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Good morning my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
This week, in the shadow of “Mother’s Day, and recognizing this truth: ‘The only way into the human race is through a mother – even for God’, we are contemplating what we see in the life of Mary, the earthly mother of Jesus, and how those attributes should be seen in us, as true followers of Jesus today.
You’ve heard the Christmas story so many times, I wonder which part is most amazing to you? Dr. Luke tells us, in Luke 2:19 that “Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.” What things did she treasure and ponder? In fact, did you know this profound statement is repeated twice in Mary’s story, the other is found in Luke 2:51? Now let’s look more closely at what was happening in Mary’s life, each time Luke writes this phrase, and consider what types of life circumstances are happening to you when you find yourself in deep contemplation?
Luke 2:19 is the amazing night Mary gave birth to Jesus, God in the flesh, in a stable of all places! In the hours following suddenly shepherds show up to see the baby explaining they’ve been visited by angels from heaven, not one or two but a whole sky full of them! Then the shepherds tell Mary and Joseph that the angel said “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you, He is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign for you, you will find the baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” (Luke 2:11,12)
I can see the shepherds looking at Mary and Joseph and asking… ‘Who are you? Where have you come from? If this baby is the Savior of humanity, why in the world did you give birth here, in a stable of animals? Is this the best you could do? Is the best God could do if this baby is His Messiah?’
Perhaps it was another shepherd who spoke up next and said. ‘And that’s not all. About the time the one angel finished that announcement, the whole sky was filled with angels, more than I could count. And they were praising God and saying “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to men on whom His favor rests.” (Luke 2:14)
I wonder if at that moment a third shepherd stepped forward, got real close, to see the baby clearly in the dim stable light, then looked deeply into Joseph and Mary’s eyes, with this one question: ‘Can you explain to us what we have experienced here tonight?’
How many hundreds of times did Mary relive that evening in her mind and heart? What had she told Luke that would cause him to choose those words: “Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.” My friends, have you found that life shaping experiences, especially the difficult ones, are priceless in their potential for the development of your character?Have you found that the lessons you learn in the hard times of life, serve you well with wisdom later in life? I believe Mary must have said something like that to Luke, to cause him to write this statement about Mary’s perspective.
Notice please that the second time Luke writes this phrase about Mary would have been about 12 years later, when their family had gone to Jerusalem for the Passover Feast. And at the end of that festival week, Joseph had gathered his family and begun the long trek back to Nazareth. They were likely traveling with friends and after a whole day of traveling discovered young Jesus was not with them, so they returned to Jerusalem to try and find him, concerned of course, that some tragedy may have happened. Finally they found young Jesus in the Temple courts, discussing deep theology with teachers of the Scriptures! They were shocked, but what astounded them more was what 12 year old Jesus said in response to their questions about why He was there with the teachers in the Temple, rather than with His family on the road back home to Nazareth. Listen: “Why were you searching for Me, didn’t you know I had to be in My Father’s house?” (Luke 2:49)
Can you imagine how stunned Joseph, Mary, the religious teachers and anyone else who may have overheard that moment, must have been? What were all the implications of what young Jesus just said? Would you agree my friends that circumstances or events in our lives which are truly life-shaping, that really leave a life long impression upon us, are very complex, and often not fully understood until you’ve had many years to ponder and analyze those events through the lenses of maturity gained over time? I believe that is what Luke is telling us here. Mary treasured these events because they were simply priceless in the moment. But the more she pondered them, the more they shaped her understanding of who Jesus really was. So what are you and I learning about Jesus, as we deeply ponder the profound, complex events in our lives?
Thirty years later, an event happened in Mary’s life, which I believe is the fruit born out of the seeds planted in her heart in Luke 2:19 & 2:51. You’ll find the story in John 2. It’s a wedding celebration in the town of Cana, not far from Nazareth. Mary and her family were evidently invited. In those days, a good Jewish wedding celebration was not a one evening ceremony and reception. It was a several day marathon of celebration, food, drink, stories, and lots of joyful, worship singing as a new young Jewish couple is sent off by family and friends into the care and sovereign blessings of God, as they begin their life journey together.
At one point the wine was nearly running out and still more people were coming. Mary evidently saw the problem and mentioned it to Jesus, who was also at the wedding with some of his friends. Now let’s remember, Jesus had not yet done anything out of the ordinary, nothing miraculous. So there would be no reason for Mary to expect something spectacular. In fact when she told Jesus His response was “Why do you involve Me?” (John 2:4) In other words “So why are you telling me about the wine problem? What do you expect I can do about it?”
I love what Mary did next. John tells us, she simply turned to the servants and said to them “Do whatever He tells you.” Now why would she say that in this situation? I think it’s the result of 30 years of Mary pondering in her heart the memories she has treasured of all the miraculous aspects of Jesus’ conception, birth, and childhood. After years of prayerful contemplation, Mary had become convinced of the miraculous reality of the Incarnation. Jesus was “Immanuel”, God with us. And therefore whether it was a shortage of wine, or a blind man or a crippled person or even a widow grieving the death of her son, when Jesus was present…anything was possible! And Mary had learned, in moments like this, the very best course of action is ‘do whatever He tells you.”
So I have two very important question for us… Have you and I learned what Mary had learned? And when you face a complex, difficult situation, can you discern the presence of God in that situation and more important can you discern what God is telling you to DO in that difficult situation? And yet even more important… will you Do whatever HE, God, tells you to do in that moment? Have you discovered the wisdom and reward of obedience to God, especially in complex, difficult situations? Have you also discovered the pain and grief which usually follows DISOBEDIENCE to what you know God is guiding you to do?
May I offer two important Scriptures that I have learned about this?
“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways honor Him and He will direct your paths.” (Prov. 3:5,6)
“Anyone who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.” (James 4:17)
So my friends, let me close today with these questions…
* What if we acknowledge the truth of what we’ve considered about Mary today and embrace these as worthy life principles for ourselves?
* What if more than that, we invite the Holy Spirit of God to work deeply in our lives, so these become woven into the fabric of our character and become guiding principles for behavior when facing challenging circumstances?
* What if these became so deeply ingrained into our lives that long after we are gone, they would be remembered as an important part of the legacy of our life?
Lord Jesus I want to thank You that in the shadow of Mother’s Day, now three days ago, we have been able to see in the life of Mary, some really important life principles, that we would do well to integrate into our lives. Would You help us with that Jesus?
Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
Click to read today’s chapters: Luke 2; John 2. (At the top you can choose a different translation.)
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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