As I take time to reflect on Holy Week and all that it entails, I can only imagine how harrowing these five days must have been to Jesus: walking into a town falling at his feet with cries of "Hosanna!" on Sunday, knowing those very same people would be screaming a much different cry come Friday. Knowing He was about to flip all that the world knew to be true on its head, knowing He was about to overcome death, the Devil and the grave, knowing He was about to reconcile a people He so deeply and truly knew and loved to Himself and His Father once and for all... what incredible beauty lie before Him, and what unimaginable sorrow all at the same time. In order to bring about God's redemption He had to endure shame, suffering, pain, loneliness and anguish that no other can begin to imagine.
One aspect of that pain I've never thought about before was Jesus' knowledge He was going to have to put His mother through the graphic, violent loss of her beloved son. What heartbreak Jesus must have endured. Knowing my love for my mother, and the hardship of any kind of death of a loved one -- let alone one as painful as a crucifixion for someone as beloved as a child -- and knowing Jesus knew full well the pain of death (He, who cried at the tomb of His friend Lazarus), I can't imagine the sorrow He faced knowing He would have to allow her to endure such a hardship. I know this is a small aspect of Good Friday, given the magnitude of all that was endured, done and accomplished, but meditating on this fact makes me further realize my worth to God and the extent of His devotion to and love for sin-filled me.
What an incredible God we serve. He is one who does not do away with suffering, not even for His own mother. To make life here easier would not be enough. He uses the very sorrows Satan deems for our demise and anguish, and walks through them with us, carrying us if necessary, using those very circumstances for our eternal good and His glory.
One aspect of that pain I've never thought about before was Jesus' knowledge He was going to have to put His mother through the graphic, violent loss of her beloved son. What heartbreak Jesus must have endured. Knowing my love for my mother, and the hardship of any kind of death of a loved one -- let alone one as painful as a crucifixion for someone as beloved as a child -- and knowing Jesus knew full well the pain of death (He, who cried at the tomb of His friend Lazarus), I can't imagine the sorrow He faced knowing He would have to allow her to endure such a hardship. I know this is a small aspect of Good Friday, given the magnitude of all that was endured, done and accomplished, but meditating on this fact makes me further realize my worth to God and the extent of His devotion to and love for sin-filled me.
What an incredible God we serve. He is one who does not do away with suffering, not even for His own mother. To make life here easier would not be enough. He uses the very sorrows Satan deems for our demise and anguish, and walks through them with us, carrying us if necessary, using those very circumstances for our eternal good and His glory.
