DID GOD TORTURE MARY by giving her a baby bump before she got married, dooming her to a life among the Whispering Gossips?
Isn’t it bad enough that women have to go through the agony of childbirth, squeezing out a head of cantaloupe through an opening better suited to a peach?
Pardon me for thinking about this, but my daughter and my daughter-in-law are both pregnant. Daughter due with my Christmas grandson. Daughter-in-law due with my Easter granddaughter.
The coming of a Child is on my mind, too, because I’m teaching Sunday’s Bible study. It’s about Gabriel telling Mary she’s going to get pregnant. And it’s about Mary’s response: she left town to visit relatives a week’s walk away.
Scary childbirth
The idea of my daughter and my daughter-in-law delivering my grandkids scares me. Don’t get me wrong. I’m excited. For them. And for me and my wife…grandparents at last.
But childbirth is an owie.
For them. And for Mary.
The idea that on top of the looming owie, Mary had to carry her baby bump like a billboard that read, “For a good time call…”
Well, it just doesn’t seem like a good and godly thing for God to do to someone.
Come Christmastime, I don’t think my daughter will regret the pain she will have gone through. Ditto my daughter-in-law by Easter.
I suspect, too, Mary regretted nothing about her pregnancy and childbirth.
Given the choice of going baby bumpless or of having to endure the trauma of childbirth and the stigma of a Miss Lucy Goosey, I think Mary would have chosen Jesus.
My head can’t handle the mystery of how God fits into all of this or why he orchestrated the scenes the way he did, or even if he directed all of what happened to Mary.
But I can appreciate Mary for the hardship she endured because of Jesus.
And I’m taking time now to appreciate the people in my life who endured hardship because of me.
Not the hardships they had to face because I made bad decisions, though there was plenty of that. And there will probably be more to come.
Instead, I’m thinking of the hardships they faced because life was the way it was. When you love someone, sometimes you have to take a beating for them.
Mary took a beating for Jesus long before he would take a beating for her and for the rest of us.
From time to time, the people in my life have taken a beating for me.
That’s the way life is for good souls living in a world that’s not always considerate.
For more about Mary
- Pregnant Mary catches first bus out of town
- Mary’s Song: I took it personal
- Who’s Who & Where’s Where in the Bible, pages 306-307
- “Baby Jesus, from Bethlehem to Egypt,” A Quick Guided Tour Through the Bible, pages 155-159
- “Mary and Joseph Engaged,” Understanding Jesus, pages 30-43
Free books for Christmas
I’ve got some fresh, giveaway copies of A Quick Guided Tour Through the Bible.
They are not for you. They are for someone you know.
If you’re reading this, you probably know what kind of easy-reading Bible background books I write. If you know of someone who might find this book helpful, but who wouldn’t be able to afford it or who probably wouldn’t bother buying a book like this, shoot me an email with their name and a sentence about why you’d like me to send them a free copy.
Once I get the list together, I’ll get back to as many of you as possible and I’ll ask for mailing addresses.
I’ll send out as many free copies as I can, in time for Christmas.
No fair asking for freebie copies for yourself this time. Today we’re thinking of the other guy. Or gal.
Really liked your blog on this topic… “I was born to serve,”as the character from Francine Rivers’ book, A voice in the Wind, tells her male pursuer as she responds to his anger of rejection. I just read Esther in the Old Testament as well, and I know God is reminding me over and over to just take injustice with a smile and keep on keeping on!! Thank you and Merry Christmas.
Thanks Heidi. Peace to you.