers taken from me suddenly … and watching the other one die slowly. I have yet to feel the pain of losing one of my parents. Some of you have. But there is no pain that pierces the soul as deep as the pain of a mother losing her child. Children are supposed to bury their parents. It’s not supposed to be the other way around … but my mother and father have had to bury two of their three children.
The word comes, you hear the good news: “You’re going to have a baby.” And immediately hopes and dreams and expectations begin to grow inside you along with that child. What will they look like? What will their personality be like? What will they accomplish? What experiences will you get to share with them? And then the unthinkable happens.
O Mary … the pain you must of experienced … not only the pain of losing a child but having to go through the horrific nightmare of watching the abuse and torture that your son had to go through leading up to His death. A parent’s greatest instinct is to protect their children. Did you pray, Mary? Did you try to bargain with God as so many parents do: “Please Lord, spare Him … let me take His place on the cross!”
O Mary … did Simeon’s words come back to haunt you? You didn’t understand his words them … but now ... have they become painfully real? Your first born ripped from your arms. The abuse … the torture … the humiliation … piercing your heart … piercing your soul … hour after long dark hour.
When the angel Gabriel came to you, Mary, what did you envision for the future of the Favored One of the Lord? When he told you that you would miraculously conceive a son … a great son … a son destined to sit on a throne … did you envision a throne made out of two blood-stained pieces of wood? When Simeon said that your son was “destined for the falling and rising of many in Israel” (v. 34), that “He would reveal the hearts and inner thoughts of many” (v. 35), did you expect it to be this way? That your “good byes” would have to be from a distance? That you wouldn’t be able to hold His hand to comfort Him?
And then, in the midst of your pain … in the midst of His pain … to hear the concern of your son for your future. “Dear woman … you were the one who gave me birth … who brought me into this world. We share human DNA. You raised me … sang to me at night … made blankets and wrapped them around me when I was cold. You were there when I learned to walk and to talk. You took me to the synagogue and on the annual pilgrimages to see my Heavenly Father in His House on His Holy Hill in Jerusalem. You loved me as only a mother can love her son. Your heart was crushed, I know, and your spirit was broken. A sword has pierced your soul. I call you ‘woman’ and not ‘mother’ because you can no longer see me as just your son. Things are changing and our relationship has to change too. I have to be so much more than just your son now. I have to be your Lord an Savior … your Redeemer. As your Lord, I can show you where this is all going to lead. As your Lord, I can turn your grief for a son into adoration for a Savior.”
When we see these events in this light, we see just how important faith really is. Not even Mary has enough good works in her to enable her to be eternally safe. At this point, Mary is just the same as everyone else. She too will need to bow down before Him in faith. If that is the case for Mary, then how much more so is it the case for us, amen?
“Woman … here is your son.” Then He said to the disciple “Here is your mother” (John 19:26b-27). Jesus had brothers and sisters. There were plenty of people in Jesus’ family who were capable of looking after Mary. Why didn’t Jesus ask one of them? Why did He ask one of His disciples to take care of His mother? Was it because none of His family … other than His mother … was there? Even Jesus suffered an unbelieving family. At one point, the Bible says that Jesus’ own brothers did not believe Him (John 7:5). At another point, the Gospel of Mark says that His own family thought that He was out of His mind. “Who are my mother and brothers?” He asked. “Then He looked at those seated in a circle around Him and said, ‘Here is my mother and my brothers. Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother’” (Mark 3:33-34).
When Jesus connects His mother to John, it isn’t primarily about the oldest son making sure that his aging mother is going to be cared for. As I said, there were other family members who were capable of doing that … especially because we know that a number of Jesus’ brothers do become believers. Rather … what we are being shown here is the importance of spiritual connection.
At that moment … looking down at His followers gathered at the cross … He is saying, “Here is my mother … and here is my brother, John … and here are my sisters.” By replacing Himself with John, Jesus is demonstrating to us all just how significant the body of Christ … the Church … really is. Jesus knows that His mother is going to need the kind of support that can only come from someone who is a member of the household of faith. He puts His mother in the hands of someone who represents the faith as a way of demonstrating just how important it is to be a part of the family of God. Jesus died and gave His blood so that grieving mothers can find spiritual sons and for suffering sons to find spiritual mothers. In other words, there should be no one who is uncared for when they are in the body of Christ, amen?
O Mary … your son has died. They have sealed His body in a borrowed tomb. The whirling memories that come flooding back of magi and shepherds … living in exile in Egypt … watching Joseph teach Jesus wood working in their little shop across your tiny courtyard … the panic of searching for Him in Jerusalem … and the relief you felt when you found Him three days later … following Him everywhere … listening to Him teach and preach … and the miracles … so many miracles. And now … now it is all ending in this black, confusing nightmare. I can only imagine the haunting hollow look in your eyes as you stand at the cross with empty hands, a broken heart, and shattered dreams.
O Mary … your pain … your loss … resonating with the pain and loss that so many of us feel. It’s true, isn’t it? If your heart is pained this morning, chances are that it’s because it resonates with what Mary experienced. Perhaps your loved one died on a public garbage heap known as Golgotha … “The Place of the Skull.” Perhaps not there but perhaps on your own personal “Golgotha” or nightmare. Maybe it was when the doctor came out of the operating room with that somber look … or when the phone rang in the middle of the night … or never ran … when the labor started, in spite of medication and rest … or when the judge’s gavel came down. The Bible details Mary’s loss and Mary’s loss brings our own loss painfully to mind. Her note of grief resonates with dark notes deep within our soul.
Or maybe it’s not the loss … maybe what makes you tremble is the pain and the abuse that Mary witnessed … pain and abuse that you’ve witnessed in your own family or community. You felt it. You remember the indignity of it … the helplessness … the pain … the blood maybe … innocence lost … violation … people walking by, minding their own business as if nothing were happening … and a burning sword rammed right through your heart and into your soul.
Like Mary, you wonder why. Like Mary, it makes no sense to you. There seems to be no explanation that could possibly make sense of your pain, your suffering, your loss. Where there should be joy … where there should be peaceful sleep … this is the grey fear, the black storms, the anger, the tears, the grief, and the aching hopeless. We weep with Mary. We weep for our children and for ourselves.
EXCEPT …
There is something very different about our suffering and hers that day at the foot of the cross … and that difference is three days! Mary couldn’t see it them, just like we so often can’t see it when we’re in the middle of the storm.
For three days, Mary wept, Mary mourned, Mary felt like her world had come to an end. But three days later her world ... and our world … changed forever! Her son’s empty tomb attested to the fact that the brutal, shocking, devastating, deadly powers that had ripped the life of her son right out of her arms and left her devastated and vulnerable did not have the last word! “Weeping may last for a night,” wrote David in Psalm 30, “but rejoicing comes in the morning” (v. 5).
EASTER MORNING!
The power of death was shattered that morning and Mary was there 40 days later to watch as her Son ascended to His rightful throne in Heaven! Her Son … our Savior … took the absolute worst that sin and evil and death could throw at Him … and prevailed! Jesus’ power stretched further back into cosmis and heavenly history than even the Prince of Darkness could ever imagine. Mary’s shattered dreams … Mary’s shattered and pierced heart experienced a resurrection of hope … and continues to bring hope to our shattered dreams, our shattered hopes, and our shattered souls.
Standing at the foot of the cross as they took her son’s body off the cross, she was still on the far side of Easter. She couldn’t see Easter morning … yet. And perhaps you don’t see it right now either. Perhaps the pain is too fresh … too deep. Perhaps it is still happening … or perhaps its swallowed you up and you can’t see any way out of it … no way past it.
Right now, I want you to close your eyes. I want you to imagine a hand reaching out to you. And then I want you to notice that that hand has a scar … from a nail. That hand, which was nailed to a cross, couldn’t reach out and hold Mary and comfort her that Friday afternoon … but that hand is free now. That hand is reaching out to you right now. That hand of Jesus wants to hold you and comfort you. That hand wants to take away your pain, your suffering, your heartache …
Lent is a season to acknowledge our sin, but it is also a season where we can be very honest about our pain, our heartache, about our pierced souls. And that nail-scarred hand wants to bring you to a very strange place to find healing … to a place where HIS side, as well as His soul, was pierced … to a place where those without faith see only death … to a place where those who do have faith see a place where life begins … who see past the cross to the other side of Easter. Easter …. Where God’s healing, where God’s power has the final say in our lives, amen?
Let us pray …
