M-G: 11.7.13 // What Is Our Hearts Pondering, Luke 2:19

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Imagine if you will, a young woman, who was a virgin engaged to be married, being approached by an angel in her home in Nazareth, “Rejoice, highly favored [greatly graced] one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women" (Lk 1:28)! She was surprised, troubled, and fearful over this strange greeting (Lk 1:29). Gabriel commanded her to stop being afraid for she had found grace with God (Lk 1:30). I think her response was a natural reaction to someone who lived a quiet, godly, and unassuming life. Now this young woman of faith is about to receive a weighty a-mail (angel mail). Notice that the good news in the a-mail is about the greatness of the Son and not the soon-to-be mother,

 “And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end" (Lk 1:31-33).

The Bible doesn’t say how long it took for her to process all of this. It must have been pretty quick because she had gotten over her fear and questioned the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man” (Lk 1:34)? She was not rebuked by Gabriel for it was a legitimate question not wrapped in doubt as was Zechariah’s response to Gabriel for the miraculous conception of Elizabeth in her old age, the soon to be the mother of John the Baptist (Lk 1:18-20).

Lk 1:35  And the angel answered and said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.

Lk 1:36  Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren.

Lk 1:37  For with God nothing will be impossible."

I love Mary’s response to Gabriel in being the mother of the Messiah, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word” (Lk 1:38). Mary understood the spiritual relationship between her and the Lord; she referred to herself as a doúlē, the feminine form of doulos, “slave” or “the maidservant of the Lord” or literally a female slave of the Lord. This is how she considered herself. Her will was lost in the will of the Master regardless of the ripple effect of being obedient to the Lord. Keep in mind she was betrothed to Joseph. 

This betrothal is much more involved than our cultural understanding of engagement. Should Mary prove to be unfaithful during the betrothal; she runs the risk of the embarrassment and shame of divorce or worst being put to death by public stoning! During the waiting period of the betrothal, both are officially married to one another, awaiting the official consummation of the marriage at the end of the betrothal period which is usually about one year. It’s kind of a weird setup but that was the way they did it back then. 

Notice Mary didn’t confer with Joseph before giving Gabriel an answer! In her mind, there was no alternative to doing or not doing the will of God. There was no deliberation needed or a conference to discuss the pros and cons. Though a sinner like the rest of us (cf. Lev 12:6 with Lk 2:22-24), Mary was a very godly woman who loved the Lord. We should not shun from extolling the virtues of Mary; it is not her fault that a major religion in the world has elevated Mary beyond her humanity.

 

Lk 2:7  And she [Mary] brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

Herod the Great was a madman who had killed his own children to protect his throne. When the Magi showed up in Jerusalem looking for the King of the Jews and failed to report back to him, Herod, fearing any potential rival to his rule (cf. Mt 2:6), sought the life of all male children in Bethlehem two years of age or less (Mt 2:7-8, 12, 16). Here was the aftermath of a monster (Mt 2:17-18). According to a first-century historian Josephus, Herod the Great died in 4 B.C. If this is correct, then Jesus would have been born between the years 6 B.C. and 4 B.C. and not the traditional 1 A.D.

Lk 2:8  Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.

Lk 2:9  And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid.

Lk 2:10  Then the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.

Lk 2:11  For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

Lk 2:12  And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger."

Lk 2:13  And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:

Lk 2:14  "Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!"

Lk 2:15  So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, "Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us."

Lk 2:16  And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger.

Lk 2:17  Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child.

Lk 2:18  And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds.

Lk 2:19, ESV But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.

Lk 2:19 But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart.

Pondering (Gk, sumbállō) is a compound word made up of a Greek preposition, sún, denoting union, with or together, and the Greek verb, bállō, meaning to throw or put.  Literally, it means to throw together or bring together. Mary combined or mentally threw together the words of the angel Gabriel, the Shepherds, and eventually the Magi and mused upon them in her heart. “Kept” (Gk, sunetērei) indicates that she kept on keeping all of these things together (sún) in her mind. It was like spiritual nourishment to her soul, filled with holy awe. She preserved them in her mind by her continual musing. She could not and would not forget. Sunetērei occurs three other times and is translated as preserve and protect. I like the ESV translation of sunetērei, “treasured.”  

Thirty-three years later on a hill northwest of Jerusalem….

“Then they crucified Him…” (Mt 27:35).

“Father, forgive them…” (Lk 23:34).

Jesus did not hide the fact as to why He was suspended between heaven and earth as the sacrificial Lamb that would satisfy the just demands of the righteous and holy Father for the sin of man. It was for this very purpose He came to earth (Mt 20:28). Many saw Him as a political savior, but He came as a spiritual One with no intentions of overthrowing any earthly kingdom. For nine months Mary carried within her womb the Messiah not realizing she was also carrying the sacrificial Lamb of God. Jesus changed lives in ways that went unappreciated and misunderstood by those untouched or reproached by His ministry, “He saved others; Himself He cannot save” (Mk 15:31). It was inevitable if mankind was to be salvaged from inevitable destruction that it was here He must die. There was no other way to redeem sinful man save through the cross at Calvary (Lk 22:42). 

I wonder if there was a moment when Mary looked upon her Son on that cruel cross that day (Jn 19:26), beaten to a bloody pulp, nailed, and dying, that the thought ever crossed her mind of picturing Jesus as a babe lying in a manger wrapped in swaddling clothes, warm, cozy, and comfy, untouched by the ruthlessness of man. What a contrast of images she might have beheld: one of heaven, one of hell; she was caught in the middle. She was trying to desperately stay afloat in a sea of helplessness, and she was slowly drowning, “This can’t be happening!”She was feeling anything but “blessed” right now (Lk 1:48).

Everything was moving in slow motion, surrealistic, and in heart-pounding terror. Bloodthirsty men were intoxicated and swirling in demonic delirium. She never cried so much in her life, perhaps even more than her deceased husband Joseph who died of natural causes. A mother should not outlive her children,” she may have cried. This is not how she envisioned the death of any of her children, particularly Jesus. Her soul was crying out to God, “Why was this happening? Jesus didn’t deserve this! He was a good and gentle man, full of compassion!”  

 “Mary loved all of her children, but Jesus was not like the other siblings (Lk 1:34, 35). The mother in Mary cried, “son;” but her soul cried, “Son.” As a mother of the Messiah and a female slave to her Lord, she was beside herself. She knew, as everyone did, that He wasn’t going to survive this ordeal; no one does. The family of the crucified always walked away with a lifetime of vivid and vexing memories…. Time would not wash away the horrible and grotesque images that no one should ever have to look upon or experience. It is insanity and depravity all balled into one big physical and psychological wreck of human lives. No one wanted to state the obvious; they didn’t have to. It was just a matter of time before all would be over…. So they just wept over the shock of it all and were dumbfounded by the savagery that had quickly descended upon Jesus like vultures to a feast, and the echoing sounds of the Barabbas crowd still fresh in their mind – “We will not have this Man to reign over us! Crucify Him! Crucify Him!”

But what no one understood that day was that Jesus was not a victim at the hands of wicked men; He volunteered!

“Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father”(Jn 10:17, 18).

In the Garden when Judas lead the men dispatched to take Jesus into custody, Peter wielded his sword; Jesus commanded him to put away his sword because this was not the will of the Father.

“Do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels? How then could the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must happen thus” (Mt 26:53-54)?

Jesus was Word-driven so that the Scriptures might be fulfilled; no other attitude or action, contrary to the Scriptures, is acceptable. Beloved, if only we would get a hold of this truth that Christ-likeness is all about being driven by the Word, obeying the Scriptures out of agape love (Jn 14:15), not out of some legalistic endeavor. Christ fulfilled the Scriptures; we are to follow by obeying the Word.

When hammered to the cross the appearance of Jesus had been altered by the beatings to the point He was no longer recognizable (Isa 52:14). Whatever features of Mary that were once seen in Jesus were no longer, and yet, Mary had to have seen herself up there as only a mother could for Jesus was flesh of her flesh. Horror stricken, her soul screamed out to God as her heart was being ripped right out of her chest from the wounds bestowed upon her son. Mary died as a mother that day, but three days later she would revive with the greatest hope mankind has ever known, the physical resurrection of her son on the third day – “Because I live, you will live also” (Jn 14:19)! Indeed, the Father was satisfied with the Sacrifice of His Son in man’s behalf because Jesus arose from the dead on the third day!

From the inception of His incarnation, Jesus’ life was in jeopardy starting with the madman Herod the Great drunk with power and gripped by paranoia, and from His ministry with the spiritual leaders of Israel, intoxicated with self-righteousness and controlling the religious scene seeking to undermine or destroy Jesus. Now here He hangs on some wicked wood after the quickest 33 years of Mary’s life that she had known. No consolation could wipe away the tears from her eyes or mend a battered, broken, and bruised heart by the horrific sights and sounds of her son in pain, agony, and humiliation. Such cold and heartless words were hurled at her son, adding insult to injury. It was all she could do to keep silent, but she was way too shell-shocked and wounded for words. There would be no savior for the Savior on this day, no deliverance, no hope. Mary would tightly clasp her hands together and beat her chest as the tears rained upon her hands.

Before the darkness descended at noon time, Jesus, drenched by His own blood, looked down upon Mary and John and spoke to His mother, “Mother, behold your son [John]!” And to John, “Behold your mother [Mary].” From that time forth Mary would live in the home of John (Jn 19:26-27). Jesus’ brothers, James, Joses, Simon, and Judas (Mt 13:55) were unbelievers and unsympathetic with His ministry at the time of His death (cf. Jn 7:5); their lives would change after this day.  

By three in the afternoon the silence of the darkness was broken with these dreaded words, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani” (Mk 15:34), “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” Jesus became sin for us…, “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Cor 5:21). That righteousness received is lasting righteousness (Psa 119:142). “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom 5:8).

Mary, driven by her love for her son and Lord, I believe, was there somewhere on or near that hill when her Son breathed His last breath, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit” Lk 23:46, ESV). The Bible is silent if Jesus ever met up with His mother after the resurrection. I personally believe He did, but whether He did or not, as the pain is quickly forgotten with the birth of a child, the physical resurrection must have had a similar effect on Mary, unlike any mother whose son had ever been crucified, transforming tragedy into triumph! The ghastly images would no longer be haunting her heart and mind on Easter morning. Truly, “From now on all generations will call me blessed” (Lk 1:48) because of an empty tomb; and she pondered in her heart all these things, and so should we.

There is no greater demonstration of God’s love than Jesus dying to make atonement for our sins (Rom 5:8;1 Jn 4:10). Paul declared that his service to the Lord was based upon the love of God expressed toward him (2 Cor 5:14a). With that said, what are we throwing together from all the things we have received from God, starting with salvation up to now, and meditating upon them in order to keep us from forgetting about the goodness and greatness of the Lord in our lives? Might Jesus say, “Do this in remembrance of Me?” It’s a small price to pay for what He paid on the cross for us. 

Are we treasuring all of the things God has done for us as well as hiding God's Word within our hearts? Do we meditate upon them every day in order to preserve and protect, to keep the ways and wonders of the Lord fresh and alive in our hearts lest we forget? What is our hearts pondering on nowadays, Jesus or ourselves? <><