The Baby Jesus and His Mother
A Word of Encouragement with Elizabeth Rice Handford about Easter
It’s hard to imagine how the Lord Jesus, the Creator of the whole universe, could demean Himself to become a little baby. But Philippians 2:6-8 tells us that Jesus came to earth as a human being with all the heartaches and burdens we endure, and that He did it so He could pay the penalty for our sins.
Can you imagine how He must have felt growing up, pure and holy, but being tempted by every temptation the human race is faced with? His mother Mary did her best to meet the needs of this special Child. Only she could have known beyond the shadow of doubt that He was God incarnate, born without a human father. (Few people would believe that improbable face, though true.) An old man Simeon had told her, years before, “A sword will pierce your heart.” That certainly came true the day she crouched at the foot of the cross on which her Son was dying.
Mary had made a covenant with God when the Angel Gabriel told her she would give birth to the Savior of the world. That strange day, understanding something of the disgrace that bearing a child out of wedlock would bring, she still said, “I am the Lord’s servant, and I am willing to accept whatever He wants. May everything you have said come true” (Luke 1:38).
Her surrender to the will of God included the day when Jesus was 12 and lost in the crowds of Jerusalem. After three days, they’d found Him in the Temple talking with the elders. “Son, why have You done this to us? Look, Your father and I have sought You, Jesus anxiously,” she sobbed.
He answered, “Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?” (Luke 2:48,49). Jesus and His mother both knew Joseph was not his father. (The Scriptures add that Jesus went home with them and obeyed them, as always, because He would not sin.)
Because Easter Sunday is coming soon, we’ve been talking about the seven things the Lord Jesus cried out as He hung on the cross that terrible day. The third thing He said, speaking to His distraught mother and to John, His disciple who stood beside her,
Mother, behold your son, Son, behold your mother John 19:26,27
Mary would need a son’s protection from those murderers who knowingly killed an innocent Man. In spite of the weight of the sins of the whole world that were heaped on Him that day, Jesus focused His tortured mind on the needs His mother would have when He was no longer on earth to care for her. John took His Master’s dying request seriously. He took her home with him that day and cared for her the rest of her life.
Jesus was the Creator of the universe, but He was also totally human. He was tempted by every temptation you and I face. As He was dying, He not only thought about His mother, He thought of you.. Hebrews 4:14-16 (nlt) says:
That is why we have a great High Priest who has gone to heaven,
Jesus the Son of God.
Let us cling to Him and never stop trusting Him.
This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses,
for He faced all of the same temptations we do, yet He did not sin.
So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God.
There we will receive His mercy,
and we will find grace to help us when we need it.