Imagining this scene brings tears to my eyes! As much as he was suffering there on the cross, Jesus was well aware of the suffering his mother was enduring. It's hard to even imagine that he would be aware of his surroundings, so great was his anguish. But he was. And he provided for his mother.
...he chooses to use the hands of Christians to do his will on earth. (124)
To serve the needs of others is extending the hand of God. To receive help from our neighbour is God providing for our needs.
Mothering Like Mary
Even before we started coming to church as a family, we taught our kids the importance of being good, loving people and helping others when we can. But now we are able to make a connection about why we want to serve others and who helps us do that. (127)
That's a great point that Darlene makes! The world around us does good things too so what makes our good works so different? Christians are expressing their faith in thankfulness for what God has done for them. The Holy Spirit equips us to do this!
Ponder
Who has been "Jesus' hands" for you? Take a moment and thank God for them. I remember when my husband and I went to China for 2 weeks to adopt our daughter. We left our son, who was 6 at the time, at home with my parents who had come to stay with him. We were so grateful to them knowing that he was in good hands when we were so far away!
I also remember a friend calling me up before we left. She told me that she had been up that night praying to God about how she might be a blessing to someone and she thought of us. She offered to take Will to swimming class and gym class (our kids were in these same classes together) in order to give my parents a break while watching him. Since we homeschooled, there was no down time for them that they would otherwise have had if he had gone to traditional school. I was so moved by her thoughtfulness! She would send me emails in China telling me the funny things Will said and kept me up to date on what was going on in class. I'm pretty sure my parents were thankful also to get a little bit of peace and quiet during this time!
When we got back from our trip, I was exhausted! Taking care of a baby and dealing with some major jet lag really threw me off my game. I had thought I could pull off a baptism open house and make everything to serve (with help from my mom). But thankfully, the congregation took over and there was a special banner made just for Hosanna, a beautiful flower arrangement and enough food made for a potluck that I didn't have to make a thing! We felt so loved - not just by our members, friends and family - but by God himself, who sent all these special people to help encourage us through a challenging time.
1 comment:
The Bible passage – didn’t Jesus have brothers? Why would Jesus assign her care to someone outside the family?
Rachel’s comment really touched a nerve for me. Jesus was in such anguish, but he still took care of his mother. When I am in “anguish” because of stress, busy-ness, and just all the stuff of life, I can think of his example when I feel like I have nothing to give to others.
I also really like the fact that this chapter talks about all the “little” loving things that are probably most often done by women, and maybe some women feel are somewhat expected of them? Thinking of these acts of service as opportunities to be the hands of Jesus highlights the honor of serving.
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