Midrash: Sarah of Nazareth reflects on her lifelong friend.
May 12, 2024, Feast of the Ascension and Mother’s Day
Helen Weber-McReynolds, RCWP
Acts 1: 1-3, 6-11; Ps. 68; Eph 4:1-14; Mark 16: 9-15, 19-20
My name is Sarah, and I am a follower of the one they call Jesus of Nazareth. If you are reading this, I hope it is because you also are his follower. I have faith and hope as I write this that his words and his Way will be alive forever.
Jesus and I actually grew up in the same neighborhood in Nazareth. As a child, he loved to have fun, but always seemed a little preoccupied. His parents, Mary and Joseph, were very kind, gentle people, and he was like them. As he got older, he spent any free time he had listening to the rabbis and learning as much of our Hebrew scriptures as possible. As we approached adulthood, the oppressive abuses of the Roman occupiers of our region grew worse and worse. Jesus was very concerned about the way they affected the ability of the local farmers, merchants, and laborers to earn a living wage. But he did not go off and join the violent gangs trying to sabotage the Romans. He spoke out in protest, but always advocated for non-violence and reconciliation.
When he was thirty years old, Jesus started actively teaching his vision of a reformed, justice-oriented observance of our Jewish faith. He wanted to tell everyone about the love of God he had experienced in prayer, his study of scripture, in nature, and in human relationships. He had a way of devising down-to-earth stories that made it clear to people that God’s love for them was unlimited, and that God wanted us to love one another in the same way. He developed quite a following, which made the local leaders feel threatened. So, unfortunately, he developed enemies as well.
My mother and I joined Jesus as he began to travel around the region and toward Jerusalem, teaching and encouraging people to stand up for justice for themselves and others. He especially advocated for the ostracized, the lepers, the blind, the deaf, and people who seemed to have demons in their minds. We wanted to learn all we could from him, but, like his mother and the others who traveled with him, we wanted to support and protect him as well. We tried to convince him that Jerusalem was dangerous for him, and that he was better off staying in the small villages, letting people who wanted to learn come to him. But Jesus believed he had been sent by God to confront the injustices and corruption in our government and even our religious leadership there in the Temple city. He hoped he could make a difference with his message of selfless love.
Eventually the number of Jesus’ disciples, and the challenging teachings he proclaimed, became too alarming to the civic and religious leaders in Jerusalem. They found a way to get rid of him. Watching his gruesome execution was the worst experience of my life. They tried to make an example of him with their cruelty. The other women and I stood by him until the end, though the soldiers ran most of the men off. We saw him dead on the cross, and buried in the tomb.
We who were Jesus’ friends and followers were terrified that the Romans would come after us next. We hid out together. We gathered in an upper room and reminisced about all Jesus had taught us and how his example had affected our lives. The more we prayed and sang and remembered together, the more it seemed that Jesus was not dead, but vibrantly alive in our midst. It seemed like he would, in fact never die, as long as we had had breath to pass on his Way with our own words and actions. We came to understand that Jesus had embodied the love of God to us, that he had made God intimately real to each of us, and that his message had been that of the Christ the prophets had promised. Eventually, the loving impact he had on each of us helped us overcome our fear and begin to venture out to teach and model the love he had taught us. As time went on, we realized that, though Jesus was no longer physically with us, he would always be alive in our love for one another and the people we tried to teach and help. We realized that he had left his mission in our hands, to live out with our lives, and to encourage others to carry on.
I have written this in hope that you will read it in the future and be inspired to continue living the Way of the Christ and passing it on as I have tried to do. We came to realize that Jesus had called us to be his eyes and voice and hands. Now I call you also to see as Jesus saw, speak loving and challenging words, as Jesus spoke, and work and build and heal, as Jesus did with such powerful divine love.
May 12, 2024, Feast of the Ascension and Mother’s Day
Helen Weber-McReynolds, RCWP
Acts 1: 1-3, 6-11; Ps. 68; Eph 4:1-14; Mark 16: 9-15, 19-20
My name is Sarah, and I am a follower of the one they call Jesus of Nazareth. If you are reading this, I hope it is because you also are his follower. I have faith and hope as I write this that his words and his Way will be alive forever.
Jesus and I actually grew up in the same neighborhood in Nazareth. As a child, he loved to have fun, but always seemed a little preoccupied. His parents, Mary and Joseph, were very kind, gentle people, and he was like them. As he got older, he spent any free time he had listening to the rabbis and learning as much of our Hebrew scriptures as possible. As we approached adulthood, the oppressive abuses of the Roman occupiers of our region grew worse and worse. Jesus was very concerned about the way they affected the ability of the local farmers, merchants, and laborers to earn a living wage. But he did not go off and join the violent gangs trying to sabotage the Romans. He spoke out in protest, but always advocated for non-violence and reconciliation.
When he was thirty years old, Jesus started actively teaching his vision of a reformed, justice-oriented observance of our Jewish faith. He wanted to tell everyone about the love of God he had experienced in prayer, his study of scripture, in nature, and in human relationships. He had a way of devising down-to-earth stories that made it clear to people that God’s love for them was unlimited, and that God wanted us to love one another in the same way. He developed quite a following, which made the local leaders feel threatened. So, unfortunately, he developed enemies as well.
My mother and I joined Jesus as he began to travel around the region and toward Jerusalem, teaching and encouraging people to stand up for justice for themselves and others. He especially advocated for the ostracized, the lepers, the blind, the deaf, and people who seemed to have demons in their minds. We wanted to learn all we could from him, but, like his mother and the others who traveled with him, we wanted to support and protect him as well. We tried to convince him that Jerusalem was dangerous for him, and that he was better off staying in the small villages, letting people who wanted to learn come to him. But Jesus believed he had been sent by God to confront the injustices and corruption in our government and even our religious leadership there in the Temple city. He hoped he could make a difference with his message of selfless love.
Eventually the number of Jesus’ disciples, and the challenging teachings he proclaimed, became too alarming to the civic and religious leaders in Jerusalem. They found a way to get rid of him. Watching his gruesome execution was the worst experience of my life. They tried to make an example of him with their cruelty. The other women and I stood by him until the end, though the soldiers ran most of the men off. We saw him dead on the cross, and buried in the tomb.
We who were Jesus’ friends and followers were terrified that the Romans would come after us next. We hid out together. We gathered in an upper room and reminisced about all Jesus had taught us and how his example had affected our lives. The more we prayed and sang and remembered together, the more it seemed that Jesus was not dead, but vibrantly alive in our midst. It seemed like he would, in fact never die, as long as we had had breath to pass on his Way with our own words and actions. We came to understand that Jesus had embodied the love of God to us, that he had made God intimately real to each of us, and that his message had been that of the Christ the prophets had promised. Eventually, the loving impact he had on each of us helped us overcome our fear and begin to venture out to teach and model the love he had taught us. As time went on, we realized that, though Jesus was no longer physically with us, he would always be alive in our love for one another and the people we tried to teach and help. We realized that he had left his mission in our hands, to live out with our lives, and to encourage others to carry on.
I have written this in hope that you will read it in the future and be inspired to continue living the Way of the Christ and passing it on as I have tried to do. We came to realize that Jesus had called us to be his eyes and voice and hands. Now I call you also to see as Jesus saw, speak loving and challenging words, as Jesus spoke, and work and build and heal, as Jesus did with such powerful divine love.
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