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.

To Start Anew

The New Year always gives the feeling of a new beginning, doesn't it? This brings the tradition of resolutions, a chance to accomplish this year what we failed to do last.

A couple of interesting truths spring to mind as I think on the year ahead.

One, I'm still the same. The person that I was at the end of 2010 is the person entering into 2011. I have the same strengths, same weaknesses. If I fell for gluttony last year, I won't suddenly be cured this year. If I reacted impatiently when I was tired or stressed last year, I may repeat it again when I'm weary this year. I will not have boundless energy; I will still grow tired. I will not always want to do the good I know I should. I'm still me. You're still you.

What does this mean? When I'm tempted, should I throw up my hands and give in? Of course not. 

Understanding where you are weak can enable you to strategically plan for success instead of leading yourself down a path of temptation. More importantly, however, this truth is intricately tied with the second.

The second truth is God is still the same. Where the knowledge of our sameness may make us feel vulnerable, and we are, the acknowledgment of God being the same is our comfort. 

Jesus, the Messiah, is the same yesterday and today-and forever! ~Hebrews 13:8

Yahweh, the God of the Hebrew Scriptures is the same God who came in flesh as our Messiah, Saviour, Deliverer, Prince of Peace. He is the same God who loved us enough to pay the penalty for our sins. He is the same God who rose from death and lives inside of all who call upon Him in faith.

To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. ~Colossians 1:27

G. Campbell Morgan, an early Twentieth-Century preacher from Westminster, described "hope" like this:

It does not mean foundationless expectation, but rather confidence in something yet to be, with an accompanying endeavor to reach it.

He goes on to give us a glimpse of that hope—future and present:

Christ in you is the one unanswerable evidence of the ultimate victory. He is always singing the song of the future. He is also always energizing the effort of the present. 

If Jesus lives in me, in you, we not only have hope of future happiness, but the expectation of all that we need today. Not on our own do we succeed, but 

As the eyes of slaves look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maid look to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to Yahweh our God, till He shows us His mercy . ~Psalm 123:2

Listen to this by Pastor Morgan:

He [God] started the music, and all the world hears it, and yet it never becomes perfectly articulate, perfectly harmonious, until He sings it in the individual life.

If you know Him, you know this. All your friends crave something unreachable. You crave it. I crave it. We've been wanting from the moment of conception. Only when He sings in our hearts do we recognize the voice of Him for whom we long. 

Yes, we often lose sight of Him. We think it's this or that, him or her, that we want. We don't realize the agony of soul we face each time we try to fill our desire with something else. Empty!

This year we can have hope, a hope that energizes us to do the right we long to do—now. As Morgan says,

Christ is in me as hope; not merely in the sense of expectation, but in the sense of endeavor, Christ energizes the present . . . . I am renegade if I sit still and listen to His singing and do not co-operate in His efforts.

This year, all of us will be part of history-making. WE create the 2011 of which future generations will study.

Each life is given at just the right time to do & to be something special & irreplaceable . . . . You and I are lovingly shaped to be the building blocks from which history is created. ~Marion Stroud

You and I were made for today. We have no promise of tomorrow and no hope in yesterday. Today we can have hope in us, through Jesus, and can offer hope to those around us. 

You may have failed yesterday, but today you have Jesus. Today we can begin a history of hope for the next generation.

Christ IN you, the hope of glory!