He quoted scripture with great authority. Even the men of the Sanhedrin were amazed at His teachings, but He was beginning to stir up the people. Mary remembered some of the prophesies that were passed down from Isaiah regarding the Messiah and it must’ve become crystal clear to her by this time, that Jesus was the fulfillment of those words. Isaiah had referred to the Messiah as a “man of sorrows.”
“He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces. He was despised, and we esteemed him not.” Isaiah 53:3-5
As a mother, the thought of your child being rejected, especially by their peers, is heartbreaking. Even though Jesus was now a grown man, I’m certain it caused her heartstrings to twinge as she recalled this prophesy.
Jesus had stirred up the crowds with His teachings and the leaders of the church in Jerusalem didn’t like it one bit. They’d set their thoughts on ways to trip Him up – to make Him look foolish – to humiliate Him. Soon the plans would involved silencing Him forever, but for this brief time, Jesus was bringing a message of hope to these sin sick masses. Not only was He feeding them physically, but they were dining on exquisite words of promise and salvation – words they had not heard before.
Mary knew this was just the beginning. He would be labeled a heretic, a brother of Satan, a demon Himself. He would suffer at the hands of the vicious Roman government. His body would succumb to the torture of the lash, the spit from venomous mouths of His enemies and scorn from His very own relatives.
At the moment, she couldn’t bear to let those thoughts come into her mind, but she never lost sight of them. She knew it would have to come to pass for the prophetic words to be fulfilled.
Still this was her Son – the child she nurtured for so many years – the One who sat at her feet as she told the stories of God’s eternal love and promises – the One she fed, cuddled and bandaged scuffs and bruises. She looked into His brown eyes and saw a reflection of herself, but also the Father that had conceived this boy – Holy God.
She knew then that He indeed was about His Father’s business.
