Tag Archives: Mary

Looking at the Cross Through the Lens of Christmas: Hope for Excruciating Moments

by Christina Fox, in category Christmas

ELIZABETH TURNAGE|CONTRIBUTOR

Mary’s pain must have been excruciating. For how could a mother watch her son, the supposed Savior of the world, be crucified without feeling that agony herself? In the most excruciating moment of her life, what did Mary remember of the first Christmas, and how did it give her hope? In the most excruciating moments of our lives, what can we remember, and how can those memories give us hope?

As the frenzied crowd shouted around her, “Crucify him!” did she remember a night over thirty years ago? Into the quiet of that night, the bright and fearsome angel Gabriel had burst with a troubling announcement, “You will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus” (Luke 1:31).

As Pilate sentenced Jesus to death by crucifixion, did she remember how she and her cousin Elizabeth had celebrated Gabriel’s announcement and the early days of their pregnancies together?

As Pilate scrawled out the word “King of the Jews” on a makeshift sign, did she remember the angel’s words, “…and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end” (Luke 1:33)?

As she watched the life leak out of Jesus, did she wonder how a dying king could reign forever? Did she remember Gabriel’s assurance, “For nothing will be impossible with God” (Luke 1:37)? Did she remember how easily she had surrendered to God’s plan, voicing her faith, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38)?

As the Roman soldiers ripped her son’s clothes, did she remember swaddling Jesus in a soft cloth the night she gave birth to him in the stable, because there was “no room for them in the inn” (Luke 2:27)?

As Jesus called to her from the cross, “Woman, behold your son,” and pointed to his beloved disciple, John, did she remember gazing into the shining dark eyes of her newborn son, the Savior of the world?

As she heard Jesus cry out, “It is finished,” did she remember the “impossible” beginning of Jesus’ life? Did that memory of the miraculous lead her to wonder if life could yet again emerge from death?…

When You Feel Like Pitching Christmas

by Christina Fox, in category Christmas

When I was a little girl, my mother told me the story of a long ago relative, Amelia Ruth.  As a child, she was a notorious spoiled brat.  Her parents warned her that Santa rewarded bad behavior with “ashes and switches.”

Amelia Ruth didn’t listen.

On Christmas morning she ran to her Christmas stocking only to find it full of soot.  In predictable behavior she took that stocking, (my mom may have embellished this part) swung it round above her head, and pitched it across the room.  A CRACK interrupted her tantrum, for buried in the toe of this stocking was the hand painted china doll she’d asked for, broken.

I feel like throwing a tantrum myself.

As COVID fatigue sets in and my usual holiday plans could be turning to ashes and soot, am I acting like Amelia Ruth this Christmas? Sure, we experience spilt milk moments, and we try not to cry or pitch a fit.  As frustrating as piles of laundry or work deadlines can be, we are used to pushing through.  But now that Bing Crosby is on the radio and the familiar smells of the season take us back to Christmas last year, we may feel a panic.  What if I spend Christmas alone?  What if I can’t take the children to their grandparents’ house?  What if I can’t afford to celebrate in the usual ways?

So much has been lost in this time of COVID, and I don’t want to lose my usual Christmas, too.  This is not the December I want, and I feel like swinging this holiday season along with the rest of 2020 over my head and pitching it across the room.

Mary and Joseph would understand how you and I feel.

After all, their simple, obedient Jewish lives were hijacked when the angel delivered to them his unexpected birth announcements.  When this teenage mom and her new husband stepped into parenting the Promised One, I doubt they imagined what would follow.  As we see in the events of Matthew and Luke, the first Christmas could be summed up in the word, unusual.

First of all, a barn?  Really?  If I had been Mary, I would have stomped my foot in Amelia Ruth style and said, I knew I was giving birth to the Messiah, but it didn’t occur to me I’d have to do it in a barn! I doubt any of us would have expected to have donkeys and cows munching on hay and looking on while we panted and pushed, birthing the special baby. Far from the comfort of home and family, was Mary undone as she felt the contractions come?

And, what about Joseph? Did he break out into a sweat as he struck out door to door, trying to find shelter for them in Bethlehem?  How was he supposed to take care of the Messiah if he couldn’t even secure a hotel room?  Life was outside his control, even while obeying God.  And after Jesus was finally born, when Joseph gazed at the Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, were his own dreams of being a dad for the first time subjugated to the reality in front of him, being an earthly father to the Son of God?

But the surprises did not stop there. This unusual barnyard scene was interrupted by an unexpected group of visitors, a scruffy band of excited shepherds barging in with tales of singing angels, shining light, and tidings of comfort and joy.  In the middle of this first (and very unusual) Christmas day, what did Mary do? In the midst of what seemed to be ashes and switches, did she complain, pitch a fit, get mad at God or the circumstances He put them in?  Did she ever stomp her foot and say, I don’t like this! Luke tells us what Mary did in Luke 2:19.

But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart.

Our traditional holiday celebrations are mere shadows of what Mary saw in these unusual days of the first Christmas – things she pondered.  Every year I’ve untangled yards of Christmas lights, yet God decked the first Christmas sky with “the glory of the Lord” shining on the shepherds (Luke 2:9).  I remember my daddy stretching off the top of a ladder to stick the star on our gigantic Christmas tree.  But, during Mary’s Christmas, God Himself hung a star over His Baby’s house to guide the Magi (Matthew 2:9).  I’ve worked hard on buying just-right gifts for all on my list, yet God used the Wise Men (not our mere Amazon delivery) to hand deliver treasures of gold, frankincense, and myrrh—perfectly-timed provisions for Mary’s needy family of three (Matthew 2:11). She saw the unusual and pondered what God was doing.

Maybe I should take my Christmas cues from Mary, not Amelia Ruth.  Instead of pitching Christmas 2020 with all its disappointments and unusual situations, could I ponder it instead?  As I am tempted to wind up my frustration and toss it across the room, could I pause and unwrap what God is giving me to hold this Christmas? If I don’t, could I miss the china doll He’s hidden in the ashes and switches of a pandemic (Isaiah 30:15)?

What is God giving me to ponder?…

The Greatest Pregnancy Reveal in History

by Christina Fox, in category Christmas

LAURA BOOZ|GUEST

The day I finally saw two pink lines on a pregnancy test, I held my breath. Could this be true? I wondered. My husband and I had trudged through two long years of infertility and were crushed by ghost lines, false positives, and dashed hopes. We longed for a child more than anything else. 

On my way to work, I stopped by the doctor’s office for a blood test to confirm the pregnancy. The doctor told me to call in later for the results. I went through the motions of teaching poetry and grading papers, but all I could think about was the possibility that I was pregnant. At my first opportunity, I called the doctor’s office and I will never forget the nurse’s response as she looked over my results. She said, “Well it’s very early, but you are pregnant.”

Later that day, I saw my husband. You’d think that after all those months of waiting, I would have done a dramatic pregnancy reveal with balloons and clever word play, but I was so shocked that I just blurted out, “I’m pregnant!” We sat together, amazed.

We estimated that our baby was the size of the period at the end of this sentence and yet she was already our greatest joy. We talked about what our lives would look like as a mom and dad. We thanked God for granting our relentless request. And then we went to the store to buy the coziest baby blanket on the planet.

Learning from Mary’s Pregnancy Reveal

When Mary was newly pregnant and just arriving at the home of her cousin, Elizabeth, she did have a dramatic pregnancy reveal. Upon seeing the expectant Mary for the first time, Elizabeth felt her own baby (John) leap in her womb and she was filled with the Holy Spirit. Elizabeth exclaimed a blessing upon Mary that affirmed everything the angel had promised to her.

“Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord” (Luke 1:42-45)…

Turning from Fear to Faith

by Christina Fox, in category Fear

Have you ever said to someone “Just trust me?” We often say these words because we love the person and believe we have greater wisdom than they do in a particular situation. Likewise, our heavenly Father loves us so much that He wants us to trust Him.

God Is Trustworthy

God’s faithfulness and trustworthiness is rooted in His covenant. He has initiated a relationship with His people. This relationship does not depend upon our faithfulness but His, and it is secured by the blood of His Son, Jesus Christ. We see God’s trustworthiness as the history of salvation unfolds from Genesis through Revelation. In the entirety of the covenantal structure of Scripture, we learn that God is faithful to fulfill His promises. As Paul says, “For all the promises of God in [Christ] are Yes, and in Him Amen” (2 Cor. 1:20). Because God has been faithful to us and saved us, we can trust Him by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Mary’s Trust in the Face of Fear

At the appointed time, God sent the angel Gabriel to a virgin named Mary. The angel told her, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!” (Luke 1:28). Mary was very troubled by the angel’s saying. However, the angel instructed her not to fear because she had found favor with God. She would have a son, and this son was to be named Jesus. He would be great and called the Son of the Highest. He would reign forever in an eternal kingdom. Mary questioned how this could be. The angel told her that the Holy Spirit would come upon her and that by God’s power she would conceive. The child she would carry would be called the Son of God. Mary replied to the angel, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word” (1:38).

Mary’s story displays what it means to trust the Lord. First, when Mary had every reason to fear, she responded in faith. Think about the last time you were gripped with fear. Maybe the career path you had chosen wasn’t going as you had expected, and you feared the outcome. Perhaps you, or a loved one, received a diagnosis that was difficult to hear and that drastically changed your lifestyle. Maybe you were headed on vacation and feared for your family’s safety, especially your young children’s. Perhaps you were afraid about how the difficulties in your marriage were going to turn out…

Finding Rest in Christmas

by Christina Fox, in category Christmas
ELIZABETH TURNAGE|CONTRIBUTOR Broken Shalom The Christmas story begins in a season of unrest. Shalom, the Hebrew concept of wholehearted rest that comes from peace and harmony with God, was first disrupted in the garden with Adam and Eve’s sin. The Israelites had an on again off again relationship with their faithful God. When the New… Read More