"Why were you searching for me?" [Jesus] asked. "Didn't you know I had to be in my Father's house?" But they did not understand what he was saying to them. Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart. ~ Luke 2:49-51 (NIV)
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I don't know if men spend alot of time pondering, since I'm not one, but I know that women do. I think it's part of how God made us. Sometimes it gets us in trouble, when we over-analyze and over-think things to death. But we do tend to take things deep into our hearts and minds, and wrestle with the complexities of relational life and the emotions that follow. And Mary was not unlike most women. And, boy, did she have complexities to wrestle with!
When Jesus was born, the shepherds visited Mary and Joseph and the baby. I'm sure they communicated to them the reason they were barging into the stable -- the amazing sight they saw in the heavens as the angel declared the birth of the Messiah. And the Word of God says that Mary treasured and pondered all the things in her heart (Luke 2:19). Now, 12 years later, when Jesus is found in the temple by His parents after three days' of looking for Him and they return to their home in Nazareth, we're told that she treasures these things in her heart. Mary is thinking. Mary is pondering.
Moms want the best for their kids, and they will usually do most anything for them, sometimes to their detriment. We tend to coddle, placate and indulge more than we should. We don't want to see them hurt or afraid or sick or lonely. We just want to protect them like our mother hen and mother bear instincts tell us. I'm sure Mary was just like any other mother. But, her firstborn was not like any other child. And she knew it.
As His life unfolded, the ponderings in her heart confirmed what the angel had told her at the beginning, what Elizabeth had shared with her, what the prophets had foretold for centuries. He was the long-awaited Messiah, the Anointed One, Immanuel. And I'm sure it pierced her heart with bitter-sweet emotions, knowing that her son was destined for fame and fatality -- a whole set of mixed up emotions as she realized the truth about Jesus, and yet hoped against hope that it wasn't to be as the Scriptures foretold.
Mary had a special and dreadful cross to bear as the mother of Jesus. It came with so many mixed blessings. But, ultimately, when she saw her son dying on the cross, she saw not just her son, but her Savior also. He was born to her, but born for the whole world, including her. The Savior of the world was born in a manger, died on a cross and rose alive from the grave. How great must her ponderings have been, as she treasured these life experiences in her heart!
Do you ponder and treasure Jesus in your heart, the manifestation of God in the flesh? Do you meditate on who He is and the reality of His Messiahship? Perhaps we all need to do more pondering on Him today.
Love,
Joelene
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