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Mary

Mary’s Treasure

by TerryLema

You’ve traveled far. It’s not like you really wanted to, after all you’re very pregnant. You have to, however. The government says you do. The top guy (Caesar) has decided he wants a census of the entire Roman world, and that includes you and your betrothed husband Joseph. So heavily pregnant, you travel from Nazareth in Galilee to Bethlehem in Judea because you and Joseph are from the lineage of King David.

When you arrive, the town is bustling with all the others who were doing what the government commanded. There’s no room anywhere to rest. Finally, Joseph secures a bit of privacy in a place that houses the animals. The time for your baby to be born arrives. No family. No friends. Maybe no mid-wives. One nervous husband. You give birth.

You’ve brought wrapping cloths for your newborn. Exhausted you put him to sleep in a feeding troth while you rest a bit. Joseph keeps watch.

Suddenly a bunch of rough men show up with a story almost beyond belief. Angels appeared to them and told them that they would find a baby in a manger that was the Savior, Christ the LORD.

Such a story would be almost beyond belief, but not for you. You remember the angel Gabriel and his sudden appearing and the words he spoke to you. “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.” [Luke 1:35]

One amazing night to be remembered forever.

“Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.” [Luke 2:19]

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Eve, Mary

by TerryLema

Everyone has a story. You do. I do. And so do all those people in the Bible. We tell “Bible Stories” to our children so that they might learn about God as they see Him work in the lives of Bible “Heroes.” Maybe we should take a few days and look at some of those Bible Stories ourselves. I am certain we have not outgrown them. I know I haven’t.

 

How about starting with two women who played a pivotal role in “beginnings.” First, Eve; then, Mary. Both have a story. Both had a choice to make.

 

Eve, alongside her husband Adam, had walked with God amid perfection and beauty. They were given one rule, don’t eat the fruit of the “Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.” When Satan in the form of a serpent visited Eve while she was alone one day, he convinced her that God was wrong, and that God’s one rule was keeping her from knowing everything she should know. She bit. Then she gave the fruit to Adam, who also bit. And that was the beginning of the sin, death, struggle, and pain that has since plagued humanity. Gone was the perfection and beauty, replaced now by frustration and hopelessness. (Genesis 3)

 

Mary was a young maiden, engaged to Joseph, a carpenter. Alone one day, she had a heavenly visitor who gave her the news that God wanted her to bear His child. She was to give this child the name Jesus for He would save His people. Mary was afraid, after all she was probably just a teenager, and while every young Jewish woman desired to be the mother of the Messiah, this was still a very strange message. Mary didn’t completely understand, but she responded, “I am the Lord’s servant, may it be to me as you have said.”  (Luke 1:26-38)

 

And with Mary’s response came a new “beginning,” one that would bring the offer of forgiveness, healing, life, peace, and redemption to humanity.  Gone was the frustration and hopelessness that entered with Eve’s choice. Now purpose and hope would be available to all who respond as Mary did, “I am the Lord’s servant, may it be to me as you have said.”

 

Two women, each with a story. One disobeyed what God said and brought death, the other obeyed in faith and gave birth to life.

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The Sweet Frangrance

by TerryLema

Matthew and Mark tell us that during this Holy Week, Jesus was in Bethany at the home of a man known as Simon the Leper. John identifies this as the home of Martha, Mary and Lazarus. While there, Mary came to him with an alabaster jar containing about a pint of very expensive perfume. She poured it on Jesus’ head and feet and wiped his feet with her hair. John adds that “the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.” [John 12:3]

Some of the disciples became indignant and thought that was a waste of something that could have been sold for money that would benefit the poor. Jesus told them that what Mary had done was a beautiful thing, she had prepared him for burial, and that her sacrificial act would be remembered long after she was gone. [Matt 26:6-13]

The other day I went on a short walk, venturing into the fresh air. When I came back into the house the aroma of cinnamon was pungent. I had left a wax burner on with a cinnamon wax in it. While I was in the house I had grown desensitized to the aroma of the cinnamon. What one commercial now calls “nose blind.” It was not until I was away from it for a while and returned that I was aware of the beautiful fragrance of the cinnamon spice.

The house of Simon the Leper was filled with the perfume that anointed Jesus. Mary’s hair used to wipe the excess from Jesus’ feet would have also been steeped with the same fragrance. I often wonder if that fragrance lasted to the end of the week, beyond the crucifixion, maybe as far as Resurrection Sunday?

The sweet aroma of Jesus shared together with other Christians in our local buildings is absent this year … but it’s still with us. Maybe we took that for granted, grew a little desensitized to the wonderful fragrance of Jesus in our midst. Now, hopefully, when we get together once again, we’ll appreciate it a bit more.

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