Mary’s Lamb; Behold the One Who Takes Away the Sin of the World

“Look the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”

John 1:29

Our last glimpse of Mary interacting with her son is recorded in John 19:26-27. She is near the cross, where he hangs cruciform, held in place by metal stakes, his breathing raspy, heavy with effort. She is being held up herself, by the other Marys, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. Three women clinging to one another as they witness the unfathomable, their Jesus, fulfilling a purpose Mary would not have chosen for her beloved son. Jesus calls to his mother and to John, “Dear woman, here is your son, ” and to John, “Here is your mother.” We know from Acts 1:14 that Mary stays close to the disciples, but we know little else about her days following Jesus’s crucifixion.

This is not the narrative a mother would write for her son. And yet, it is His purposed narrative, to be the Lamb that takes away the sin of the world.

We hold our young people before the LORD in prayer, asking repeatedly for blessings, purpose, direction, for knowledge of the God who knit them in our wombs cadenced by words read out loud to our stretching tummies. We nourish them at the expense of our own bodies, wake with them in the night, hold them when fever glosses over their eyes, secretly hoping to catch whatever it is they have, to know better how to care for them.

Before they are a thought, God assigns each one a narrative. One we would not have the courage to write for them. A narrative that does not look like what we pray for, what we imagine. We desire, with all of our big momma hearts, to have editorial privilege.

What would it be if Mary had interfered with Jesus’s story? What would it be if she had hid Him from the temple, chastised Him for friendships with the unlikely? Coerced Him to bring her home a young woman to be her daughter, to bring her grandchildren? Burdened Him to carry on his father’s business? What would it be if Mary had exploited Jesus’s gifts? Used Him to gain her own honor, line her own pockets?

Oh, do we not want to be the author of their stories, rather than a secondary vessel found somewhere in the first few chapters?

There are mommas behind our Bible heroes, each and every one. Mommas who would not have written the narrative spoken for their children. The mothers of Joseph, Moses, David, Jeremiah, Isaiah and Ezekiel? Daniel? Elijah? Who would ask for the story assigned to these young men? Who would pray, please Father, let my son be thrown into a dry cistern, sold as a slave, exiled from his people, tossed into a pit, bound and on his side for 80 days, hidden by the darkness while hunted by a king? Who would raise her hand for, let my son be breakfast for the lions? What mother would pray her daughter be chosen based on her youthful appearance, to be the queen of a pagan king? A king who already had a hoard of beautiful women stashed in his palace.

The theme continues into the New Testament, men and women called to live a life on the fringe. These men and women bring us great hope, as they are not only purposed by God, but unlike many of our Old Testament heroes, they do not start out pursuing righteousness. The paths that lead these men and women to Jesus are often rocky. They have been in places they have no business being, making poor choices attached to unfavorable consequences. These men and women have pasts. Would you think single fishermen hanging out at the wharf would not have history living as single fishermen? That Peter, who had a tendency to let loose his tongue, did not have a habit of letting loose his tongue? We know about the Samaritan woman at the well, about the woman who anoints Jesus with her tears. Twice we read of an encounter with Jesus that concludes, “now go and sin no more”. Scandalous, the men and women He invites into His story.

These are our children. These are us, living narratives our momma would not have written.

Praise be to the Glorious Redemptive Jesus Christ. Thanks be to the Mary who stepped aside and watched the narrative of her son unfold. A woman who bravely stood nearby as her lamb was slain, making a way for us to be presented as holy and righteous before His Father.

We pray for our children in the early hours before dawn, pulled to our knees by narratives we have no business rewriting. We pray fervently holy words over their lives as recorded in:

• Zephaniah 3:17
• Psalm 18
• Psalm 139
• Jeremiah 29:11
• Isaiah 42:16
• Psalm 90:16
• Romans 14:14
• Ephesian 1:18
• Philippians 1:9-11

On and on…aching with the hope of living to see our children come to adore Jesus Christ, to live in full pursuit of their Maker and their King. Oh momma, it is going to look differently than you have imagined. Fierce warriors called into the Kingdom have pasts, know sweet, precious redemption. They are familiar with adversity, they know the ache of being on their knees, when Jesus Christ, in all mercy moves them past what they are able to do on their own.

We are called to let them live their narrative, not as the author, but as a secondary vessel.

Stay on your knees, sweet momma, for your God hears your prayers and He is faithful to answer them, in His time, in His way, according to His narrative. His own love for your children is so much more than you are able to comprehend, so much so, He left His own Son bare skinned against a tree, splintered, pierced and bleeding, to reconcile yours to Him.

Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

Ephesians 3:20-21