Treasured in Mary's Heart

"And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart." (Luke 2:19)

"And his mother said to him, 'Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress.' And he said to them, 'Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?' And they did not understand the saying that he spoke to them. And he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them. And his mother treasured up all these things in her heart" (Luke 2:48-51)

When Jesus was foretold to Mary, she was told that she would conceive a son, and be named Jesus, which means "God saves". At this point, I am not sure whether or not Mary understood what her son was going to do. Did she understand that he was to die for her and everyone else's sin? At this time, I'm not sure. There is evidence that points that she did not understand the magnitude of his mission here on earth.

During the time of Jesus' life, the Roman Empire was in control. The Roman Empire spread the idea of Hellenism (which was actually started with the Greeks). The Jews hated Hellenism, because it spread ideas about other gods and goddesses instead of the One True God.

Let me correct that, there were some Jews who liked Hellenism, for it was Hellenism that allowed new building projects to take place in Israel. This was because the Roman army had already conquered everyone, so they sent them to build up the cities....In the Jewish society, there were many different political systems, which I will talk about another time. But these different systems fought each other for "selling out" their God.

The Jews believed that when the Messiah came, he would come as a "Conquering King". The different political systems believed that if the Messiah would just come and make their political system the way of life, and kick out the Romans, that everything would be good. However, this is not what Jesus came to earth for. I wonder if this is not the reason why all the different political groups hated Jesus....they thought they knew better than God.

We know however, that Jesus did not come to earth for an "external" problem. Jesus came for an "internal" problem....a problem of the heart....a problem of sin. I do not believe that Mary understood fully that Jesus would die on a cross. She may have been one who believed that the problem was an external one....But as Jesus was born and grew up, she treasured the instances and thought about them. She thought about how they matched up with what God had told her through the angel. She "weighed" what was going on, and treasured them in her heart.

What are some of the things that Mary treasured in her heart?

-What the shepherds told her and Joseph about Jesus

"And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. And the angel said to them, 'Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign unto you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.' And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!'" (Luke 2: 9-14).

-What Jesus told her when they found him at the temple

"After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. And when his parents saw him, they were astonished. And his mother said to him, 'Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress.' And he said to them, 'Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?" (Luke 2:46-49)

-When Jesus said, "Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?", this was a proclamation of being the Son of God.

I take a swift turn to ask, Why do you treasure in your heart? Do you store up and ponder about Jesus? Do we treasure the gift of salvation that Jesus gave us freely? Or do we, instead of storing up treasures in the heart, store up physical treasures that mean nothing? As this Christmas season nears, I want to store up treasures from my study on the Christmas story. I want to store up treasures of the intimate moments with God...I want to store up treasures that will never leave...