It is Good Friday today. Hallelujah!
And while it is Good Friday to us (as it should be... Savior rescuing us from sin and saving our souls for eternity... pretty darn good) I bet it really sucked that day.
No, really. Think about it from Jesus' perspective.
You get beaten, scorned, spit on (and remember what dental hygiene was like then), and hung from a cross to die. I don't know about you, but this equals "Not Good Friday"... nay... "Downright Bad Friday." And we complain about Mondays?!
Now as a mother, I am COMPELLED to look at it from Mary's perspective. You think Jesus had it bad?! Mary had to WATCH her SON be TORMENTED, BEATEN, SCORNED, SPIT ON, then NAILED TO A CROSS TO DIE!
Want to torture me for state secrets?! Do anything mean to my son. Oh. My. Gosh.
I tear up just thinking about what Mary went through on that day. On every day after that.
I may be stepping on the toes of controversy here, but it is on days like today where I think the Catholics have it right. I know there are Protestants that say Catholics worship Mary. I have never seen it is as worship. I see it as reverence and honestly, sometimes the Protestants do not revere her enough.
I mean, c'mon people, Mary had kind of a big role to play in the whole "Jesus saving our souls" bit. Didn't she?
So to bring this post all back together, there has been a song on my heart to share on this blog. Many of you have heard it. Some may even know the story behind it. I urge you to listen to it again from the eyes of Mary (as it is not written from the eyes of Mary). Think about how she felt on this day some almost 2000 years ago.
This song is "Held" by Natalie Grant. She writes it from several perspectives. Extreme hurt felt by God's children. The first verse is about a mother who lost her baby at 2 months old.
There is someone reading this right now that is doubting Jesus's love for them. A person who has experienced terrible hurt or is currently experiencing terrible hurt. There is someone reading who is terribly afraid of experiencing this hurt. And there is someone else who simply does not believe.
Let God wrap His love around you right now. There is no hurt He doesn't understand and can't heal. And He does love you. So, so very much. Allow Him to love you. Please.
This is what it means to be held. And to know, that the promise was when everything fell, we'd be held.
I want to hug Mary and thank you for her sacrifice, as well as her son's. I am utterly thankful and humbled that I was found worthy of it.
Mary went to sleep that night dealing with the image of her son being tormented and killed. And I bet she was "held."
Happy Good Friday!
Amen. Wow. What an encouragement! And what a great perspective on the suffering that went on, on that day. Its good to think about that and realize what a sacrifice was made for the benefit of many. And then after spending time thinking about the sadness surrounding death and sin, to realize the relief and joy available at Christ's resurrection. My sunday school teacher, Miss Anne, used to always say "He is risen!" to us on Easter Sunday, and we would respond back "He is risen indeed!" It was kind of cheesy but still mean so much to me, because it reminds me of her, and also because its exciting to say to each other as we celebrate and rejoice that Jesus didn't stay dead but conquered death and lives. yay :D
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