And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. John 1:14,16 esv
It’s Mother’s Day and I have been thinking about moms. This morning I will baptize a baby girl. During the baptism, I will ask the mother who bore her (and her father) to raise the little one in Christ, and within the Body of Christ, until such a time that she will embrace faith in him and declare it before the world. I will then turn to the congregation (a.k.a. the Body of Christ) and ask them to promise to help the parents raise their child in Christ, and within the Body of Christ. In one act, the child will have an extended family of nearly 300 people who are promising to help her grow in faith. Today she becomes a child of promise and a child of hope. How awesome is that!
The Pieta has always stirred me. I can’t imagine Mary’s pain as she holds the body of her dead son. She bore this child for nine months, and gave birth to him under a cloud of suspicion and shame in an animal holding area. When Joseph and she took the infant Jesus to be dedicated in the temple, promising to raise him in the covenantal faith of the Hebrew people, they acknowledged him as a child of promise and a child of hope. They knew how special he was, and yet I am sure she was shocked when a faithful old man came up to them declaring Jesus the long awaited Messiah…but also that her heart would be pierced by what will happen to him.
As Mary sat there that day with his lifeless body, did she feel that hope was still present? Did she understand that the scriptures promised that the Messiah, this child of promise, would die like this? Did she expect that the body placed in the tomb that afternoon would come forth on Sunday morning? Did she see in the scriptures that this was promised too?
I don’t think Mary had any idea that day that her journey was just beginning again. By the time of the wheat harvest feast (Shavuot or Pentecost), the Holy Spirit would call her to be the Christ-bearer, this time not as a mother but as a disciple of the Messiah. Mary, like 119 others, was called to live and share the good news that her son, Jesus, is the long awaited Savior. He was the Messiah that was promised and hoped for!
Do we see ourselves as Christ-bearers? As disciples of Jesus Christ, we have been called by the Holy Spirt into a Kingdom life. So remember to love, live, speak, and share passionately that Jesus is LORD of your life, to the glory of God!
Now I think I will call my mom!
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