Easter is coming but first comes the cross.  The celebration of Jesus’ resurrection brings joy and hope that is only significant in view of the crucifixion. I can’t imagine the rollercoaster of emotions experienced by the followers of Jesus the short week between Palm Sunday and Easter morning: joy, fear, devastation, disbelief, and back to joy mixed with wonder after the resurrection.  My heart goes out to Jesus’ mother, Mary and what she must have felt during this horrific time. When she said yes to the  message delivered by the angel Gabriel as a young girl of only 14, I’m sure she had no idea what lay ahead. The gossip had to be biting when she was found to be pregnant and unmarried.  Thank goodness Joseph listened to the angel in his dream who told him that the baby Mary carried was God’s son. He took Mary as his wife and thus took on the role of earthly father to Jesus.  Joseph protected Jesus and Mary by leaving for Egypt when they were threatened by King Herod.  When they settled back in Nazareth after Herod’s death, perhaps Mary thought things would then be peaceful.  Maybe they were for a time as Jesus grew into a man.  But Mary had been warned of times ahead by Simeon as he held the 8 day old Jesus in his arms at the Temple in Jerusalem when he was consecrated.  In Simeon’s prophesy he told Mary, “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.” I wonder if his words came back to Mary as she watched her son beaten and bloody carrying his cross through Jerusalem.  According to biblical accounts, when they nailed Jesus to the cross, Mary was there with the disciple John and Mary Magdalene.  Did she reach up to touch his feet as he hung there?  Did she hold his limp body when he was taken down from the cross?  These were the same feet she had washed, the same body she had held in her arms hundreds of times.  Her heart was certainly pierced that day. She would not understand why this had to happen for 3 long days until the light of Easter morning when the risen Jesus appeared. The hearts of the disciples would have ached for Jesus but the bond between a mother and her child is much deeper.

This bond begins long before a baby’s actual birth.  Most mom’s would attest to this.  For 9 months, this growing life resides within us.  I remember thinking it odd once each of my children was born, not feeling their movement inside me any longer.  It was uncomfortable at times when I would have kicks into my ribs but it was something I grew to love. Birth was like an unveiling of the little person I already held in my heart.  When I was pregnant with my oldest child, Anna, I spent the last 3 months at the VA in Indianapolis as a 3rd year medical student.  I had visions that I would be able to schedule easy rotations at the end of my pregnancy, but this was not to be.  Anna spent every 3rd night with me at the hospital on call. It was pretty crazy but I made it through.  When Anna decided to come a little early, she surprised all of us. My med school friends had planned a baby shower the day she delivered and we had to postpone it. That night Anna and I were alone together for the first time since she was born. Her eyes were open and alert. I drew my knees up as I sat on the bed and placed her there so we could see each other.  I pondered the beauty of this blue eyed, ash blond miracle looking up at me.  I knew then that I would do anything to protect her and would love her no matter what.  Even though each one of my three children is different, the feelings I have for them are the same. By her actions, Mary showed that she also held these same, deep feelings for her son.

The maternal instinct in Mary would have wanted to protect and save Jesus from the suffering he endured.  She suffered in agony with him as he hung on the cross.  She knew as no one else that Jesus was the Son of God but neither she nor his disciples grasped the magnitude of his true mission. Mary couldn’t keep him from the cross because he chose to be there. She couldn’t save him from suffering but he came to save her for eternity.  No one would have felt the joy Mary felt as she beheld her son alive that first Easter morn.  She was the mother of the Savior of the World. What greater responsibility or joy could there be? How could Mary have known the consequences of her choice to accept Gabriel’s words and say yes to God?  She was just an ordinary small town girl singled out for this special role.  She suffered greatly for her choice.  In the long run, making the choice to love deeply, necessitates risking everything. Oftentimes pain is the price paid.  Anyone who has lost someone they loved dearly, knows this pain.  But remember, on the cross, Jesus showed us what it means to risk it all for love. In his eyes, it was worth the price paid to save us all for eternity.