What Moms Today Can Learn From The Mother of Jesus , Part 4
- Eva Marie Everson
- Updated Dec 30, 2002
It was late one Sunday evening and I was exhausted. Not so much physically, though I will admit to being bone tired. Rather, my exhaustion was a spiritual one. I'd been running from a Lordship-type relationship with Jesus for so long, I was (as we say in the South) give-out, and had at last come to a crossroad. It was time to turn to the right or the left...to fish or cut bait...to let the rubber hit the road.
I'd grown up a Christian. My parents were Christians; my brother was a Christian. We went to Sunday school in the morning, followed by an hour sitting on the padded pews under the steepled roof of the First United Methodist Church in our little hometown. We returned on Sunday and Wednesday evenings and, every summer, spent a week within its hallowed halls during Vacation Bible School. I grew up attending Bible studies with my parents and I married in the church.
The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit had been a constant part of my life, and while-at almost 30 years of age-I had spent the previous seven-and-a-half years working diligently within the church my husband and I attended with our children, I had yet to commit my life to the Lordship of the Messiah.
Until that night, when I returned home from a church in Atlanta (a four-hour drive away) where I'd visited friends, where I had witnessed folks who were so sold out, they would have followed Jesus anywhere and who trusted Him, come what may.
I arrived home, fell across my bed, and said, "I want everything you have to give, Lord. I don't care what it is. I want it all. I want you to be the Lord of my life."
I fell asleep, awaking the following morning a brand new creation. What had occurred between the dark of the night and the light of morning is so personal I can hardly discuss it in this forum, but I can tell you that it was the dividing moment in my spiritual life.
I finally made Jesus Lord of my life after He'd been a part of my life since day one.
Here's another story, the story of a woman who made Him her Lord when she'd been with Him all of His earthly life. His mother, Mary.
On the third day, a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus' mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine was gone, Jesus' mother said to him, "They have no more wine." "Dear woman, why do you involve me?" Jesus replied, "My time has not yet come." His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you." -- (John 2:1-5)
I have several friends who are Jewish, and all of them make me laugh when they talk about their mothers. "Jewish mothers," one of them tells me, "are all about guilt." Then again," he continued, "maybe all mothers are all about guilt."
Maybe so. Maybe not. "Historically," another expert-in-her-field says, "the guilt trip from Jewish mothers is all about survival."
Still you have to chuckle a bit when you hear things like:
A Jewish mother feeds you even if you tell her you're not hungry; she makes you put on a coat because SHE feels a chill. If you don't do it her way, boy are you going to hear about it...and she doesn't want to bother you because you have your own life and her life is almost over anyway!
Ever wonder what might have happened had Mary taken on the "Jewish Mother" role rather than the "Servant of God" role at the wedding in Cana?
"Jesus," she might have begun (though she wouldn't have called Him Jesus, as that was not what He was called at the time. So, let's start over and we'll do this right.) "Yeshua (or Yoshua...Yehoshua)," she might have begun. "They have no more wine."
"Dear woman, why do you involve me? My time has not yet come."
At this point Mary would have looked at Him as though He had totally gone off the deep end. Hands on the hips she might have said, "Do you know who you're talking to? I'm your mother! Hour after hour I suffered in that stall with the hay and the donkeys and the cattle, giving birth to you, alone and frightened. And what do I get? Lip. I get lip."
Mary might have then raised her hands in defeat. "Well, if it's not your time, it's not your time. After all, who am I to try to influence you. ..." At this point she'd give him "the look" and then...pow! She pops him up 'side the head, as they say.
Of course, this is NOT what happened. Mary, the Scriptures teach us, turned to the servants (of the wedding) and said, "Do whatever He tells you."
It was as difficult to be a mother when Mary walked the earth as it is today. Because no other woman has ever given birth to the Messiah, Mary's example becomes an even greater one for today's moms. As His mother it must have been a very new experience to have their roles reversed. She no longer had control. He did.
Because we know from other scripture that Mary was a contemplative, imagine the memories that might have gone through her mind, words she may have said to Him during His childhood:
"Wipe your feet before you come in. I just mopped the floors."
"Have you done your chores? No playing until you have."
"Time for bed, Son."
"Eat your vegetables."
"Boys! No more fussing, now. Behave or I'll tell your father when he comes home from work. And you know what will happen then!"
I believe Mary's son was just like any other child born into the world when it comes to boyish behavior (Boys will be boys, they say) and I believe the event at the wedding in Cana was her dividing moment. No longer her son. He was now her Lord.
John doesn't say so, but it's easy for me to picture the unspoken words between them. In the moments between "Dear woman, why do you involve me?" and "Do whatever he tells you," I imagine an exchanged tenderness as she gazed into his eyes. Perhaps she patted him on the face.
Bottom line, she recognized that in a very tense and most probably embarrassing situation, she could call upon Him. And when she turned to the servants, she knew she could trust Him to do the best thing for all involved.
Moms, have you made Jesus your Savior? Have you made Him your Lord? There's a difference, you know.
Do you know Him well enough to call Him by His name?
Did you know that no matter what little upsets life might offer, especially when parenting a child, you can turn to Him and He'll take care of you – and your children? The wedding in Cana became the setting of His first miracle. The moment you learn to trust Him can also be the setting of an equally great event in your life. Especially as a mother.
What have we, as moms today, learned so far from Mother Mary? Blessings often come in surprise "packages." As a mother, you will often be misunderstood. As a mother, you won't always be able to see the "big picture." When you make Jesus Lord of your life, He will help you with all your parenting (and other!) needs.
Eva Marie Everson is the author of Shadow of Dreams & Summon the Shadows and an award-winning national speaker. She can be contacted for comments or speaking engagement bookings at Bridegroomsbride@aol.com or you can go to www.evamarieeverson.com
Read Part One
Read Part Two
Read Part Three