Friday - Birth Pains
Day 33
When I was pregnant with Mary Grace, Dale and I went to birthing classes at the hospital where she would be born a few months later. We sat on the floor together, me tucked in between Dale’s knees, leaning against his chest. We were told about the signs of labor beginning, when we should call the doctor or go to the hospital. The instructor walked us through the stages of labor, and modeled how we could breathe through the contractions. I nodded as if I was listening, and pretended to breathe deeply, but all I really wanted to know was when I could ask for an epidural, as I had no intention of experiencing the pain of natural childbirth! Two weeks before Mary Grace was due, I was at my weekly OB check and the baby’s heart rate was slower than the doctor wanted it to be. A stress test concluded that the baby might be in distress, so I called Dale who met me at the hospital and the next thing I knew, labor was being induced. A few hours later, I began to feel some labor pains. I breathed through three or four of them, then let the nurse know I was ready for my epidural. The drug numbed me from the waist down and I never felt another pain. Mary Grace was born early the following morning and I thought, “Nothing to it!”
While not identical to Mary Grace, my birthing experience with Reagan was similar, two weeks early, induced labor, epidural anesthesia, little to no pain. While Rebecca’s birth wasn’t early and labor wasn’t induced, I suffered through very few contractions before the epidural kicked in. So imagine my surprise when Andrew’s due date came and went, with nothing - not even a twinge of labor pain. Ten days later, and in the Atlanta September heat, I finally began to feel something. Excited, I called my dad to come and watch the older kids and Dale to come home from the office and drive me to the hospital. Dale says he drove home as fast as he could, but I still don’t believe him. Contractions like I had never before experienced wracked my body. Trying not to scare the children, or faint from the pain, I paced back and forth behind the sofa while they watched a movie.
Finally in the car and heading down Interstate-75 towards Piedmont Hospital, I felt like a caged wounded animal needing to escape the pain. When we got to the hospital door, I bolted out of the car and headed inside. I had to keep moving! The nurse kindly and quickly helped me out of my clothes and into a gown, and did a quick check. I told her that I needed my epidural and then I’d be okay. The nurse said, “Oh, Honey, you’re too far along, this baby is coming in just a few minutes.” I grabbed her arm and with terror in my eyes pleaded, “You don’t understand…I didn’t listen in the birthing class…I don’t know how to breathe!”
I thought I knew what labor felt like. I mean, I had three children, right? The reality was that I knew nothing and was completely unprepared when the intensity of real labor blindsided me. In today’s reading, Jesus is taking His disciples through the stages of tribulation that would come, comparing it to labor pains. There would be no epidural to numb these pains or stop the progression. Let’s hope they are paying attention!!
Read Mark 13:1-13
Jesus’ disciples were not from Jerusalem. They lived in the Galilee region, so coming to the big city of Jerusalem was always exciting and impressive. They understandably found themselves marveling at the temple architecture and construction. Herod the Great had rebuilt the temple after the Babylonians had destroyed it and the entire city of Jerusalem around 587 BC. The new and improved temple was the chief place of worship, ritual sacrifice, and communal gathering for the Jewish people from 516 BC to 70 AD and was more than three times the size of Solomon’s original temple. In fact, Herod the Great’s Temple Mount was more vast and grand than most of the seven wonders of the world, more than twice the size of the Acropolis in Athens. The disciples called Jesus’ attention to the massive stones and impressive buildings, expecting Him to say something like, “Yeah, it’s amazing what humans can achieve!” Instead, Jesus replied, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left upon another - all will be thrown down.” (Mk. 13:2) And approximately 35 years later, in 70 AD this prophecy would be realized, when the Romans once and for all destroyed all but the mount itself.
When Will This Happen? What Should We Be Looking For?
Once they were back on the Mount of Olives, overlooking the city across the Kidron Valley, James and John, Peter and Andrew pulled Jesus aside to ask when the temple would be destroyed and what signs they should be looking for. Jesus described what the early labor pains would be like: there would be deceptive false Christs promoting easy gospels, wars and rumors of wars between nations and kingdoms, as well as earthquakes and famines in various places. Jesus’ followers would need to be on guard for these signs and others, so that they would not be blindsided, convinced that it wasn’t too bad! They would be persecuted because of Him, accused falsely and handed over to the local courts. Not only would they suffer politically, but would also be flogged and cast out of synagogues. They would be arrested and forced to give an account before governors and kings. But wait, it gets worse! It wouldn’t just be the predictable threats - religious leaders and civil authorities and governments - who would hate them. Their families would hate them as well as betray them, because of Jesus and their connection to Him.
I imagine that the four disciples wished they had never asked for more details and clues surrounding the destruction of the temple mount, and yet Jesus answers the question none of them asked. The question that we all want to ask but are often afraid of the answer we’ll receive, “Why? Why does all of this horror have to take place?” Jesus answers in verse 10, “And it is necessary that the gospel be preached to all nations.” This Gospel Message would only be spread across the world through His disciples, His sentinels of the truth.
“Woah, woah, woah, Jesus. How in the world do you think we are going to be able to effectively represent you and the Kingdom of God in these hostile environments?” Jesus answers before they can even ask, “When (not if) they arrest you and hand you over, don’t worry about what you will say beforehand. Say whatever the Spirit gives you to say at that time.” (from Mk. 13:11) It wouldn’t be them, but the Holy Spirit giving them discernment, wisdom, words, endurance, confidence and peace. The disciples wouldn’t understand the power of the Holy Spirit in them until Pentecost, so Jesus was giving them a preview of what they could expect.
Big Picture Questions for Today:
Are you like me, and want the epidural for pain and suffering?
If we believe that the Lord has provided everything we need for life and godliness in Christ, (2 Pet. 1:3) then shouldn’t everything include words we write or say when sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ that has forever changed us for the better?
Pray, and thank God for the gift of the Holy Spirit, who gives us discernment, wisdom, words, endurance, confidence and peace. We are not alone. Jesus has not abandoned us. This world we are living in is hard, but we are never alone.
Blessings,
Gay B Brown