God’s omnipotent-sovereignty often pains and perplexes genuine hearts asunder. Amidst enjoyable Triune attributes, the gentle reception of His’ love and mercy, preferred lighthearted encounters with grace; disarray amasses. Immersed depths desiring empirical-joy eclipse’ contemplation; God crushes, dispensing kindness; God orchestrates seasons of pain which careful divine-hands sculpt an architecture toward future freedom, sovereignly allowing pain and perplexity as proactive structure for future joy and present peace. Future joy and present peace interwoven. Momentary “light-affliction,” as it were, present peace is that which resounds faith in future joy-future joy is that element of faith which learns hope-hope in such a future expectation of future joy teaches the soul divine-peace in present momentary “light-affliction.”
Christmas, an immaculate-conception, epochal incarnation by which God’s omnipotent-sovereignty governs humanities greatest joy, yet not without heartache and crushing. Often, and understandable, the infinitude of joy one experiences in careful contemplation of this most holy incarnational-miracle surpasses general human experience. To behold delicate holiness of incarnational-birth overlooks finitude of Mary’s human-experience. To behold delicate holy incarnation of God in human flesh necessitates reflection upon that which was not overlooked in the sovereign-knitting together of Jesus in the womb of Mary.
As is common to center the birth of Jesus pertaining the journey of Mary and Joseph to Egypt and back, and ultimately the birth of Jesus, lowly in a manger, let us take note of these extremely difficult circumstances. However, authorial intent lies within momentary light affliction-for the joy of the world. Thereby, concluding with Mary’s remarkable response.
THIS MOMENTARY LIGHT AFFLICTION
Mary, mother of Jesus, a typical Jewish women living on the hillside; a normal women with normal aspirations, with normal excitements; a young woman married to Joseph. Joseph, a prototypical Jewish man in ancient Israel; normal aspirations, and regular responsibilities. Who could have known, an “angel of the Lord” would complicate business as usual (Lk. 1:26; Matt. 1:20). Even in incarnation death was required. The story of incarnation according to the first chapters of Matthew and Luke show forth death producing humility. Wait, what!? This beautiful, joy producing moment produced death? Yes! And it was death producing humility by which procured the sins of humankind on Roman-crossbeams. Mary and Joseph had to die a death of humility in their bearing of incarnational glory. Mary, pregnant, yet proclaiming virginity. Joseph, perplexed, seeks to divorce, yielded by an angel. Imagine dinner time talks with the in-laws. “Well, um…Mary is pregnant…um…and she’s still a virgin…I know what you’re thinking…um…but it’s all good [smiling]…an angel visited us both and assured us this is God’s doing...” [awkward silence]. Light momentary-affliction for the joy of the world. Family and friends may have never accepted an angelic report. Friends and family may have settled with the idea of being lied to. Friends and family, as Jesus grew may have concluded Joseph and Mary as arrogant. I mean, an angel of the Lord; really!? At Jesus’ thirteenth birthday-party, the proverbial drunk uncle may have lashed out, wanting this life-long farce to come to its head. One may never know the pain, perplexity, and awkwardness inherited to which accompanied this immaculate-conception. “Come on Mary, really? It sounds like you’re telling us God lay with you.” The Muslims think this way till this day in their argument against the Bible’s incarnational testimony.
This momentary light-affliction for the glory of God. This momentary light-affliction hinged on faith in future promise; future joy. Mary, mother of God, sovereignly, not willingly, inherited a cross of sanctificational-death for the joy of the world. However, one sees in Mary and Joseph a humility often foreign in modernity. Momentary light-affliction empowered their hearts, in faith, a joy in the future promise. Mary, mother of Jesus, said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant…” (Lk. 1:46, 47).
MARY’S REMARKABLE RESPONSE
Gut-wrenching, painstaking-affliction, in the hands of an omnipotent sovereign God, are for the production of faith built peace, hope, and joy. Mary knew, as did the Apostle Paul, “We have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you…So we do not lose heart. Though our outer flesh is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal” (ESV. 2 Cor. 4:7-12, 16-18).
Mary’s remarkable response amidst perplexity shows us the glory of faith produced in the hearts of the children of God. Past-affliction produces future faith; present-affliction stands on faith experienced and hope in the joy of faith to come. Mary’s incarnational experience is one of past, present, and future joy and peace, acquired through light momentary-afflictions. Perplexity and pain rattle the cages of business as usual in the lives of humankind; affliction leads to the cross of Christ; the cross of Christ leads to repentance, forgiveness, healing, and hope in the future promise. Present peace amidst affliction is fruit of faith worked out through affliction. Affliction is the seedbed by which God strengthens faith. The omnipotent sovereign plan of God in allowing affliction through the incarnational-experience of Mary, and Joseph, was not only for the Messiah to come into the world...he chose and created these vessels, for this purpose, as the one’s who not only could handle the task, yet also, for the purpose of showing the glory of God through the sanctificational spiritual life found in death and resurrection in Jesus (2 Cor. 4:13-15). Mary not only gave birth to the greatest joy the world has ever known; furthermore, she displayed the work of grace produced by the mercy of God displayed in the lives of those under the careful, sovereign hand of an omnipotent God who birth’s new life, calls to death that which hinders the love of God, for the purpose of resurrection life unto the glory of God. Remarkably, in Mary, regardless of the pain, confusion, or adversity, there is no bitterness toward God to be found.
CONCLUSION
Obedience to God, in many circumstances, are met with challenges which may afflict the human-soul. Affection-based obedience pursued stirs the devil and the flesh, who are in direct opposition of obedience to Christ fulfilled. Christmas time is often a deep dark hallow which perpetuates dark emotion. Or even worse, the stirring of false joy, which last as long as the seasonal-relevancy of incarnational-joy, only to wither weeks later, as the new-year and its responsibilities presses onward. However, it is in these dark-hallows by which calls deep unto deep; challenging false empirical-emotion stirred by seasonal-relevancy, calling many sons and daughters to the living and eternal hope. God did not ask Mary to be the mother of God (in the flesh), God called her. As Mary made her way through the unknown forest, she was not left to forge the paths alone; no, Mary was supplied with an unwavering grace, a grace which taught peace, love, joy, and hope in the eternal purpose of God. This is the incarnational-hope of Christ birthed in human-hearts for salvation; to live is Christ, to die is gain, and whether seasons are joyous, or “wither” the soul in dark-hallows, one’s eternal hope in Christ is the anchor of grace by which holds the ship steady amidst the storm. Though Mary would one day weep at her son on a cross, she would rejoice at the gaze of her son sitting at the right hand of the majesty of God the Father. Let us not neglect the withering soul, the shallow heart, prone to empirical-comfort; may the incarnation of Jesus lead us onward amidst trial and affliction, may we see Him high and lifted up-may we ever wait in hopeful expectation of His’ great and terrible day of return. May the soul find comfort in the incarnated-God, who has purchased, who does not lose sight of even one sheep. May the darkest of days be met with hope of the eternal-endeavor. To be made like Christ in this age, and to make Him known; unto a glorious age to come, one by which tears are swept away, and the gain in death makes total sense. His’ incarnation came with the sting of death, His’ resurrection set a time and date by which death as an expiration. This light and momentary affliction, this painstaking-sanctification, may it produce tender-hearts, bound together in the hope of Christ. And may our response be as Mary’s; though God’s sovereign-call for her life did not come with a choice, and though it was enclosed with times of confusion, and though it wrought humility beyond measure-her light-momentary affliction is the legacy and testimony of God in Christ, not only to produce a human-Savior, yet also, God’s tangible faithfulness and perfect leadership over the life of a “normal,” little girl from the hillside.
Works Cited
ESV. English Standard Version, The Holy Bible. Wheaton, Ill: Crossway, 2001. Print