FAithful Mary
Acts 1:14
14 All these were constantly devoting themselves to prayer, together with certain women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, as well as his brothers.
During this Lenten season we have walked through the life of Jesus based on events with his mother, Mary. We have looked at seven incidents that brought emotional pain to Mary, fulfillment of the promise from Simeon that “a sword would pierce you own soul, too.” Unlike our season of Lent, Mary’s journey with Jesus was not a seven-week ride. It was 30+ years from Bethlehem to Nazareth and finally to Jerusalem and the cross.
After Jesus is put in the tomb, and after his resurrection, the Bible is silent about Mary except for one verse. In Acts, before the Risen Christ is taken into heaven, he tells his disciples to return to Jerusalem and wait for the coming baptism of the Holy Spirit. We calculate this waiting period to be about ten days from Jesus’ ascension to the day of Pentecost. But they did not know it would be only ten days. Ten long days. How long should they wait?
Should Peter and the others return to Galilee, their home, and start fishing again? Should Mary and the brothers of Jesus return to Nazareth and restart their carpenter business?
They didn’t. They stayed and prayed. And prayed and prayed. The leader of this prayer effort was Mary, at least for the women disciples of Jesus. It is not difficult to see her in a larger role, as the leader of both men and women as they coupled their waiting with prayer.
But what did they pray about? The text does not say, but we can posit that they prayed for the powerful, miraculous gift of the Holy Spirit. After all, Jesus said he must go away so a second Advocate could come, the Comforter who would never leave them. And since Pentecost, that has been the reality of the people of God, the Church of the Holy Spirit, the answer to the prayers of faithful Mary.
The long, long night is past, the morning breaks at last;
And hushed the dreadful wail and fury of the blast,
As o’er the golden hills the day advances fast!
The Comforter has come!
Acts indicates that Mary and the other women disciples were there on the day of Pentecost, witnesses to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. As Joel had foretold, “your sons and your daughters will prophesy.” Mary was surely among those receiving the Spirit on this epic day. Her faithfulness and prayers were answered. The long, long night had passed! Jesus was alive! He was still keeping his promises! He had not forgotten them (or us)!
Let every Christian tongue proclaim the joyful sound:
The Comforter has come!
As we celebrate the resurrection of Christ, let us remember that it led to the inauguration of a new era in human history, when God’s Son gave God’s Spirit to men and women as he promised.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, you kept your promise to remember us. May we rest deeply in your love and grace as we remember you and place our hope in our future resurrection to be with you forever. Amen
Journaling Questions:
Why is the resurrection of Jesus our “living hope?” How have you drawn hope from this?
Think of women you have known who were great “prayer warriors.” What have you learned from them? How can you model their prayer lives?
