A WORD FOR TODAY, March 25, 2021
Peggy Hoppes
We pray you have been blessed by this daily devotion. If you received it from a friend, you can see other devotions and studies by visiting our website at www.awordfortoday.org.
Blessings. Peg
A WORD FOR TODAY, March 25, 2021
“Mary said, ‘My soul magnifies the Lord. My spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior, for he has looked at the humble state of his servant. For behold, from now on, all generations will call me blessed. For he who is mighty has done great things for me. Holy is his name. His mercy is for generations and generations on those who fear him. He has shown strength with his arm. He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He has put down princes from their thrones, and has exalted the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things. He has sent the rich away empty. He has given help to Israel, his servant, that he might remember mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and his offspring forever.’” Luke 1:46-55, WEB
Jesus spoke words that have been indelibly stamped on our hearts and minds in the final moments of His life as He hung on the cross. First Jesus spoke the words of forgiveness: “Father forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.” We hear these words addressed to the people who were directly responsible for Jesus’ death, but they were meant for all of us. After all, Jesus died for our sin, too. We may not have been there physically, but we are as guilty of Pilate and the priests and the Roman soldiers. We are as guilty as the disciples who betrayed, denied, and abandoned Jesus. We are as guilty as the crowds who mocked Jesus as He died. Our sinfulness is to blame, but Jesus says, “Forgive them.”
Next, Jesus told the criminal hanging next to Him who confessed his faith, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.” This is a more personal word of forgiveness for those who have repented and looked to Jesus for hope.
The pain must have been excruciating as Jesus hung only by nails in His wrists and feet. He’d been beaten and humiliated. He cried out “My God, why have you forsaken me?” Jesus felt very alone but He turned to the word of God, quoting the Psalm 22 for strength. He said, “I thirst,” and though God was always in control, Jesus still had very real human needs. At the end, Jesus cried “It is finished.” We ponder what He meant when He said this word. Did He mean His life? Did He mean His ministry? Did He mean the work of redemption for which Jesus was sent to the world? Whatever He meant, He then commended His spirit into the hands God, His Father.
There was one other word, the only one given specifically to people He loved. Jesus’ mother and His beloved friend John stood at the foot of the cross watching Him suffer. Seeing their grief, Jesus said to His mother, “Dear woman, here is your son.” To the disciple He said, “Behold your mother.” The scriptures tell us that from that day, John took Mary into His home and cared for her. Even as He was dying, Jesus cared about the needs of others.
Mary was the one person who was there from the beginning to the end. Throughout her life, Mary willingly accepted God’s grace and purpose for her life and for the life of her son. Though she may not have fully understood everything that would happen, she received each moment with praise to God and she treasured them in her heart.
There is a song that is played and sung around Christmastime written by Mark Lowry called, “Mary, Did You Know?” It is a song about Mary, the mother of Jesus asking the question we all would like answered: did she know what her son would accomplish? Did she know the miraculous things He would do? Did she know He would touch so many lives? Heal so many and speak God’s Word into the lives of those lost and suffering in this world? Did she know that He would make so many people mad? Did she know how He would die?
March 25th is the day we celebrate the Annunciation, the day Mary received the word of God that she was to have a child. It has traditionally been thought to have been the actual day that Jesus was crucified, making it a day of both the beginning of His life and the end. Though Mary was about to begin a journey that would be ridiculed by the society in which she lived and that are even grounds for death in that society, she willingly embraced what God had spoken and received it with her whole heart. “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Did she know when she accepted this incredible calling what would become of her Son?
We are just days away from the end of Lent and the final preparations are being made in our churches for the great celebration. There are still many things to see and hear in the story of Christ: the triumphant entry into Jerusalem, the foot washing and Lord’s Supper, the arrest and trial, the crucifixion.We wait in expectation of what will happen even as we look back to what has already happened. Sometimes it is hard for us to see that the promise is real and that God is faithful. If Mary had known everything, would she have agreed so willingly? Can a mother bring a child into the world knowing that His purpose is to die?
We have the advantage of seeing the story with hindsight. We know the rest of the story. We know what happens on Easter. Even if we try to walk through Lent week by week and day by day, it is impossible for us to get through Holy Week with the same point of view as His mother and His disciples. We know. Did she know? Did she know as she watched Him die that He would live again?
I wonder if Mary treasured the cross in her heart. There at the foot of her son’s suffering and pain, a sword pierced her own heart as Simeon foretold in the Temple when Jesus was just a baby. She’d had a lifetime to ponder the moment no mother ever wants to see. Yet, it was there at the foot of Jesus’ cross that Mary truly saw how much her Son loved her God and His world; there she saw her Savior and the redemption of Israel. Very soon we will stand with Mary, pondering the sacrificial love of Jesus as He carried our burdens to the cross. Pray for ears to hear His words of forgiveness and embrace the hope that one day we, too, will be with Him in paradise.
A WORD FOR TODAY is posted five days a week – Monday through Friday. The devotional on Wednesday takes a look at the scripture from the Revised Common Lectionary for the upcoming Sunday. A WORD FOR TODAY is posted on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pages/A-Word-for-Today-Devotional/339428839418276. Like the page to receive the devotion through Facebook. For information and to access our archives, visit http://www.awordfortoday.org.
|