Have you ever had a child in such peril
That the axis of your inner world tips sideways
Your eyes dilate till the light burns them
Your breathing comes in painful gasps…
And then the wrenching sobs that start
Right about now – this was Mary’s world.
The prophesied sword that would pierce her soul – did.
Right about now “It is finished”
– His earthly life
– His dying
– The righteous requirements of a law from before time began.
Done.
Right about now
there came the darkness of a blood moon.
Right about now
the earth shook, and graves were opened.
Right about now
the barrier between God and man torn open as the curtains of His body and temple were rent.
Right about now
the blood and the water burst from the sword in His side
Even as the blood and the water from the sluicing of the temple floors
Stained the mountain side.
Right
about now the people were
– stunned
– afraid
– amazed
– terrified
– convicted
– angry
– hiding
– weeping
Right
about now Satan’s thrill ride was over.
A moment ago he thought he’d won.
Right about now, I’m guessing he knew that he hadn’t.
He’d played into the hands of the God who had planned
All things from before the beginning.
He’d whispered and prodded
As Judas he goaded
And the priests and the Pharisees conspired.
Right about now they took Him down.
When someone has died
The last act of love is to care for their precious, spent, body.
And this they did.
And then they went home.
And waited.
(This little series has been posted with dates in the opposite order to which it was written so as to appear sequentially to readers)