Lent, Suffering and the Parenting Example of Mary

A couple of Sundays ago, my pastor showed a clip from "The Passion of Christ." The clip showed one of the times that Christ was beaten and God used it to show me some hard things about myself which I wrote about in an earlier post.

But something else struck me while I was watching this clip. Jesus isn't the only one who suffered the cross. His mother Mary was there the whole time.

Please don't get me wrong. I know that the suffering our Lord endured on the cross was the most intense suffering humanity has ever known, but I think it is right to consider Mary's suffering there as well. Can you imagine what it was like to gaze upon your child in such agony? When I see my kids stumble and skin a knee my stomach turns. To see them tortured and killed...I can't comprehend that.

In the movie clip her presence gives Jesus focus and strength. He makes eye contact with her, and stands up to take more from the Roman thugs. And she stands there and silently watches her first born take the lashes that belonged to me, that belonged to the world, that belonged to herself. 

You might be thinking, "Yeah but that is just the movie..." Although when I read the biblical account, I'm drawn to the same conclusion: she was there, and she was silent.

Her parenting challenges me considerably. She doesn't shout out. She doesn't demand justice for her son. She entrusts Jesus to her heavenly Father. And when all is said and done, when her little boy is dead, she doesn't take care of Him. She doesn't stand guard over His dead body. She goes home, and takes the Sabbath rest that her God commands her to.

This leads me to two thoughts:

1. I firmly believed that Mary parented Jesus in a way that blessed Him, prepared Him for the cross.
2. Her love for her child does not define her relationship with her God

The next two posts will unpack these two ideas more.

But until then, how are you challenged by the parenting of Jesus' earthly mom?