46
Daughters of God
the meaning of His words, she did not forget them, but “kept all these
saying in her heart.”—
The Youth’s Instructor, November 28, 1895
.
As Joseph and Mary should return from Jerusalem alone with
Jesus, He hoped to direct their minds to the prophecies of the suffering
Saviour. Upon Calvary He sought to lighten His mother’s grief. He
was thinking of her now. Mary was to witness His last agony, and Jesus
desired her to understand His mission, that she might be strengthened
to endure, when the sword should pierce through her soul. As Jesus
had been separated from her, and she had sought Him sorrowing three
days, so when He should be offered up for the sins of the world, He
would again be lost to her for three days. And as He should come
forth from the tomb, her sorrow would again be turned to joy. But
how much better she could have borne the anguish of His death if she
had understood the Scriptures to which He was now trying to turn her
thoughts!—
The Desire of Ages, 82 (1898)
.
For twelve years of His life He had walked the streets of Nazareth,
and worked with Joseph at his trade, carefully performing the duties
that devolved upon a son. Hitherto He had not given indications of
His peculiar character, or made manifest the nature of His mission to
earth as the Son of God. But upon this occasion He made known to
His parents the fact that He had a higher, holier mission to perform
than they thought, for He had a work to do which had been committed
to Him by His heavenly Father. Mary knew that Jesus had disclaimed
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relationship to Joseph, and claimed His sonship to the Eternal. She
was perplexed; she did not fully comprehend the meaning of the words
herself when He referred to His mission. She questioned in her mind
as to whether anyone had told Jesus that Joseph was not His true
father, but that God was His Father. Mary pondered these things in her
heart.—
The Youth’s Instructor, July 13, 1893
.
Mary believed in her heart that the holy child born of her was the
long-promised Messiah, yet she dared not express her faith. Through-
out His life on earth she was a partaker in His sufferings. She witnessed
with sorrow the trials brought upon Him in His childhood and youth.
By her vindication of what she knew to be right in His conduct, she
herself was brought into trying positions. She looked upon the associa-
tions of the home, and the mother’s tender watchcare over her children,
as of vital importance in the formation of character. The sons and
daughters of Joseph knew this, and by appealing to her anxiety, they