Day 10 – Issue 21

Be Still Know

John 19:25 NLT

‘Standing near the cross were Jesus’ mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary (the wife of Clopas), and Mary Magdalene.’

I sometimes feel fraudulent in that I get to tell Katey’s story, while she has no say in shaping my words. I seek to represent her faithfully; however, is this not the lot of women throughout history? Both well-intentioned and abusive males determining an historical narrative with the female voice excluded…I sense the Church has successfully silenced Mary, for fear we might venerate her too highly. Yet, can we venerate the mother of Jesus too much? Of course, were we to invest her with divine authority, then yes. But acknowledging and presenting her faithful obedience must surely be one of the most essential stories of the Church.

Here, a mother stands in the shadow of her own Son’s excruciating execution. She can say nothing. This is God’s narrative writ large. Hers is the womb that gave Jesus life, yet now she must give him up entirely to the purpose of God. The tenderness of her pain-wracked Son making provision for her in the house of John is testimony to Jesus’ high regard for his mother. Little did she know that his corpse would be laid in a second womb of stone from which he would break back into the world, a new birth signalling hope for everyone.

As I remarried I had little knowledge of what that might be like. The friendship Jayne and I enjoyed had been forged through difficult personal circumstances for each of us. We knew each other’s worst attributes, mine a country mile darker than Jayne’s. Yet, emerging from the debris of loss, hers through abandonment, mine through widowhood, both of us carried a history into this new relationship. Both of us recognised this was a resurrection moment for us, new life beckoned of companionship forged in the furnace of new-found love. However, the narrative of our personal Golgothas was not to be forgotten. These journeys were our story, and God’s narrative through our lives. If we separated from them it would only be to our peril, for resurrection only makes sense in the light of the cross.

QUESTION: How has God brought good out from your trials and sufferings?

PRAYER: Lord, thank you that through the death of your dear Son we have life.