By Emily Mendez
Connecting Faith and Life
Mary has always been an impressive mother to me. Making the journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem by walking and riding on a donkey for 80-90 miles while nine months pregnant is impressive. Of course, after all that walking and bouncing on a donkey, no wonder she gave birth when they arrived in Bethlehem! Giving birth in such challenging circumstances is also quite impressive. We have lots of beautiful artwork of Mary, and often, she is depicted as soft and dainty, but do not be fooled; Mary was strong and tough!
Mary’s life brings the Season of Advent to life. This season is a time of celebration and preparation for the three-fold coming of Jesus. First, the historical coming of Jesus as a baby in Bethlehem. Second, the coming of Jesus right now in our lives. And, finally, the future second coming of Jesus.
Even before the Angel Gabriel appeared to Mary, she would have known of the promise of the Messiah. The prophets foretold a savior that was to come. One of the purposes of Matthew in writing his Gospel was to show how Jesus is the Messiah that the prophets foretold in the Old Testament. Matthew quotes from Isaiah 7:14, “Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel, which means ‘God is with us’” (1:23). Matthew 2:4-6 shows that Jesus fulfills the prophecy from Micah 5:1-3: “He inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. They said to him, ‘In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it has been written through the prophet: ‘And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; since from you shall come a ruler, who is to shepherd my people Israel.’” God’s people, including Mary, would have learned these prophecies from the Old Testament and lived with a sense of anticipation that God was going to act somehow for their good. Jesus assumed humanity in Mary, entered our time and place, and fulfilled the promises God made to his people through the prophets. This is the historical coming of Jesus, the Incarnation.
As Christians today, we possess the same anticipation that God is acting for our good. What do we hope God will do? Take some time this Advent season to sit with this question and go deeper. Go beyond the superficial hopes of the holidays for the presents to be loved, the turkey to be perfectly cooked and for someone to make Grandma’s special Christmas cookies. Go spiritually deeper and listen to God’s promises and hear them speak to the desires and aches of the heart. Hope comes from listening to him. What does it truly mean to have a savior that is, “God with Us”? Have we really surrendered our lives to Jesus and allowed him to show his face to others through us? Here, we meet Jesus as he comes to us today and incarnate his presence as we show his love to those around us.
The third way we prepare for the coming of Jesus during Advent is for his second coming. At Jesus’ ascension, the angels told the disciples: “This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven” (Acts 1:11). Jesus’ second coming will include the final judgment, the resurrection of the body and the redemption of all creation. We do not know when this will be, but we do know Jesus told us to be ready. We can hope for this fullness of redemption and live in a state of grace so we are prepared when it comes.
Mary beholds the three-fold coming of Jesus in a unique way. She learned the hope for a Messiah in her childhood. She literally delivered the Savior to the world and she, by her assumption body and soul into heaven, participates in the resurrection of the body already. She has gone where we hope to follow. She has done what we hope to do. She is an impressive mother and we can journey with her this Advent to go deeper with her Son, Jesus.