Mary and Joseph were doing what they were required to do. They were being normal. Everything about them looked ordinary. How surprised they must have been to be approached by Simeon and Anna. For these two people to have known this babies significance through some supernatural way surely must have been further confirmation to Mary and Joseph that they weren't dreaming all this. It was real!
And there must have been countless ordinary days that went by in those early years. They would have the memories of the people outside of themselves (Elizabeth, the shepherds and angels, and now Simeon and Anna) that knew everything about them was far from ordinary. This must have been a blessing to know! Over the next year, the infant Jesus continued to be ordinary in his needs and in his growth, but God ensured Mary and Joseph would not forget his extraordinary purpose. (pg65-66)
Simeon was looking and waiting for Jesus. He had a promise to hold on to! I appreciated the author giving us perspective, too - that we can anticipate and look for Jesus' second coming!
Simeon looked at Jesus and saw you and me living in the light of Christ's revelation: believers at the ends of the earth. (pg 64) God's plan included us!
Mothering Like Mary
My heart breaks for the mother! What unimaginable loss that must surely be. She says - I also learned that our gracious God allows a heartache such as this so that he can cleave us to himself.(66) Who else do we have when we come to understand that everyone and everything can and will be taken from us? It is God who is constant and dependable. These are hard lessons to learn!
Ponder
How was Simeon's diagnosis of future sorrow a blessing to Mary?
He was keeping it real. Sure, there was a lot of good stuff to say! Amazing, miraculous stuff! But there was the other side, too. Mary would benefit by being prepared for that. She would need her eyes wide open. She would need to trust God!
Just like Sharon mentioned, we don't always get to lead a "charmed life". Because of sin, death came into the world... and we were feeling the sting. (66) Mary, the mother of Jesus, was no exception. She would feel the sting, too - she already had! And so do we. We need to trust God and pray:
Lord, help me to sing your praises even when my eyes are filled with tears. Amen. (67)
6 comments:
Being the mother of God, I can’t imagine. How could any day be ordinary. The constant reminder “God with Us”. It sure would keep you on your knees! And when he got older I’d be picking his brain. Mary, the first person to see the Savior! How blessed she was!
I have to bite on that Agree or Disagree question. You know me sister, I love those. This time it is not both, this time I disagree.
Anna, who never left the temple, was so heavenly minded that she was no earthly good.
When the Lord brought me back to himself there were times I wanted to run away to some Lutheran Monastery (I know there are none of these, I asked, lol), open a commune and or move into the church. And as I grew in knowledge I learned I had to be out there. We are called to plant seeds, spread the Gospel. But the Lord’s house is still my sanctuary. So many lost souls.
On the other hand…. I can imagine there may have been times when Anna was there for people who were weak (physically or spiritually), overwhelmed and in need of direction, kindness and love. We are all called to serve the Lord in different ways, and Anna was a woman of faith. God surely had his plan for her.
Thank you, HISchild, for your comments - particularly on the agree/disagree question! I hadn't thought about the way she likely helped hurting souls who entered the temple courts. Just like you said, God surely had a plan for ways that Anna could serve. Serving others on earth means she is not, by definition, "of no earthly good."
And thank you, Rachel, for discussing how Simeon's prediction of Mary's future pain could have been a blessing to her. We all must be prepared to experience painful trials in this life. "Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed." (1 Peter 4:12-13)
I noticed a couple similarities between the meeting with Elizabeth and the meeting with Simeon. I think the most significant is that in both cases, the Holy Spirit guided the recognition of the Savior. This is true for each of us as well! Our God leads us to recognize and rejoice in our Lord!
Simeon saw the holy family, not through his own eyes, but through the eyes of faith. To “his own eyes” they would have just been an insignificant little young, poor family. If I more often saw my family with my eyes of faith, it would likely result in me treating them in a more godly way – better attitude, more selfless love, etc.
I didn't find that Simeon’s description of sorrow as a sword helped me understand how a mother might feel if she lost a child, other than the fact that it would be a great emotional wound. I also don’t have good answers as to how to use God’s Word to comfort someone in those circumstances. I know enough to know how NOT to use it: "There, there. Everything is going to be okay. [Insert Bible passage.] Now let me see that smile..." I'm interested to know whether any of our book club readers would have any thoughts on the matter.
I REALLY appreciate both your comments here. I imagine us sitting in my living room, sipping tea and having our discussion! But cyber space will do for now:)
HISchild - you make me laugh! I can just picture you wandering around trying to find a Lutheran convent - haha! Sometimes our first reaction is to retreat and avoid. And I think that's the REAL issue with this point she brings up. What was Anna's motivation for not remarrying and dedicating the rest of her life to "never leaving the temple and worshipping day and night"? I agree with you - I think she likely was there for people who were there just as much as she was there to worship the Lord. As in most things, there should be a balance. She can still give of herself in her circumstances. 1Corinthians 7:8,34 says "Now to the unmarried and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried... An unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about the Lord's affairs: Her aim is to be devoted to the Lord in both body and spirit." I'm going to go out on a limb and assume this was her motivation for choosing this lifestyle. Anna was indeed a woman of faith!
RFC - making the connection between the Holy Spirit causing Simeon and Elizabeth to recognize their Saviour just as he does with us - SO TRUE!
I am so there with you concerning the sword question. I felt the same way - it wasn't helping me. I am hoping too that someone offers some words of wisdom here.
RunningFromCrazy, you are exactly right when you describe the death of a loved one as a "great emotional wound." That wasn't a trick question in the Ponder section. It might seem like an obvious answer to you, but I don't think people DO always understand how grief impacts others. Some people tend to measure other people's grief according to their own scale: e.g., it's "easier" to lose a parent than a child; it's "easier" to have a miscarriage than to lose your teenager, it's "easier" to watch your son suffer and die on a cross when you know he will be alive again three days later." The truth is, every death is hard!
Years ago, I had a stillborn son. The nurse who checked on me the night before my induction found me awake, staring into space in the dark hospital room and dully picturing my womb as it now was: a tomb. She said, "Well, you're holding it together better than a lot of moms that come in for a stillbirth. Good for you." I was speechless. I may not have been crying or railing against God or the world, but my heart was pierced through. That she was congratulating me on not (visibly) falling apart struck me as pretty clueless.
Simeon, on the other hand, was so honest with Mary about what her future sorrow would feel like. What wonderful permission he gave her to grieve! I think in North America we tend to put our grieving process on a timeline, as if we are able to travel in a straight line away from our grief and put the event "behind" us. A better way to picture the grieving process is to imagine walking in ever-widening circles around the loss. The loss will always be at the center of us, and can even upend us years after the fact, but we DO gain perspective over time.
Everyone grieves differently, which is what makes the role of a comforter so tricky. But what I found helpful in my loss was not the slapping down of a Bible passage or platitudes like "It will get easier" or "I guess it was God's will". What helped was those friends who took the time to say, "When I lost my (child/parent/friend) the passage that really comforted me was ( ) because ( )." I also appreciated those friends who weren't afraid to bring up my loss--they were brave enough to acknowledge the burden I was carrying and not tiptoe around it.
I imagine Sarah joining us in the living room, I bring her a cup of tea, she takes a deep breath - and shares her heart.
Thank you for your honesty on this difficult subject and what your experience has been. Thank you for your words of wisdom in helping us know better how to offer comfort to those that are hurting. We don't have to share THE SAME experience to be able to share God's Word and which passages bring us comfort and healing in our times of sorrow. A lesson I will remember!
"Simeon, on the other hand, was so honest with Mary about what her future sorrow would feel like. What wonderful permission he gave her to grieve! " - Permission to grieve. Yes. And I really like the idea of the ever-widening circles around loss.
Beautiful insights!
Thank you for extending the discussion, dear sisters in Christ! And yes... thank you, Sarah, for sharing your difficult experience so that others might be comforted.
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