On this Mother's Day, many mothers around the world are blessed and revered by their children. Moreover, the fathers and husbands revere the mothers and wives. It is clearly seen that there is something special about them, something worthy of praise. No mother in history has received more praise than the mother of the savior of mankind. Yet, her praise is indirect – that is through the son.
In Luke 2:34, an old man named Simeon blessed the child Jesus according to the customs and laws of that day. He had been assured by the Holy Spirit that he would not die until he saw with his own eyes the Lord's Christ. Simeon, a devout Jew who awaited the consolation of Israel, clearly saw Jesus as a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of Israel (the people.)
When Simeon blessed Jesus, Mary shared that blessing in her heart. When Simeon praised Jesus as Christ and savior, Mary felt it and tucked it away as a special treasure and reason for joy. Mothers shine the brightest in their children. The praiseworthy Mom dotes on her children and gives her all for their benefit. The formative years of a child belong to the mother, insomuch that we may be sure much of who Jesus was came by way of who Mary was.
So Mary, proud of her son, humbled and awed, stood before Simeon, Joseph by her side, and received each and every word with acute interest. She was surprised by the words that came through his lips, but not unduly – she had, after all, spoken with an angel of the Lord. Simeon served to justify her thoughts – thoughts she handled every day since the words of the angel.
It was the Jewish thought and law that the first-born male was accounted holy to the Lord. Mary began with that. Then an angel comes along and tells her Jesus would be considered not only holy but the very son of the Most High. Now, she stood before Simeon and heard his words added to everything else.
This child was set for the fall and the rise of many in Israel, a sign that would be spoken against, so that the thoughts of the hearts of many might be revealed, including Mary's thoughts. She would know that her thoughts had been right all along; she would know her son as the son of God and savior of her people. Perhaps through the coming years, Mary would become the most educated person on the topics of Christ and salvation. She would ask; she would search it out; she would store it away in her heart.
Let us take a moment to consider the concepts that were bodied forth in this section of scripture. To say they are curiously worded would be an understatement. A light to lighten the Gentiles: we see this reflected in the first chapter of the gospel of John, verses one through twelve. Isaiah also wrote of this light in Isaiah 49:6 when God said, “It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.”
The glory of your people Israel: may correctly be viewed as 'the best representative' of the people of Israel. Jesus was, in his place, a model to be aspired to. Jesus was the perfect model of the type of Hebrew, Israeli, Jew, Christian, and man of any nation that God desired.
The fall and the rising again of many in Israel: This speaks to us of building, especially of demolition that clears the way for something new. The ministry of Jesus was set against many in fact. We see the church elders, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the scribes, the lawyers and Doctors of the law all thoroughly bashed by the truths of Jesus. They lost quite a bit of standing in the eyes of the locals and perhaps more so in the eyes of the Roman authorities. Religious authority, as a whole, fell – but they recovered and were better for the humbling. History teaches they were set on a path of improvement: individual-faith-in-God-wise.
Christ was not only the new and improved Israel, he was the new and improved non-Hebrew (and this was how Mary's son was to prove himself the light from God) for anyone anywhere who believed, to them he gave the power to become children of God. He included everyone, even the enemies of faith. There was but one test: nothing overly complicated, just 'believe'.
It was not necessarily a bad thing that Jesus was set for a sign to be spoken against. The whole thing about spiritual demolition and reconstruction is getting a heart to commit. One must not only take a stand, but one must be known for that stand. The religious authorities dressed in their finest religious garb, but underneath, they were the enemies of God. That had to come out. Ultimately, we all must know exactly where we stand.
Our hearts can betray us with a multitude of superfluous and duplicitous thoughts, all of them camouflaged to the end of personal advantage – but that is neither 'yea' or 'nay'. One must choose – and one must believe in one's choice.
Mary believed, but she was prejudiced – it was her son. The Pharisee, Nicodemus, believed – but he had to struggle with what he thought he believed. He had amassed a lifetime worth of head knowledge that only left him unsure. The desperate father of a demon-possessed son wanted to believe, and cried out in tears, “help thou mine unbelief.” Do you want to believe?
Honor your mother, praise her and know that in the doing you prove you are more aligned to faith than not. You are more the child of God than you let on. You may be struggling with preconceptions that hinder your reconstruction. God is love and Christ is our example of the son of love. If mothers teach us anything, it is how we are who we are because of love.
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