she was helpless.
His wounds bled, but she dared not stanch them; His mouth was parched,
but she could not moisten it. These outstretched arms used to clasp
her neck; she used to fondle these pierced hands and feet. Ah! the
nails pierced her as well as Him; the thorns round His brow were a
circle of flame about her heart; the taunts flung at Him wounded her
likewise.

But there was worse still--the sword cut deeper. Had not the angel
told her before His birth, "He shall be great, and shall be called the
Son of the Highest, and the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of
His father David; and He shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever;
and of His kingdom there shall be no end"? This greatness, this
throne, this crown, this kingdom--where were they? Once she had
believed that she really was what the angel had called her--the most
blessed of women--when she saw Him lying in her lap in His beautiful
infancy, when the Shepherds and the Magi came to adore Him, and when
Simeon and Anna recognised Him as the Messiah. After that ensued the
long period of His obscurity in Nazareth. He was only the village
carpenter; but she did not weary, for He was with her in their home;
and she was confident that the greatness, the throne, the crown, the
kingdom would all come in good time. At last His hour struck; and,
casting down His tools and bidding her farewell, He went forth out of
the little valley into the great world. It is all coming now, she
said. Soon the news arrived of the words of grace and power He was
speaking, of the multitudes following Him, of the nation being roused,
and of the blind, the lame, the diseased, the bereaved who blessed Him
for giving joy back to their lives, and blessed her who had borne Him.
It is all coming to pass, she said. But then followed other news--of
reaction, of opposition, of persecution. Her heart sank within her.
She could not stay where she was. She left Nazareth and went away
trembling to see what had happened. And now she stands at the foot of
His cross. He is dying; and the greatness, the glory, and the kingdom
have never come.

What could it mean? Had the angel been a deceiver, and God's word a
lie, and all the wonders of His childhood a dream? We know the
explanation now: Jesus was about to climb a far loftier throne than
Mary had ever imagined, and the cross was the only road to it. Before
many weeks were over Mary was to understand this too; but meantime it