Luke 2:35, “A sword will pierce through your own soul also…”

Having walked many dusty paths in Nazareth and around the Sea of Galilee, I have often tried to imagine what it was like 2,000 years ago. While Mary was not and is not who Catholicism has made her, she was a lady chosen by God to give birth to the Savior of the world, a Savior she acknowledged that she needed herself.

On the day Jesus was dedicated, Simeon said the path ahead for her would not be easy. A sword would pierce her heart and soul. Like all loving moms, she comforted Jesus as a baby when He would cry. She wiped away His tears when He would fall, cleaning His skinned knees. We don’t know how often she may have traveled with Jesus when He began His ministry, but she was probably there when they tried to kill Him by throwing Him off a cliff in Nazareth. She often saw the hatred the Pharisees and Sadducees had for Him. Mary was there when even those who considered Jesus their friend began to wonder if He had lost His mind.

She was there when they drove nails through His hands and feet on an old rugged cross. All but one of the disciples had abandoned Him. They were not there when He cried out in anguish, when a spear opened a gash in his side, but Mary was. That sword was piercing deep into her heart and soul.

The latter part of verse 35 says that people’s response to Jesus will reveal the thoughts of their hearts, and it always does. Those who accept Jesus love Him; those who hate Him try to destroy Him. When Mary said yes to the will of the Father, she could not have imagined what it was going to be like, but she said yes. The Christmas miracle began when she said yes.