A WALK WITH MARY

Summary

A monologue, in which Mary the mother of Jesus reflects back on the events of the first Christmas and of the first Easter. 

Characters

Mary 

Script

I could never understand why my parents named me that. Mary. Just a family name, but why Mary? Why not Vania—'God's gracious gift' or Tobey—'God is good' or even Sarah—'princess." Why Mary? Why 'bitter'?

But not only did my name mean 'bitter,' as if that's not hard enough to answer to, it also was one of the most common names. 

'Mary! Did you finish your mending?' 

Five dozen yes's or no's would echo down our ally.

I learned to accept being common and answering to 'bitter' without becoming it. It was expected of a woman to accept her lot, and how could I be discontent when daily I knew the goodness of my God! 

One of my greatest amazements was His goodness in betrothing me to Joseph. I didn't need to be reminded, though my mother often would, of all the men my father could have chosen for me. Instead he chose Joseph, and Joseph wanted me! Such a kind and generous heart; I knew I would learn to love him very soon, if my admiration of him wasn't mixed with love already. 

"Then it happened. One minute I was daydreaming of Joseph, the children we'd have, a clean home with Joseph's shop around back, the children's bright eyes the first time they see the Temple, helping my children learn the Holy Scriptures, our Torah... when suddenly, the most incredible light shone from a being in the middle of my room. I hid my face. Was it God? Would I die? 

"Then he said it. 'Greetings, you who are highly favoured! The Lord is with you.' 

Me! A common nobody found favour with El Elyon, God Most High! Would have His Son! Would have the Messiah that every female born of Jacob dreamt of having! But it would be me! I had only kiddingly wished for it. I would laugh with pleasure at the thought of being uncommon enough to bear the Messiah—God's tool to deliver Israel. 

Deliver Israel.... That's the part I never understood; no Jew ever did. We expected a military hero, a king. The deliverance we experienced was unexpected. It was the reason Gabriel didn't change my name when he announced my son, Jesus, God's Son would be born. He called me Mary. 

I've pondered many things while raising Jesus. Or was it me learning from Him? That's the humour of it all. He taught in our Temple when He was only twelve! But He was God; why shouldn't He!

Then He did it. He delivered us. 

He allowed those who hated Him to just kill Him. He'd walked out of a crowd-full of people trying to stone Him. Then, for just a handful of rulers, He submits to condemnation. 

It was then I knew why I was called 'bitter.' I had never face bitterness like I did there at the feet of my son as He hung dying: not even when Joseph almost divorced me or the community shunned me as an adulteress or when we fled to Egypt to save Jesus' life or when Joseph died or Jesus left home. But here... I saw the hope of Israel dying a "needless" death. I had learnt by then not to ask or interfere, but to wait on the Lord. 

So I watched. As His heart broke and His lifeblood literally mixed with water and poured from His side, I died. I suffered the bitterest my life could have known. The Hope of Israel went out with the sun. It must have been His Father's anger, I thought then, that shook the earth. What could a mere woman do, Adonai?! You know. I would have died in His place! Even as I thought it, however, I knew it wouldn't have been the same. Though what good it had done for Him to die, I couldn't know. 

When the earthquake happened, many of Jesus' followers thought it was the end; we'd be swallowed up by the earth like Korah was in the desert. Some were even foolish enough to wail that God's prophecies were ruined; surely all Israel would die for it. Others ignored nature's chaos, and believed their trust in Jesus was misplaced. 

We didn't know then that the Temple curtain had been torn. Torn from top to bottom. The entrance to the forbidden Holy of Holies was exposed. All the priests ran out covering their eyes lest they perish.

Three days of grieving. A sorrowful Sabbath. Then Mary of Magdela, Mary Clopas wife and Saloam found Jesus' tomb was empty. Mary of Magdela claimed Jesus had come to her...alive! As the weeks went by, we and five hundred others saw Jesus, touched Him, ate and talked with Him. 

My son is alive! God's Son is alive. He is no more mine to guide and mother, but I am His now. He is and always has been greater than I. I can know His Father because of His blood sacrificed and perfect, acceptable as the complete atonement for my sin. Elohim, God has accepted Him as my sacrifice; my punishment was paid by my son. I am no longer 'bitter.' I am still common among men, yet loved by the Lord. 

Have you met Him? Come. Let me introduce you to Jesus.

.................................................
© Katy R. Pent, all rights reserved.

How the Blood Works

I've often wondered why God made the payment of sin to be death when He knew He would have to pay it in order to have any relationship with us at all.

Recently, my Pastor preached on the biblical covenants. Last week he reiterated God's covenant with Abraham. All these covenants were made directly to the Jews, but the Abrahamic covenant promised to spill over to the rest of the world through Abraham's Seed—Jesus.

Another unique distinction in the covenant with Abraham (here still called Abram) is how the oath was sworn.

Yahweh said to him, “Bring Me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon.”

Abram brought all these to Him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in half. Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.

As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him.....

When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces. On that day Yahweh made a covenant with Abram... (Genesis 15:9-12, 17-18a)

In the ancient Near East when a covenant was sworn, both covenanters would walk through an aisle of dead animals, such as described in Genesis. The purpose of doing such said, in essence, that both were agreeing to fulfill the covenant or sacrifice their lives.

Throughout the Old Testament, Yahweh was always the One reaching out to mankind. With Abraham, it was no different. Yahweh desired to fulfill a promise through this man. Being a man, however, Abraham would not be able to keep his end of the contract, perfect obedience to Yahweh's covenant, for himself or for his descendants; therefore, all of us would be condemned to eternal punishment...the sacrifice of our lives.

Because Yahweh desired a relationship with the human race, He took the fulfillment of the covenant upon Himself. He alone walked through the dead animals, guaranteeing the covenant at the sacrifice of His life.

Humans, Abraham and every person throughout time, has failed to keep the requirements of God, as Yahweh had known. To remind us of the horror our sin is to Him, He required that the Jews sacrifice animals. The lambs, goats, cattle, etc. took the death that we deserved. This did not cleanse us of our sin. It only reminded us of the blood that needed to be shed because of our faithlessness.

Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. (Hebrews 9:22)

As Yahweh foreknew, a time came when sacrifice had to be made. He came in flesh. He came to be one of us, to experience the temptations, yet to resist them. Someone once pointed out that His withstanding the temptations were a greater test of His empathy than if He had given in to them. Because He resisted, He knows the extent of temptation's strength.

For thirty-three years as a man, He completed our half of the covenant, which not one person in thousands of generations had been able to do. At the same time, as God, He fulfilled His promise to sacrifice His life because of our breach of the covenant.

Jesus blood became the entrance into the New Covenant. The cost is incomparable. Because it cannot be matched, any who refuse to enter into this covenant through Jesus will never find peace with God. Any who refuse to accept Jesus death as their payment will be required to pay with their lives...for eternity.

Each Easter we remember again, not just the sacrifice, but that Jesus rose from the dead. His resurrection placed Him at the right hand of Yahweh to interceed for all who come before God in His Name.

Are you trying to arrange a covenant of your own, which will leave you the sole fulfiller and the one responsible for a perfect life?

Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. (John 14:6)

God paid it all. There is no greater insult to Him than to say: It wasn't enough.

(Picture curtesy of http://www.freefoto.com/)