Today was the day! The last name on the dial of the time machine was Mary, the mother of Jesus! MJ said, “This should be a good visit. At least we do not have to worry about Mary bringing a hammer or a sword!” Precious added, “I wonder if she will be pregnant with the baby Jesus or maybe she will bring the baby Jesus with her! That would be so awesome!” The Professor said, “We should make this a special occasion. We should invite her to have a meal with us!” MJ shook his head and said, “We cannot do that! Joseph took our table back in time to fix it!” The Professor said “Ooops!”
Precious turned the dial on the time machine to Mary, and MJ pushed the button. Nothing happened for about 30 seconds, then the booth began to shake like a mosquito who had too much caffeine, there was the sound of thunder, and the air was filled with flying swords!
The Professor said, “Ooops!” and tried to hide under the table, but there was no table, so he hid on top of the time machine booth! MJ and Precious dodged the swords and then laughed at the funny sight of the Professor perched on top of the booth!
The door of the booth opened, and a middle-aged woman came out and wailed, “Oh my soul feels like it has been pierced by a sword!”
The Professor lost his balance and fell off the booth and landed flat on his face in front of Mary. The Professor said, “Ooops!” Precious and MJ ran to Mary and asked, “Are you wounded? Do you need a doctor? Should we call an ambulance? Who did this to you?”
Mary helped the Professor get up off the floor and then told MJ and Precious that she did not have any physical wounds, it just felt like her soul had been pierced by a sword. They all sat down on the remaining chairs. The Professor apologized to Mary because they could not offer her a meal because they did not have a table! Mary said that she did not need to eat, she just wanted to tell them her story.
Mary told them that she and Joseph took the baby Jesus to God’s temple in Jerusalem when it was time to dedicate Him to the Lord, and while they were there, they met a very old man named Simeon. Simeon spoke to them a message from God.
“I have seen Your salvation, which You have prepared for all people. He is a light to reveal God to the nations, and He is the glory of your people Israel!”
Then Simeon looked straight at Mary and said to her:
“This child is destined to cause many in Israel to fall, and many others to rise. He has been sent as a sign from God, but many will oppose Him. As a result, the deepest thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your very soul.”
Mary told them that the words of Simeon had proved to be very true. It was an incredible privilege to raise the Son of God, but she had been hurt very deeply in the process. It did feel like her soul had been pierced by a sword!
Joseph had died much too soon, and Mary was left alone with Jesus and the rest of their children. Mary did not know how she could go on, she did not think she had the strength to face each day, but Jesus was right there to help her! It was incredible! The Son of God was right there in her own house, and His very presence helped her get through each day. It still hurt, but He provided the strength to go on.
When Jesus was 30 years old, He left home and began to travel throughout the country teaching people about God. At first, Mary stayed home, and she found that she missed Jesus terribly. She had heard that Jesus was making the religious leaders very angry and she was afraid for His safety. So, she and her other sons went to find Jesus and tell Him to take a break and come home. They arrived when Jesus was teaching a crowd of people, and they sent a message to Him that they wanted to talk to Him. Jesus did not stop teaching, He just looked at the people and asked this question:
“Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” Then He pointed to His disciples and said, “Look, these are my mother and brothers. Anyone who does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother, and sister and mother!”
Once again it felt like a sword pierced Mary’s soul! It hurt her when Jesus said those words, but then Mary realized that she did not get special privileges because she was the mother of Jesus. She needed to follow Jesus and be saved by Him, just like everybody else. Mary began to travel with Jesus and His disciples. Mary took care of all of them and did what she could to provide for their needs, but most of all she spent time listening to the teaching of Jesus and learning from Him. The pain that felt like a sword piercing her soul brought incredible blessings to her life! There was a lot of pain in this journey with Jesus, but also a lot of joy!
But now the sword was plunging even deeper into her soul! Jesus was teaching the people that He was going to Jerusalem and while He was there, they were going to kill Him on a cross like a common criminal! The disciples did not want to believe this, and they did not understand why Jesus would even think of allowing this to happen. Mary did not want to believe it either, but deep in her soul she felt the pain that Simeon had predicted when Jesus was a baby, and deep in her soul she knew that Jesus was going to die on a cross. Mary did not understand why her baby, the Son of God, should die. It did not make any sense at all! Jesus also said some other things, but Mary was so upset that she could not understand what He was talking about. Mary sat there and cried and cried! This journey with Jesus hurt worse than ever, but now the joy was gone! How could she live without Jesus?
Precious went and sat by Mary and put her arms around her to comfort her while she was crying. Precious told Mary that there was still great joy because Jesus did not stay dead! The words of Jesus that Mary did not understand when she was so upset were very important words! Jesus told His followers that He would not stay dead! After three days He would rise from the dead. The reason He had to die on the cross was so that He could pay the price for all the sins ever committed. The Father in heaven accepted the sacrifice of Jesus and proved it by raising Him from the dead three days later! Jesus gave hope and joy to all people who are willing to believing in Him, ask Him to forgive their sins, and trust Him with their life.
The Professor opened his Bible and said he had three passages that summed up what Mary had learned in her years with Jesus.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek His will in all you do, and He will show you which path to take. (Proverbs 3:5,6)
So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time He will lift you up in honor. Give all your worries and cares to God, for He cares about you. (I Peter 5:6,7)
That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.
Mary looked at peace and thanked the Professor and the kids for their words of encouragement. Mary then surprised them! She took some small rolls of bread out of the pocket of her robe. She said that she always carried bread with her in case Jesus or one of the disciples got hungry. She said that they could share this small meal together and they did not need a table!
They stood up while they were eating and Mary noticed something. She said, “This is strange, when Jesus was a little boy I had two chairs exactly like these chairs in my house, and I also had a table that matched the chairs. They did not look like any other chairs or tables that I had ever seen. I asked Joseph where he had gotten them, and he said that he had gotten them from some friends to fix. He said that he needed to return them to his friends, but he did not know how to get to them.” The Professor said, “Ooops!”