King of the Jews | Page 9

thou really depart hence forever?"
Mary Magdalene threw herself at his feet and said, "Alas, I am filled
with terrible forebodings. Friend of my soul! My heart--oh! my
heart--it will not let thee go!"
Jesus said unto her, "Stand up, Mary. The night cometh and the winter
storms come blustering on. But be comforted. In the early morning in

the garden of spring, thou wilt see me again."
Lazarus exclaimed, "Oh! my friend, my benefactor!"
"Alas!" cried Martha, "thou art going; and comest thou back
nevermore?"
Jesus said, "The Father wills it, beloved. Wherever I am I bear you ever
with me in my heart, and wherever you are, my blessings will follow
you. Farewell."
And behold as they turned to go, there met them Mary, the mother of
Jesus, with her companions. Mary had a white mantle round her head,
from beneath which her long dark hair hung down. She hastened to her
son, crying, "Jesus, dearest son, I hastened after thee with my friends,
in eager longing to see thee once more before thou goest, all whither?"
Jesus clasped her hands gently and replied, "Mother, I am on the way to
Jerusalem."
"To Jerusalem," said his mother. "There is the temple of Jehovah,
whither I once carried thee in my arms to offer thee to the Lord."
"Mother," said Jesus in solemn sadness, "the hour is come when
according to the will of the Father I shall offer myself. I am ready to
complete the sacrifice which the Father demands from me."
"Ah," cried Mary with bitter and piteous cry, "I foresee what kind of a
sacrifice that will be."
John and Mary Magdalene had joined the mother of Jesus, and the two
Marys standing together united their lament.
"How much we had wished," said the Magdalene, "to keep back the
master and make him remain with us."
"It is of no use," said Simon gloomily, "his purpose is fixed."
Then said Jesus to his mother, tenderly beholding her, "My hour is

come."
All the disciples cried, "Oh, ask the Father that he should let it pass by."
Then all the women said, "The Father has always listened to thee."
But Jesus said: "How is my soul troubled, and what shall I say? Father,
deliver me from this hour! But for this hour came I into the world."
But Mary hearing him, exclaimed as in a trance, "Oh, venerable Simon,
now will be fulfilled that which thou once prophesied to me, 'A sword
shall pierce through thine own soul!'" And as she spoke Mary
Magdalene gently supported her from falling.
Jesus said in terms of gentle reproach, "Mother, the will of the Father
was also ever sacred to thee." His word rallied her courage and she
replied, "It is so to me still. I am the handmaid of the Lord. What he
requires of me I will bear patiently. But one thing I beg of thee, my
son."
"What desirest thou, my mother?"
"That I may go with thee into the fierce conflict of suffering, yea, even
unto death!"
"Oh, what love!" exclaimed John, who stood tearfully beside the two
Marys, wistfully looking for some ray of hope to illumine the darkness
beyond.
Jesus embraced her lovingly. "Dear mother, thou wilt suffer with me,
thou wilt fight with me in my death struggle, but thou wilt also rejoice
with me in my victory, therefore be comforted."
"Oh, God!" she cried in heartrending accents, "give me strength that
my heart may not break."
"We all weep with thee, thou best of mothers," said the holy women,
adding their tears to those of the mother of Jesus.

"I will go with thee, my son, to Jerusalem," said Mary.
And the holy women declared they also would go with her.
But Jesus, holding her hand, tenderly forbade her: "Later you may go
thither, but not now. For the present stay with our friends at Bethany. I
commend to you, O faithful souls, my beloved mother, with those who
have followed her here."
Eagerly the Magdalene accepted the charge.
"After thee," she exclaimed, "there is no one dearer to us than thy
mother."
But even at the eleventh hour Lazarus interposed one last word of
entreaty: "If only thou, O master, couldst remain!"
Not noticing this, Jesus said, "Comfort ye one another. After two days
you may come up together to Jerusalem, to be there on the great day of
the feast."
Mary said: "As thou wilt, my son."
But the holy women said: "How sadly will the hours pass when thou art
far from us."
Then Jesus spoke to his mother and said, "Mother, mother, for the
tender love and motherly care which thou hast shown to me for the
three and thirty years of my life, receive the warmest thanks of thy
son."