She Survived the Sword of Grief

MARY sank to her knees, her agony too deep for words. Still echoing in her ears was her son’s last outcry as he died after hours of torment. The sky had gone dark at midday. Now the earth shook violently. (Matthew 27:45, 51) It may have seemed to Mary that Jehovah himself was letting the world know that he, more than anyone else, was deeply hurt by the death of Jesus Christ.

As the afternoon light dispelled the gloom shrouding Golgotha, or Skull Place, Mary grieved for her son. (John 19:17, 25) Memories likely flooded her mind. One that may have surfaced was a recollection from some 33 years earlier. When she and Joseph had just presented their precious baby at the temple in Jerusalem, an aged man named Simeon was inspired to utter a prophecy. He foretold great things for Jesus, but he added that one day, Mary would come to feel as if she were run through by a long sword. (Luke 2:25-35) Only now, in this tragic hour, did she fully grasp the truth of those words.

It has been said that the death of one’s own child is the worst, the most painful, loss that a human can face. Death is a terrible enemy, and it wounds all of us in one way or another. (Romans 5:12; 1 Corinthians 15:26) Is it possible to survive such wounds? As we consider Mary’s life from the start of Jesus’ ministry to the time of his death and just beyond, we will learn much about the faith that helped Mary to survive the sword of grief.

Still, what words could convey the pain that Mary felt as she saw her son suffer a terrible death on a torture stake? An eyewitness to the execution, the apostle John, later included this telling detail in his account: During the ordeal, Mary was standing “by the torture stake of Jesus.” Nothing could prevent that loyal, loving mother from standing by her son to the very last. Jesus saw her, and though every breath he drew was an agony and every word he uttered cost him dearly, he spoke. He placed his mother in the care of his beloved apostle John. Since Jesus’ fleshly brothers were still unbelievers, Jesus entrusted Mary to none of them but to a sincere follower of his. Jesus thus showed how important it is for a man of faith to care for those who are his own, especially when it comes to their spiritual needs.​—John 19:25-27.

When Jesus’ death at last came, Mary felt the pain foretold so long ago, the piercing long sword of grief. If we find it hard to imagine the extent of her grief, how much more so are we at a loss to imagine the joy she felt three days later! Mary learned of the greatest of all miracles​—Jesus had been resurrected! And her joy was compounded, for Jesus later appeared to his half brother James, no doubt in private. (1 Corinthians 15:7) That meeting affected James and Jesus’ other half brothers as well. We later learn that they came to believe in Jesus as the Christ. Soon, they were at Christian meetings with their mother, “persisting in prayer.” (Acts 1:14) Two of them, James and Jude, later wrote books of the Bible.