Standing near the cross were Jesus' mother, and his mother's sister, Mary (the wife of Clopas), and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother standing there beside the disciple he loved, he said to her, "Dear woman, here is your son." And he said to this disciple, "Here is your mother." And from then on this disciple took her into his home. John 19: 25-27 (NLT)
What strength to watch as your son is crucified. To watch as they forced the crown of thorns into His flesh. As they whipped him with chains and tortured Him. To not turn away. To not run away. To not look away. To stay with Him until the end. Mary was strong beyond measure.
Lastly, Mary embodied love; the love of God. We can see this within her opening lines of the hymn she wrote in the Gospel of Luke The Magnificat:
And Mary said, "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, Luke 1: 46-47 (ESV)
Note the purposeful division Mary expresses between her soul and her spirit. One commentary states that when both terms are used simultaneously in Scripture it is to differentiate between our understanding the spirit; and the seat of our affections the soul. Mary wants to be very clear. While her spirit certainly rejoices in her Savior; she has made the conscious decision to magnify the Lord within her affections and emotions. It is within our soul that we often mess things up. That is where our anxieties can develop. Where our doubt can fester. Where our momentary sadness can become worldly depression. The devil can't touch your spirit but he can wreak havoc in your soul. What Mary is teaching us all here is that the best way to combat those very human tendencies is to magnify God from within our emotional base. The dictionary defines magnify as:
To cause to seem greater or more important
The truth is that when we find ourselves in times of trouble we can often do the opposite of what Mary is suggesting. We actually diminish the God we serve. Something comes up against us and suddenly God doesn't seem as big as He needs to be to help us overcome what we are facing. Whatever mountain we find ourselves facing suddenly changes our perspective on God. The mountain appears bigger.
One of the best examples of this
in the Bible is when the spies were sent out into
