Bitter And Sweet

Bitter and Sweet

Mary

Read: Luke 2:21-35

One year, after we trimmed our Christmas tree, my husband and two young sons went off to watch television. I sat alone in the living room and stared at the twinkling lights, sobbing quietly. Soon my younger son, almost three, wandered into the room. “Why are you crying?” Kevin asked, with a look of concern. We had recently moved four hundred miles from our families, and I explained that I felt sad that we couldn’t celebrate Christmas with the grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. My son put a hand on each side of my damp face and pulled it close. “Don’t cry, Mommy. Jesus loves you, and I’m here for you!”

Even on the first Christmas, Mary’s joy must have been mingled with sorrow. Although she joyfully received the news that she had been chosen to deliver the Messiah, at some point she must have been struck with the horror of what her pregnancy would mean. Later, when the couple took Jesus to the Temple to be dedicated to God, they marveled at Simeon’s words. The old man proclaimed that Jesus would make salvation possible for the entire world, not just the Jewish people. Then he told Mary that she would experience grief like a sword piercing her soul. She must have remembered Simeon’s bittersweet prophecy many times as she witnessed her son being rejected, unjustly persecuted, and finally crucified.

Since we live in a world marred by sin, our joy will always be mixed with sorrow. The relationships that bring us the greatest happiness also can cause us the most grief. Even in the best of times, we live with the possibility of loss and tragedy. We will know pure, untainted joy only when we get to heaven. Then all the bitterness and sorrow of our earthly lives will fall away and be replaced by the sweetness of Jesus’ presence.

[Jesus said,] “You have sorrow now, but I will see you again; then you will rejoice, and no one can rob you of that joy.”

John 16:22