Stuffing

Easter story

I can't believe it's been almost 2 months since I've posted here. A lot has gone on but a lot is difficult to talk about. It's spring. It's Easter. I hope to start fresh.

I read the Easter story with James this morning.
One part that struck me that I hadn't seen before was when Jesus gives his mother away to John. John is her new son. I understand that part of it was the culture that the elderly should be taken care of by someone. But Mary can't have been that old- if she had Jesus around 14 or 16 she would only be in her mid-to-late 40s. She had other children to take care of her. She had other children to love. Before today, the gesture made sense but today, it's just not. You can't replace Jesus.
The only thing right now that makes sense was that Jesus was making a spiritual tie between them. That John might understand Mary in ways her other children could not. That Mary could give mothering insight to John. So even though they were not blood related they became spiritually related. That this is possible as humans to have a deep spiritual tie. That Jesus modelled this. That it is something that Jesus valued as important as he was thinking about it while he was on the cross. That it is something that we should value as well.

posted by Aphra @ 4/02/2010 01:45:00 PM