IMITATE THEIR FAITH/MARY -She Survived the Sword of Grief

 MARY sank to her knees, her agony too deep for words. Still echoing in her ears was her son's last outcry as he died hours after torment. The sky had gone dark at midday. Now the earth shook violently. (Matthew 27:45, 51) It may have seemed to Mary that Jehovah himself was letting the world know that he, more than anyone else, was deeply hurt by the death of Jesus Christ.

As the afternoon light dispelled the gloom shrouding Golgotha, or Skull Place, Mary grieved for her son. (John 19:17, 25) Memories likely flooded her mind. One that may have surfaced was recollection from Some 33 years earlier. When she and Joseph had just presented their precious baby at the temple in Jerusalem, an aged man named Simeon was inspired to utter a prophecy. He foretold great things for Jesus, but he added that one day; Mary would come to feel as if she were run through with a long sword. (Luke 2:25-35) Only now, in this tragic hour, did she fully grasp the truth of those words. 

It had been said that the death of one's own child is the worst, the most painful, loss that a human can face. Death is a terrible enemy, and it wounds all of us one way or another. (Romans 5:12; 1 Corinthians 15:26) Is it possible to survive such wounds? As we consider Mary's life from the start of Jesus' ministry to the time of his death and just beyond, we will learn much about the faith that helped Mary to survive the sword of grief. 

Next time: IMITATE THEIR FAITH/MARY - "DO WHATEVER HE TELLS YOU" 

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