NOTE: THESE CHAPTERS ARE NOW AVAILABLE IN A MUCH IMPROVED, EXPANDED BOOK, "A SWORD SHALL PIERCE YOUR SOUL" from FriesenPress
Months passed and Mary saw little of her son. Neighbours, friends and sometimes visiting relatives would share snippets of information. It seems one of Jesus’ followers, the young fisherman John Mary remembered from the wedding at Cana, had family in Jerusalem and that’s where Jesus and his friends would stay when he went there. At least he has somewhere to go when he’s in Jerusalem, thought Mary.
Then Mary heard some news that made her take notice. Apparently, Jesus now also had some women who followed along with him. This was something new. Traveling teachers usually only had male students. Indeed, many were now referring to Jesus as ‘rabbi,’ ‘Teacher.’ Mary tried to learn who these women followers were and what had brought that about.
It turned out that there were actually quite a few of these female devotees. Some, Mary discovered, were women who had been healed of evil spirits and disabilities. One name in particular figured prominently in this group: another Mary. However, this Mary had quite a different background. She was from Magdala on the west shore of the Sea of Galilee, south of Capernaum. Evidently Jesus had cast out seven demons from her. No wonder she has become a follower of my son, Mary thought – to be freed from all that. Perhaps just as surprising was that another woman named Joanna, the wife of Cuza, King Herod’s household manager, was in this group. Some of these women, such as Joanna and another named Susanna were women of means. It seems they provided for Jesus and his followers out of their own resources. Again, Mary was pleased to learn that, in some way, her son was being looked after and having his material needs met.
A couple of years passed by. Mary continued to hear of Jesus’ teaching and his miracle working. Jesus had on a couple of occasions actually miraculously fed the crowds that gathered around him. I guess I need not worry about his getting enough to eat, thought Mary wryly. She had also heard that on a couple of occasions Jesu was supposed to have raised people from the dead. That was something to ponder. Who but God had such power? Some of these had just died when Jesus intervened but then she heard an even more amazing story. She had heard of Jesus friends in Bethany, where pilgrims often stayed when they went to the feasts in Jerusalem. The man of the household had died. Jesus had not arrived until 4 days later, and he had called the man, Lazarus was his name, from the tomb. He had come out walking! Mary could not help but wonder where this was all headed. What was Jesus ultimate goal?
But Mary also continued to hear tales of Jesus’ confrontations with the religious leaders. She was beginning to pick up that some were so disturbed by Jesus’ claims that they wanted to kill him. When she heard that, Mary was determined to find Jesus and see for herself that he was alright. She needed to get some answers too. How far was Jesus taking this?
Mary knew Jesus and his followers had gone to Passover so she decided to go to Jerusalem and find them. She went to her parents’ home place and was warmly received. It was some time since they had seen her. Her Uncle Benjamin and Aunt Hannah also came over. They told her that when Jesus was in Jerusalem he spent time at the temple preaching and sometimes doing miracles. Here, he often also got caught up in debates with the religious leaders, the lawyers of the Torah, the scribes and even the Pharisees. Just like when he was twelve, Mary thought. Apparently, he had been quite hard on the Pharisees in one of his speeches. Mary wondered if he was being fair. People generally looked up to the Pharisees as models of law-abiding behaviour, the Law of Moses, that is. Mary determined to go to the temple to find Jesus.
It was not hard to find Jesus. Mary just had to go where the crowds were thickest. She wanted more than ever to run forward and talk to her son but she held back. She saw his young followers with him, hanging on every word. She gathered that the women with them were the ones he had heard about who helped provide his support for the group.
Jesus was busy teaching and Mary felt she could not disturb him. However, she did edge closer until she was next to some of the women. They were clustered more around the fringe of the crowd that was thronging Jesus. She greeted some of them and began to make their acquaintance. They seemed like sincere and caring persons.
Eventually Mary mustered up enough courage to tell the women who she really was. She added how long it was since she had seen him and immediately wished she had not said that. “Oh,” they said, “We have to tell Jesus you’re here so you can talk with him.”
“That would be wonderful,” Mary replied, “but, really, I will be happy just to join you for a while. Let Jesus do what he needs to do.”
“You are a wonderful mother,” the other Mary told her. “No wonder Jesus is such a loving person.”
“We really think He is our long-awaited Messiah.” At that Mary’s ears perked up. Did that not sound like what the angel and the prophets had told her years ago. Now others were coming to that conclusion. This was truly astonishing.
“Yes, one of the women chimed in, “Last first day of the week we really saw what it would be like if he were our king, as the Messiah will be.”
“What do you mean,” asked Mary.
“Oh, have you not heard?” they asked. “Jesus got hold of a donkey colt. Some of us put blankets on it and Jesus mounted it to go back into Jerusalem. Seeing Jesus like that really drove the crowds wild. They began to tear palm and other branches from the roadside and wave them before him as he rode. They even threw their cloaks down in front of him. Just like people do for a king! All the while, they were shouting, ‘Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Blessed is the King of Israel.’ Some of the religious leaders were not impressed. They tried to tell Jesu to use his influence to tell the crowds to stop but it was to no avail. We know that some of them really want to catch him and put him on trial for blasphemy and treason. “
“Blasphemy?” Mary said incredulously. She had never herd Jesus say a bad word in his life.
“Yes, Jesus talks about God as if Yahweh is his father and sometimes also makes it sound as if he is equal with God. No person can really make that claim but then, we have never seen or heard of anyone like Jesus either.”
Mary’s heart skipped a beat when she heard about the intention of the authorities. If only Jesus had listened to her a long time ago. But he always seemed to know what he was doing, what he believed he need to do, and she had learned a long time ago that there was no stopping him.
Mary was glad she had made the acquaintance of these women. She could feel their support for Jesus, even for her. The women asked if she and her family had a place to stay. She thanked them for their concern, their hospitality, and reassured them she was looked after. She told them where she was staying; at relatives. Then she bade her new friends good evening, Happy Passover, and went to join her family at parents’ home.
Then came the day to celebrate the Passover feast. Mary was told that Jesus had instructed his young men on preparing a place for them and everything had fallen into place just as he had predicted. Yes, Mary thought, ‘He always seems to know what’s going to happen.’
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