Mary Knew

Artist: Kristyn Brown

Let me tell you my story…

I was a young girl barely past my childhood days…when I had a visitation from an angel…

Now, you may think this strange…

It was strange to me too…

He told me I would bare a son, and that he’d be the savior of the world…

It was as he said.

I held him as a baby, I rocked him to sleep, sang lullabies and kissed him on his cheek…

I watched him grow through his teenage years and saw him become a man…

Knowing all along what was to come, I prayed and trusted God.

So, at a wedding in Cana when the wine ran out, I knew without a doubt what Jesus could do and I asked him to help. He hesitated knowing it wasn’t time but in love for me he did as I requested.

I heard the stories of how he healed blind eyes, gave hearing to the deaf. He cast out demons and raised some from the dead. He forgave sins and told parables. Stories to point people to God. And later I witnessed it with my own eyes. It was no surprise. He was God’s son too.

There were many trips to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover lamb…

I knew that Jesus was chosen and that He was the true Lamb!

So, I waited and watched and prayed for the strength to obey what I had promised God on that long-ago day.

I pondered all these things in my heart!

I watched them beat my son and humiliate him in front of the religious rulers. Roman armies and onlookers who had once followed him abandoned him.

I saw his blood run down his back as they scourged him. I did not speak because I knew it was his time. What he was going through was going to change the world forever. God gave me grace.

I stood at a distance as John held me up. I heard my son’s cries, “I thirst.”

Here was the living water, being deprived of drink. Given bitterness to sip on. I waited in agony my heart could hardly contain the pain. It was just as Simeon had prophesied at Jesus’s dedication to the Lord. My heart was pierced through it was more than I could bear. Seeing my precious son nailed to a cursed tree. The betrayal. The disgrace. But I also knew he had to go through all this to conquer hell, death and the grave.

As I stood near the cross, I heard him say, “Woman, behold your son. And as John held me, Jesus said to him, behold your mother.” All the agony and pain he was in, still, he considered me.

Then a chill more horrifying than anything I’d ever felt in my life, ran through me…I heard him cry out in a loud voice, “My God! My God why have you forsaken me?”

Then he said, “It is finished!” I collapsed in Johns arms as Jesus took his last breath, he hung his head. He was dead!

Three days we mourned him. I knew what He had said, that He would rise again! But was it really true? I had my times of doubts, I was human!

Everyone scattered and hid, afraid we would all be taken and crucified.

But on the third day our doubts and fears were totally wiped away as we heard the news; He is alive!!!

He’s alive! We saw him. He came to us and Thomas put his hand into his side where they had pierced him. He spoke to us and said, “You believe because you have seen me, but I tell you, more blessed are those who will believe that have not seen me.”

For forty days he ministered to many people. We ate with him and he showed us and told us many things.

I cannot tell you the joy that filled our hearts. All was realized. All was brought into being. We knew, that we knew, that we knew, all that he had said and done was true!! I have to admit it was worth all the pain and sorrow. You see, my son, truly is the Son of God!!

Then it was time for him to leave and go into Heaven. We stood and watched as he went into a cloud.

Two men in white robes appeared and said, “Galileans, why are you standing here staring into the sky? Jesus is going away but one day just as you saw him go, he will come again!”

I wrote this little story in response to the song, ‘Mary did you know?’ It made me think about how Mary might have felt. You can read it in the Bible.

Mary knew her baby boy. She knew who he was and what he would do!

Now, here’s a question for you…Do you know Jesus? Will you follow him? Will you be one of his disciples?

He’s calling you! Don’t put it off! If you’re answer is yes, and you say, I want to know him but I don’t know how?

All you have to do, is say, “Lord Jesus, I ask you to come into my heart, forgive me. I confess with my mouth and believe in my heart, that You are the son of God. Fill me with Your love so that I can love others through you. Help me live for you all the days of my life. Amen.

If you just prayed that prayer, Welcome to the family. Find a Christ centered Church. Become a student of the Bible. The Holy Spirit will help you on your journey. God bless you.

John 3:16 New King James Version ¹⁶ For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

~Marla Shaw O’Neill November 19, 2020

John 19:26-27 King James Version When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son!

Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home.

Acts 1:1-11

The Passion Translation

1 To Theophilus,^[a] the lover of God.

I write to you again, my dear friend, to give you further details^[b] about the life of our Lord Jesus and all the things that he did and taught.^[c]

² Just before he ascended into heaven, he left instructions^[d] for the apostles he had chosen by the Holy Spirit.^[e] 3 After the sufferings of his cross, Jesus appeared alive many times^[f] to these same apostles over a forty-day period.^[g] Jesus proved to them with many convincing signs that he had been resurrected.^[h]

During these encounters, he taught them the truths of God’s kingdom realm ⁴ and shared meals with them.^[i]

Jesus instructed them, “Don’t leave Jerusalem, but wait here until you receive the gift, I told you about, the gift the Father has promised. ⁵ For John baptized you in water, but in a few days from now you will be baptized in the Holy Spirit!”^[j]

⁶ Every time they were gathered together, they asked Jesus, “Lord, is it the time now for you to free Israel and restore our kingdom?”

⁷ He answered, “The Father is the one who sets the fixed dates and the times of their fulfillment. You are not permitted to know the timing of all that he has prepared by his own authority. ⁸ But I promise you this—the Holy Spirit will come upon you and you will be filled with power.^[k] And you will be my messengers^[l] to Jerusalem, throughout Judea, the distant provinces^[m]—even to the remotest places on earth!”^[n]

⁹ Right after he spoke those words, the disciples saw Jesus lifted into the sky and disappear into a cloud!^[o] 10 As they stared into the sky, watching Jesus ascend, two men in white robes suddenly appeared beside them. ¹¹ They told the startled disciples, “Galileans, why are you staring up into the sky? Jesus has been taken from you into heaven, but he will come back the same way that you saw him ascend.”

Footnotes

1. Acts 1:1 Some scholars believe that Theophilus could be a symbolic name and not necessarily one individual. This is most likely not written to one individual. When the meaning of his name is translated, the sentence reads, “I wrote to you before, O lover of God.” Both Luke and Acts were written to every lover of God.

2. Acts 1:1 This account was written by Luke, the human author of the Gospel of Luke. The title Lord Jesus is found only in the Aramaic. The Greek is simply “Jesus.”

3. Acts 1:1 Although Jesus’ work of redemption has been completed for us, there is still the unfinished work of preparing and beautifying his eternal partner, the bride of Christ. With gifts of power his church is continuing what Jesus began to do and teach through evangelism and discipleship. See Matt. 28:19-20; John 21:25; Eph. 4:11-13.

4. Acts 1:2 Or “commands.”

5. Acts 1:2 As translated from the Aramaic. The Greek implies that the “instructions” (commands) he gave them were “by the Holy Spirit.”

6. Acts 1:3 Jesus appeared to his followers at least eleven times and taught them the mysteries of God’s kingdom realm. See also Matt. 13:11.

7. Acts 1:3 The number forty is significant, for it speaks of transformation and completeness through testing. Jesus was tempted for forty days, the deluge during Noah’s day lasted forty days and nights, Moses met with God for forty days on Sinai, Israel wandered for forty years, and Elijah fasted for forty days. Jesus spent forty days appearing to his disciples to teach them that a day of completeness and transformation had arrived. It took them forty days to comprehend that Christ’s kingdom was spiritual, not political.

8. Acts 1:3 The world is still waiting to see “many convincing signs” from our lives signifying that we too have been raised from the dead. Spiritual fruit and spiritual power provide these signs.

9. Acts 1:4 As translated from the Aramaic.

10. Acts 1:5 The Aramaic implies that they would be the ones who would do the baptizing: “John baptized you in water, but you will baptize [others] in the Holy Spirit.”

11. Acts 1:8 Or “You will seize power,” or “You will be seized with power.”

12. Acts 1:8 Or “witnesses.” The Greek word can also be translated “martyrs.”

13. Acts 1:8 Or “Samaria,” a term used for a distant province populated by another people group.

14. Acts 1:8 See Matt. 24:14.

15. Acts 1:9 Or “A cloud came under him and took him up from their sight.” The Aramaic is “A cloud accepted him and covered him from their eyes.” He did not start from a cloud and ascend to outer space. He started from their visible presence, and disappeared from view in a cloud, ascending by that means into heaven. And when he returns it will be a reverse order. We will see him appearing from out of a cloud and descending back into our visible presence where we can see him and be with him.