ATC Part 3

At the Cross

Part 3: Mother

NARRATOR:

We now call the mother of the deceased.

Mary: What did the death of your son mean to you?

Mother

No mother ever thinks it will end this way. A son should give you hope for the future. Hope that the values you've taught him will be passed on . Hope that in your old age there will be someone there to care for you.

Jesus gave me all of those. You couldn't have asked for a better son . . . never any problem as a child.

When the angel told me that He would be born, I was young. I didn't understand just what was going on, but I trusted God--I simply accepted God's plan.

But what sort of plan is this? He miraculously sends Jesus into the world--calls Him His own Son; anoints Him with the Holy Spirit; works mighty signs through Him; attracts thousands who had been turned away by the hypocrisy of the religious leaders. And then . . . look at what happened today!

NO! I can't believe it really happened! That Jesus--my firstborn--the kindest, sweetest boy you could ever know! They took Him away from me! My future! The best future the world could ever have. They beat Him, they killed Him! How could God let this happen? . . . Has He rejected us?

I was right there at the cross when He died.

I can't stop thinking--wasn't there something I could have done to prevent Him from going too far? He had such good ideas. He seemed to be so close to God.

I can remember how He started His ministry as He called it. That special power of God flowed from Him. He touched people and they were healed. But more than that, people came to Him and left--well--changed.

They weren't afraid anymore.

People who hadn't dared to look up for years. People who the scribes would never give a chance. People who didn't consider themselves good enough even to go to the synagogue. They could come to Jesus. They would sit by the hour and listen to Him. He made it all seem so simple. It was good news that He gave to people. He talked about forgiveness, and the kingdom of God. And everyone believed they could have a part in it.

They all seemed to love Him at first. He'd sit there on a hillside, or by the well in a village, and the wisdom seemed to flow right out of His mouth. Even the scribes and Pharisees would come and listen sometimes.

But I noticed a change after He fed the five thousand beside the sea of Galilee. It was like after that, He began to see that people were starting to follow Him for the physical benefits instead of the spiritual light He wanted to give them.

He really changed then, and started saying things that confused a lot of people. And even though He had done so many wonderful things, people started to turn away from Him. It was like they forgot all the signs He had performed that showed His power, and they started treating Him like they thought he was crazy.

I didn't really understand everything He was saying either. But what came across to me was that He wasn't going to let people sit on the fence anymore. They had to either accept Him or reject Him. And if they accepted Him, it couldn't be as just a great teacher or healer. They had to accept what He said about Himself.

They had to accept Him as God--or at least as God's Son.

When He said "Before Abraham was, I am," the scribes and Pharisees, and almost everyone else, said that was too much. They had to make a decision right then and there what they were going to do with Jesus. The couldn't just humor Him or ignore Him anymore. They had to respond. Either they had to acknowledge Him as God, or they had to condemn Him for blasphemy.

I wish He had never said that.

"Yea, and a sword will pierce your own soul also," Simeon said when we took Jesus in to dedicate Him at the temple.

I really felt it as I watched more and more people turn against my son.

But nobody could sway Him. Nobody could stop Him. We tried to keep Him away from Jerusalem. We knew there would be trouble here. The scribes and Pharisees wouldn't tolerate Him intruding into their territory. But it was like He knew His destiny. . . . He started talking about His death weeks ago.

I still don't understand it. How could Jesus be God, and still let them do that to Him? God can't die can He? Did God die today? Are the Romans more powerful even than the mighty God of Israel? What am I supposed to believe? Was Jesus really just deluded like so many people said He was?

When He spoke . . . to John . . . asking him to treat me as his mother from now on (how like Jesus--always to be thinking of the needs of someone else) . . . but when He said that, I knew it was over--everything I had dreamed of for my son.

Then, when He cried out "My God, My God, Why have You forsaken Me?" I thought my heart would break. A mother is supposed to be able to help her son. And now not even God could help Him.

Has God utterly forsaken us? Is God dead?

I feel so empty . . .

What is there to . . .

I've got to go. It will be sundown soon. We've got to get the body ready for burial.

Read Part 4 the testimony of Nicodemus

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