A SWORD PIERCES MARY’S SOUL

A SWORD PIERCES MARY’S SOUL by Shawn Brix

“This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many...And a sword will pierce your own soul too.” Luke 2:34-35

On the cross Jesus said to his mother, “Woman, here is your son,” and to John, “Here is your mother” (John 19:26-27).

What might Mary have been thinking as she heard those words?

A hundred things could have raced through her mind. But at some point, she must have recalled the prophecy that Simeon had spoken when Jesus was only eight days old.

Mary and Joseph had taken Jesus to the temple to present him to the Lord for circumcision, according to custom. That’s when they met Simeon. He had approached them as they entered the temple, and he had scooped Jesus up in his arms. This was the child he had been waiting for! This was the child God himself had promised Simeon he would see before he died.

Then Simeon said, “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation.”

But as Simeon handed Jesus back to his parents, he declared that one day this child would cause the rising and falling of many, depending on whether they would receive him as Messiah and Savior. “And a sword will pierce your own soul too,” he said to Mary.

As she stood at the foot of the cross, watching her Son give up his life, Mary must have felt a stabbing pain in her soul, a sorrow too deep for words.

Many know this kind of sorrow far too well. But we are not alone. And we can have hope that sorrow is not the final word. For it is from this very sorrow that Jesus brought the unimaginable joy of salvation.

PRAYER: Father God, thank you for the hope you give us in the midst of sorrow. Help us draw near to you in our sorrow and teach us to come alongside those who know sorrow too deep for words. Amen.