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That moment I knew, that the child I delivered has just delivered me


 




I didn’t sign up for this. When I mumbled yes with heart pounding this wasn’t what I had in mind and when Aunty Lizzy told me she was pregnant I was thrilled. We would be on an uphill ride to the throne of David not take a spiral dive to find out who would sink the lowest. John first was beheaded, I saw the anguish in Aunty Lizzy’s eyes but never felt it until now.


“Save yourself boy,” someone spat from the crowd.


“Don’t you dare call him the King of the Jews,” Josiah the Publican barked.

“The Jews have no King but Herod. This son of a carpenter is a common criminal, an impostor who claims to be God!”


A fiery dart struck my heart as those words flew from Josiah’s mouth. My baby; he kicked when I least expected and has been a source of immeasurable strength since he was born. The vile hatred of the crowd dazzled me, the sharp contrast with the welcome he received few days ago in Jerusalem reminded how fickle people are. Their cries of Crucify him when he was brought before Pilate still echo in my head and when the nails were driven down his hands, the pain I felt dwarfed the one I felt on that cold night in Bethlehem.


I was told he would be king, the little child I held, he would bring freedom to the Jews. The savior we all craved for. He would place us above the Romans and not just the Gentiles who have forever been below us. But he never became King instead here is he between two criminals.


I forced my way through the crowd, the story of that woman who bled for years was widely told. If she could do it then I can. I can get close to my son, damn the consequences.


“Mary you shouldn’t go.” Anna mentioned earlier, the blood shot eyes of mine shut her mouth up.


“John, Your mother. Mother, your son,” he said. Tears, blood and sweat formed a single juice on his face and my broken heart broke even more, not even John’s strong embrace could pull me together.


“You’ve got the power, break free and prove your worth,” I wanted to say. I didn’t say that, I knew better. I recalled the wedding at Canaan, where I asked him to do the trick with water. The amazing things people said he did, the blind he gave sight and those whose legs had gone he caused to walk. Peter’s said he walked on water, because my son asked him to. The others confirmed that and even more. That time he was twelve and went missing in Jerusalem for three days. His father went berserk, wanting to unleash the fury of hades on him. But the reply he gave stunned us. It was a reminder, we ought to know already who he was.


The jeers continued and the words he spoke, not a single in response. Every word carried weight and as the sun got closer to the west he lifted his voice and said, “It is finished.” The earth roared in violent protest,it opened its mouth but swallowed no one.


 




That moment I knew, that the child I delivered has just delivered me




That moment I knew, that the child I delivered has just delivered me. And Josiah was right, he was not the King of the Jews, the realm of his kingdom is so much more.