The Fourth Station: Jesus Sees His Mother

Scripture

In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee,  to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.  The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”

Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.  But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God.  You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus.  He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David,  and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”

“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”

The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.  Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail.”

“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her  (Luke 1:26-38, NLT). (See also Luke 2:25-32)

Meditation

I cannot forget that day. How could anyone forget that day?

Barely old enough to be a woman, I was now engaged to a good man, Joseph by name. We had done what was right and good. He was a respected man, and I wanted to be a respected woman.

Then all of that changed.

“Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!”

I turned and saw a man, a man I had never seen before. How did he get into my house, into my room? Who was he, and why did he think I was someone special? I was scared, very scared indeed. Then he said to me,

“Do not be afraid, for you have been found favorable with God. You will conceive a child, and bare a son. His name will be called Jesus, though he will also be known as the Son of God. And God will give him the throne of King David. Of his reign and of his kingdom, there will be no end.”

If he meant this as a way to calm my fears, it wasn’t working. I was now more afraid than ever. Was this a dream? A vision? Or was this a real person standing before me. Somehow I found my voice.

“How can this be, sir, since I have never slept with a man before? I have always done what was right. Wouldn’t me getting pregnant before I’m married be wrong in God’s eyes?”

The man spoke to me again. “This will be done by the Holy Spirit of God. For with God, nothing shall be impossible.”

You know the story. I did find myself with child. Joseph—a good man, mind you—heard from God much later than I, and did not send me away, though he didn’t understand this any more than I did. God seemingly violated his own natural and moral laws by making me with child before I was married. It turned my world upside-down, but he didn’t seem to mind.

We did name my son Jesus. He grew to be a great teacher, but one who did not follow the rules and traditions set down by the religious men of our day. Jesus healed those who were blind and lame. He fed thousands with a handful of food. He calmed stormy seas. He taught with such authority that his followers knew there was something very different about this man. And for his words and his kind deeds, he became an enemy of the men who governed our relationship with God. These men conspired against my son, had him arrested and tried on false charges, and condemned to die as a criminal.

And now I look back on the words spoken to me by the man—an angel, I now know—when he said that my son’s reign and kingdom would never end. What reign? Where is this kingdom? His life is being taken from him. His followers have all deserted him. My son is being taken away to die. How can I believe what the angel spoke to me? How can I ever believe God again?

But there—right then, Jesus caught my eye. His body barely able to go another step, the weariness and pain oozing from every pore. I know him so well. I know the words he is speaking to me through that one look. He is telling me, “It is well. This is as it should be.”

I remember the word a man of God spoke to me when we dedicated Jesus in the temple as a newborn. He told me that a sword would pierce my soul one day. That day is here. There could be no greater pain than that which I feel at this moment.

I didn’t understand the day the angel brought me news of my mysterious conception. And I don’t understand now how that Jesus’ death can possibly mean his kingdom will never end. I don’t understand. But somehow I believe. I believe my son. I believe this impossible and dangerous God. So I say to Jesus what I had said the day when the angel came to me.

“Behold the handmaiden of the Lord. May it be to me according to your word.”

I don’t understand. But I believe.

Action

We love to understand before we believe. Augustine said we need to believe in order to understand. Letting go of our need to know takes us back to the Garden, for our sin was eating the fruit that led to knowing right from wrong. God designed us to trust him and live, not spend our days trying to understand. The words of the angel to Mary were true: Jesus’ kingdom will know no end. Yet circumstances often want to tell us differently.

Today, let us look for Jesus. Let us believe and trust him, no matter where we see him, no matter the circumstances we are facing. Like Mary, may our response be, “Behold, the handmaiden of the Lord. May it be to me according to your word.”

Prayer

Father, I confess that I am often like Mary. I try to do what I know is right and good, but then something happens in my life that seems so wrong. And yet, there you are in the midst of it, calling me to you. I don’t understand these times, Lord. I don’t understand when things look impossible, and yet you continue to say, “Come to me.” To do this, Lord, means I must let go of control in my life. It means I have to surrender my need and longing to comprehend everything that comes to me. And this is so very hard for me.

Mary, mother of our Lord, pray for me. You understand the need to understand. You know what it is like to have God impose something on you that you just don’t get—something that turns your life upside-down. Pray that I can give up the urge to want to know everything before I can believe.

Holy Spirit, continue to speak the impossible to me. Continue to move in me, calling me to the deep places with God. And help me to respond as did the mother of our Lord: Be it unto me according to your will.

Chorus

We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.

Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.