Scars

These last few weeks, we have been looking at the birth and life of Jesus through the eyes of his mother Mary. In the Gospels, the last place we find Mary in the life of her son Jesus was at his cross. I can only imagine her heartache at that moment.

Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Dear woman, here is your son,” and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home. ~John 19:25-27

Why did Jesus place his mother in the care of one of his disciples? Mary had other children who could have taken care of her; we know of at least four brothers mentioned in the Gospel of Mark. Quite possibly though, the reason was as simple as this: the brothers of Jesus were not yet believers. We know that later his brother James becomes a believer and even a leader in the early church, but at this point apparently they do not accept him as Messiah.

We can only imagine the thoughts of Mary now. No mother wants to see her child suffering in pain; we would rather take on the pain ourselves. But what Jesus did, only he could do. He was the sacrifice, there could be no other.

As parents, one of the most difficult things Stuart and I ever had to do was place our son in the care of someone else. Scheduled for surgery at three months of age, I still remember the moment I placed my tiny baby into the arms of the nurse. She turned around and went through the doors to the surgery. And we turned around and went through the doors to the waiting room.

A few hours later, the surgeon returned and described the procedure to us. Wesley was recovering upstairs in a room and the nurse would bring us there shortly. However, first the doctor said something I would never forget: You need to prepare yourself, because when you go upstairs you are not going to see a pretty baby. He's attached to monitors, he has stitches, his face is swollen, and his arms are restrained to protect himself. Just prepare yourself.

Well, no doctor should tell a mother that her baby is not pretty! After our conversation, I clearly remember taking the elevator to Wesley's floor and standing in the entrance way to his room. And there he was, such a tiny baby in such a big hospital bed. Nevertheless, Stuart and I were not dismayed at the way our son looked, quite the contrary we were amazed at his transformation. We were in awe of the doctor's expertise and appreciative of the Lord's guiding hand.

In the months and years to come my only concern as a mom, were the prominent scars on my son's lip. I was concerned that when he got older and started school the other children would tease him. You know how mothers are, we are protective of our young. One particular day, while sharing my concern with the Lord  about my son's scars, I heard his gentle voice say to me, Wendy, I know how you feel. My son has scars too.

My son has scars too. I'll never forget those words. It still amazes me to think that Jesus, in his resurrected, glorified body, chose to keep the scars of humanity. But he did. We all have scars. Some may be more evident than others, but you can't get through this life without some battle wounds. Some scars are emotional, some scars are physical, but we all possess them one way or another. I have realized over the years though that scars are an evidence of two things. Obviously, scars are the evidence that a hurt has taken place, but scars are also the evidence that a healing has occurred.

My son has scars. You and I have scars. However, let us never forget that our Savior has scars too. He understands our wounds and carries the reminders with him always.

Next time: Finding her place