of uncontrollable anguish, or fall ing to the ground in a swoon. She suffered in unbroken silence. The crowds were mocking, the thieves were taunting, the soldiers were gambling for His clothes, the Lord was dying; and His mother was there watching it all. It would have been no wonder if she had turned from such a sight and fled from the scene. But no, she stood by the cross. What tremendous courage, love and reverence for her Son! One thought filled her mind at that time — what the aged Simeon said to her in the temple as he held the baby Jesus in his arms. “ Be hold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spo ken against; (Yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also,) that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed” (Luke 2:34-35). These words must have puzzled her when she first heard them, but now the fearful truth was a sad reality. She was crushed with grief. The final picture shows her as a devout worshipper. Our Lord had ascended to Heaven. Mary was with the other disciples as they assem bled in the Upper Room. Christ had directed them to wait there until they should receive power from Heaven. For fourteen days Mary was one of those who met in prayer and thanksgiving. Misunderstanding, disappointment and sorrow were over now. Her Son had died for her sin; God had raised Him from the dead. So she rejoiced in the Lord her Saviour. Mary stands out as one of the greatest mothers in the Bible. By her godly life she was a model of what all mothers should be. God Himself selected her as the one most suitable for the unique birth of His Son. God honored her because she was a devout maiden who was will ing to carry out His purposes com pletely. She stands before us en couraging us and giving us a pic ture that will inspire many to ideal motherhood. THE KING’S BUSINESS
pointment she had the consolation that He had given her earlier, that He must be about His Father's busi ness (Luke 2:49). Our Lord's ministry had ended and Mary appeared once more. This time it was at the foot of the cross. She was then the patient sufferer. There she saw her Son dying the most painful of deaths. He was “ a man nailed to the beams, hung up in the b l a z i n g sun, dragged, strained, longing to shift his posture in an agony of cramp, yet unable to do so, and his slight est movement sending a fresh thrill of torture through his body; then a burning thirst, a throbbing head, the weight of which on the weary neck grows intolerable; and all this to continue — since no vital organ has been touched — till the relief of death supervenes only from sheer exhaustion, when longing, enduring nature can hold out no longer" (James Hastings). We shrink with horror from such a ghastly spectacle; Mary saw it all — the agony and the torture. And the Sufferer was her Son. Nothing could restrain her from being with her Son in His last mo ments. No, her own danger, the sadness of the scene, or the insults of the crowd could not drive her away. After the days of His infancy and childhood we see and hear lit tle of Mary. During His public min istry she lived her life in the back ground. Yet when her Son was in His greatest agony, she stood by the cross. She was baffled at the amazing scene and paralyzed by His sufferings yet she was bound to her dying Son by the golden chains of love. His nation despised Him, His disciples deserted Him, and His friends forsook Him, but His mother stood by Him where all might see her. She was near to Him in birth and with Him in death. Here was the deep love of a moth er’s heart. Though she was crushed with grief, Mary showed marvellous for titude. There was no demonstration of feminine weakness, wild outcry
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