It's all about Easter - Mary's Choice

How Jesus spent his last weeks on earth:

Holy Week - Crucifixion - Resurrection - 40 days - His ascension back to eternal glory


Mary, Did You Know?


We see Mary, the mother of Jesus, at His cross.

Thirty-three years before, while she and Joseph were in the temple with baby Jesus, she had heard an enigmatic prophecy from an old, devout man named Simeon.

He had been told by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he laid eyes on the God's Messiah.

"Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts." He saw the baby, took Him in his arms and praised God.

Then he turned to Mary, saying, "This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel...the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul, too."
(Luke 2)

Her own soul, too...a prophecy for both.

Faithful Jews realized from the "suffering servant" prophecies that the Messiah would be wounded.

Now Simeon was including Mary in the suffering of God's anointed One.

Mary's Choice

Now, thirty-three years later, she chose to stand at the foot of the cross, witnessing the cruel punishment of her Son, and she felt the sword that pierced Him, piercing her own body also.

She was not under arrest. She could have left. She
could not have saved Him. She would not have been able to convince the solders to take Him off that cross and release Him to her.

She had only two options - leave or stay there at His feet and witness His pain and suffering until the end.

She made the free choice to stand by and enter into His suffering and feel the sword pierce through her heart. A memory she would never be able to erase.

Against the scene of the basest brutality, she shines as a pure light of love. It was a cosmic contrast. Their hate and her love.

She made the choice to stay.

And so did He.

True to His purpose in coming to earth, "...who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame..." (Hebrews 12:2), He stayed on the cross.

Mary chose to enter into the pain and suffering of Jesus.

The Burden of Love

I heard a story once about a young couple who were expecting their first baby. Then they received the tragic news that the baby was not developing as he should -- his heart was not developed and he would surely die just after birth.

"Abort," the doctor declared.

But they refused. Knowing the baby would not live, they chose to go through with the pregnancy in hopes that they might have a few hours on this earth with their child before he would be gone from them.

The nurse, who shared this story with me, couldn't watch the couple. She couldn't bear it. Instead, she focused on the immediate needs of the newborn baby.

She watched his tiny fingers, grasping at the air and reaching for life, as new babies do. Then she saw his fingers become still, as he gave up his struggle and let go.

I am so moved by this story. The couple wanted to share in the suffering of their tiny beloved infant, no matter what the cost to them.

He would have felt pain in an abortion. And he would have been alone.


The cost of love. The burden of love.



Mary chose to enter into the pain and suffering of Jesus.

The cost of discipleship.