CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Each year, Joseph and Mary travelled from their home in Nazareth,
to Jerusalem, to celebrate the Feast of the Passover. This Feast
was held on the 14th day of April, to commemorate the Exodus of
the Israelites from Egypt, where they had been in bondage for
over 400 years. God commissioned Moses to lead His people to
freedom. The Lord said, "I have indeed seen the misery of my
people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their
slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I
have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and
to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land,
a land flowing with milk and honey - "1
I was really encouraged to read here of God's concern for, and
interest in His people. He said, "I have SEEN their misery;
I have HEARD their cry; I am CONCERNED about them." He not
only knew their condition, but He did something about it. He
said, "I HAVE COME DOWN to rescue them."
The means God used to deliver His people greatly interested
me. His instructions were very clear. They were to take a lamb,
sacrifice it and apply its blood to the doorposts of their
houses. The Lord promised that when He passed through the land
that night, bringing judgement upon the Egyptians because of
their sin, no harm would befall those who had applied the blood
of the lamb. In fact, He told them; " When I see the blood,
I will pass over you."2
It was so vitally important that the lamb be sacrificed and
the blood applied, for this was their only protection from the
judgement which was about to come. The people needed to exercise
FAITH. They were required to believe that God's PROVISION was
sufficient to protect them. The BLOOD applied, was the means God
provided for their deliverance. They were also required to
believe God's PROMISE. He said, "When I see the blood, I
will pass over you."
This event pointed forward to the time when God would provide
His own Lamb, His beloved Son, whose blood would be shed for us,
to deliver us from slavery to sin. God SAW our misery; He HEARD
our cry; He was CONCERNED, and He CAME DOWN to rescue us. Yes,
God came down, in the Person of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ,
to deliver us.
Pointing to Jesus, John the Baptist said, "Behold, the
Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!"3 But this
precious lamb had to be sacrificed. His blood had to be shed,
for, "Without the shedding of blood there is no
forgiveness."4
The link between the sacrifice of the lamb and the shedding of
his blood on the night of the Passover in Egypt, and the death of
Jesus on the cross, was highlighted by the apostle Paul, when he
wrote," - Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us -
"5 The apostle Peter wrote, "For you know that it was
not with perishable things such as silver and gold that you were
redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your
forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb
without blemish or defect."6 Jesus Himself said, "For
this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for
the remission of sins."7
As I examined the Scriptures, I could see that the blood of
Christ, our Passover Lamb was, in fact, shed at Calvary. I could
also see that each one of us needs to ask ourselves some very
important questions, such as; "Has the Blood been
APPLIED?" In other words, "Have the merits of death of
Christ been applied to my life? Have I, by faith, personally
availed of the provision God has made for me? Do I believe God
when He says in His Word that Christ, the Lamb of God, shed His
blood on my behalf, and took upon Himself all the punishment due
to my sin? Do I believe God when He says that Christ died as my
substitute, in other words, that He died in my place? Do I
believe that Christ suffered Hell on the cross, so that I need
never go to Hell? Am I depending upon what Christ has done on my
behalf, rather than depending upon what I, or the Church to which
I belong can do for the salvation of my soul?"
It was now crystal clear to me that those who applied the
blood on the night of the Passover exercised FAITH, believing
this was their ONLY possible means of deliverance. I could see in
God's Word that, in order to be delivered from the penalty and
power of sin, each one of us is required to exercise FAITH, also.
In other words, Salvation is by Faith.
Yes, this is what the Passover Feast was all about. It was an
annual reminder of the deliverance God provided for those who
exercised FAITH in His Provision and His Promises.
When Jesus was twelve years old, He accompanied Joseph and
Mary to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover. It was a very
joyful occasion, as the people celebrated their deliverance from
bondage. But how different things would be some years later, as
Mary would once again visit Jerusalem at Passover time. On that
occasion, it would be, for her, not a time of joyful celebration,
but one of intense sorrow. As a broken - hearted mother, Mary
would stand weeping at the foot of a cross, watching her Son, the
Passover Lamb, dying in agony, as He shed His blood for sinners.
But this day as she, along with her husband and Son, made
their way to Jerusalem for the celebrations, Mary's heart was
surely overflowing with the same joy and gratitude which had
caused her to proclaim during her visit to her cousin Elizabeth:
"My soul glorifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God
my Saviour."
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
There was a lot of unemployment in the Thurles area when my
grandparents' children were growing up. Times were very hard, and
most of the school - leavers had to travel to England to find
work. This was always a time of mixed emotions. The sadness of
the separation of parents and child had to be balanced against
the reality that there was now one less mouth to feed, and also
that the youngster would send some money back from England each
week, to help those still at home. As their girls, one by one,
settled in England, Jack and Mary ensured that regular contact
was maintained. Letters were regularly exchanged and each week
they sent a copy of the local newspaper, The Tipperary Star, to
their daughters. Knowing where their children were at all times,
and that they were safe and well, was of the utmost importance to
my grandparents.
This issue came home to me very forcibly as I read in the
Scriptures the account of how the Blessed Virgin lost her Son.
When the Feast of the Passover had been celebrated, those who
had travelled to Jerusalem left the city and began the journey
home. Joseph and Mary presumed Jesus was travelling in the
company of their relatives and friends. They did not realise that
He had remained on in Jerusalem. Having travelled a full day's
journey, Joseph and Mary searched for Jesus, enquiring from their
relatives if He was in their company. When they did not find Him,
they returned to Jerusalem. They searched for three days before
they found Him. He was in the Temple, astonishing the teachers by
His wisdom. Mary asked Him, "Son, why have you treated us
like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for
you."1 Mary, the distraught mother, had given three days
searching for her Son, worrying about Him. Where was He? Was He
safe? Was He in danger? Would he know how to look after Himself?
What would He do about food? Where would he sleep? Those must
have been the longest three days of Mary's life. I'm sure there
was not much sleep for her during that time. She must have been
under severe strain and pressure.
The great relief which Mary must have felt when she finally
found her Son, was mingled with hurt. Their joy at finding the
child didn't prevent His mother from questioning Him concerning
the whole incident. She wanted to know WHY it had happened. The
child's answer to Mary's question was remarkable! "Why were
you searching for me?", he asked. "Didn't you know I
had to be in my Father's house?"2 Jesus' words, "DIDN'T
YOU KNOW?", really made me think. It was very clear that
Mary did NOT know where Jesus was, when He was separated from
them. It was also very clear that she did NOT know that He must
be about His Father's business.
This seemed so strange to me for, when we were growing up, we
were of the opinion that the Blessed Virgin knew everything. We
were given the impression that she knows each person, and each
individual situation intimately, and knows the best remedy for
each difficulty. So, as far as I was concerned at that time, it
made a lot of sense to pray to, and depend upon such a person.
Yet, this is a completely different picture of Mary to the one we
read of in the Scriptures. For if Mary knew everything, and was
perfect, she would never have lost her Son. She would have known
where He was at all times. She would not have become concerned or
worried. She would not have had to question Him, or to ask Him to
explain what He was doing. She would have understood perfectly
what He was doing and saying.
The Word of God presents Mary as a REAL person, who had real
problems in her life. She is never presented in the Scriptures as
a Sinless Goddess, or as someone who is so Holy that the ordinary
person in the street cannot identify with her. On the contrary!
Mary is presented as one who faced many of the everyday problems
and difficulties of life.
For example, she was asked to lay aside, as it were, all her
own plans concerning her future. She had to face the difficulty
of telling her fiancé that she was pregnant, but not with his
child. She was confronted with the possibility of being shunned
by her own family, and also by Joseph's family. She faced the
possibility of being accused by friends, neighbours, and the
Religious Leaders, of being an immoral woman, even an adulteress.
She had to live with the fact that many would claim that, because
Joseph was not the father of her child, her Son was, therefore,
illegitimate. She underwent the trauma of giving birth in a
stable, and of having nowhere to lay her new - born baby but in a
feeding trough for animals. She knew what it was to have to flee
from her home, and even from her native country, because of a
threat to her child's life. She had first - hand experience of
what it means for a family to have to live as refugees in a
foreign land. The nightmare of losing her child in a crowd, and
of not knowing where He was for three days, was something Mary
would never forget. Yes, here was a REAL person.
The fact that Mary was an ordinary person in no way takes away
from the fact that God greatly blessed her. She was especially
chosen by Him not only to give birth to His Son, but also to rear
Him. As her cousin Elizabeth said, she was 'Blessed AMONG women.'
Mary herself never claimed to be Blessed ABOVE women.
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