00:00On this Mother's Day, I want to talk about the relationship between Jesus and His mother.
00:08Have you ever thought about what Mary knew before the rest of the world caught up?
00:13And I'm not talking about what people later said about Jesus or what the crowd saw after the miracle started.
00:21And I don't mean what the disciples slowly began to understand.
00:25I mean what Mary saw when He was still in her arms, still in her home, still living the quiet
00:36years that almost nobody talks about.
00:39Before the world called Him Savior, Mary called Him Son.
00:46And that's where this Mother's Day tribute begins.
00:49It begins with a mother looking at her child and knowing there is something in Him that is bigger than
00:57what anyone else can see yet.
01:00She did not need a crowd to tell her He was special.
01:05She did not need public proof to know God had placed something holy in Him.
01:10She had heard the angel's words.
01:13She had carried Him.
01:15She had held Him.
01:17She had watched Him grow.
01:19And like mothers so often do, she kept things in her heart that other people would have missed.
01:28That's one of the quiet strengths of being a mother.
01:33She remembers what everyone else forgets.
01:37She notices what others walk past.
01:41She feels the change in the room before anyone else says a word.
01:59And, you know, for me, that kind of love is beautiful because it's not easy.
02:06Mary knew who Jesus was, but she still had to raise Him one ordinary day at a time.
02:12She still had to feed Him.
02:14She still had to watch over Him.
02:18She still had to feel the fear of losing Him when He was 12 and then find Him in the
02:25temple speaking wisdom beyond His years.
02:28She still had to hear Him say that He had to be about His Father's business.
02:34Imagine being His mother and hearing that.
02:39Wow, you know, there had to be pride in her heart.
02:43There had to be wonder.
02:45But I also think there had to be a quiet pain as well.
02:50Because Mary was learning something every mother eventually has to face.
02:55Your child may come through you, but they do not belong only to you.
03:03Their life is in God's hands.
03:07And that's a hard truth, you know.
03:10A mother can love with everything in her.
03:13She can pray, guide, protect, teach, encourage, and stay awake at night thinking about things nobody else sees.
03:22But she cannot control every road her child will walk.
03:28She cannot keep every sorrow away.
03:32She cannot force the right hour to arrive.
03:37And Mary had to trust God with Jesus.
03:41At the wedding in Cana, think about this.
03:44We see something so tender between them.
03:48The wine ran out and Mary noticed.
03:51That alone feels like a mother, doesn't it?
03:54She saw the problem before it became a public shame.
03:59She saw the need in the room and she brought it to her son.
04:04She said,
04:05They have no wine.
04:08Now, that was not a performance and it wasn't a big speech.
04:12That was a mother turning to the one she knew.
04:18She knew there was more in Jesus than the room understood.
04:22She knew before they knew.
04:26She knew before we knew.
04:30And she knew before the servants knew.
04:33So, she went to him.
04:37And Jesus said his hour had not yet come.
04:42Now, that moment carries a lot of weight because Mary knew what he carried, but she could not control the
04:49timing.
04:51She could bring the need to him, but she could not tell him how to move.
04:56So, she did what faith does when love has reached the edge of control.
05:02She trusted him.
05:04She turned to the servants and said,
05:07Do whatever he tells you.
05:10Now, that line is one of the most powerful things Mary ever said.
05:15It was simple.
05:16It was steady.
05:18It was full of trust.
05:24And that's why this is such a beautiful Mother's Day message.
05:31Mary's greatness was not loud.
05:34And it was not about attention.
05:36It was not about needing to be seen as important.
05:40Her strength was in the way she stayed faithful to God and kept pointing people toward her son.
05:49She knew him first, but she did not keep him for herself.
05:56That, well, that's love.
05:59And when we follow Mary's story all the way to the cross, the tenderness becomes even deeper.
06:07The same mother who had held Jesus as a baby stood near him while he suffered as a man.
06:14The same woman who had watched him take his first steps had to watch him carry a cross.
06:22The same mother who knew his voice in childhood had to hear him speak through pain.
06:30No mother should ever have to see that.
06:59Sometimes love cannot fix the moment.
07:02Sometimes love cannot change the outcome.
07:07And sometimes love can only remain close when leaving would be easier.
07:16Mary remained.
07:18And Jesus?
07:19He saw her.
07:21Even from the cross, while carrying the weight of the world,
07:26Jesus looked at his mother and made sure she would be cared for.
07:30That says something beautiful about him.
07:35He was fulfilling his mission of heaven.
07:38And he still honored the woman who had carried him on earth.
07:43He was saving sinners, defeating darkness, and opening the way back to God.
07:50Yet, he still saw his mother standing there with a broken heart.
07:55That is our Jesus.
07:59He was never too holy to be tender.
08:02He was never too great to notice personal pain.
08:06He is never so focused on the whole world that he forgets the one person standing in front of him.
08:15So, on Mother's Day, we honor Mary as the mother who knew before we did.
08:22She knew his face before we knew his name.
08:26She knew his gentleness before we read his words.
08:31She knew his holiness before the crowds argued about him.
08:36She knew there was something in him that could not be explained by ordinary life.
08:43But she also knew the cost of loving him.
08:49And Mary's story reminds us to honor mothers not only for what they do in public,
08:55but for what they carry in silence.
08:58The prayers nobody hears.
09:01The memories nobody asks about.
09:04The fears they keep hidden.
09:06The faith they hold on to when they cannot control what happens next.
09:14Maybe Mother's Day is warm for you.
09:18Maybe it's painful.
09:19Maybe you miss your mother.
09:22Maybe you're grateful for her.
09:25Maybe your relationship was complicated.
09:28Maybe you are a mother yourself.
09:30Maybe you know what it feels like to love someone so deeply that their pain has become part of your
09:38own.
09:40Jesus sees all of that.
09:43He sees the mother who is tired.
09:46He sees the child who is grieving.
09:49He sees the family that is not perfect.
09:52He sees the love that still matters, even when life has been hard.
10:01Mary knew Jesus before the world did.
10:04And her love stood through the hidden years, through the public years, and in his darkest hour.
10:13She did not always understand everything.
10:17She did not get an easy road.
10:19But she trusted God with the son she loved.
10:25And maybe today, the best tribute we can give her is to hear her words again with a softer heart.
10:36Do whatever he tells you.
10:40Not because life is easy, and not because we understand every road.
10:45But because Mary knew him, she knew his heart.
10:50She knew his goodness.
10:53And she knew his strength.
10:56Well before the world believed, Mary already loved him.
11:04And before we ever called him Savior, she already held him close.
11:12Happy Mother's Day.
11:15My name is Douglas Van der Graaff, and I believe in Jesus Christ.
11:20God bless every single one of you.
11:24Every single one.
11:27Bye-bye.
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