FORERUNNERS PART 2:

 

I am always amazed at Mary, the mother of Christ. Girls in the meridian of time married young so historians claim that according to the traditions of the day, Mary was a young girl of 15 when she gave birth to Jesus. To take on such a responsibility of raising the child of so much importance would make many of us retreat.

The stigma of pregnancy outside marriage would have been unbearable in Mary’s day. It reminds me of the Jews who spat His birth into the Saviour’s face by calling Him ‘a child of fornication’ (John 8:41). What an incredible insult to the purity of a woman who put her very reputation on the line to enable the salvation of the very people who would crucify the fruit of her womb! Mary would have to be the greatest forerunner of Christ because she gave Him life.

What amazes me even more is what kind of a valiant and righteous spirit she must have been in the beginning to be chosen to be the mother of Christ. I stand in awe of that. Alma called Mary ‘a precious and chosen vessel’ (Alma 7:10).

For such a valiant spirit, there would have to be a protector and that man was Joseph. Not only did he care for Mary and ensured her safety, he was a man spiritually in tune who was willing to receive heavenly instructions and follow them. In this way, he became a forerunner that ensured the safety of Jesus’ life in his youth. Imagine him taking his young family to another country away from family and kin to ensure the safety of a child who was not even his.  How did they live there, what did he do to support them?

And here is an awesome proof that Mary and Joseph paved the way for the Saviour’s earthly mission. We always think that they went to Bethlehem because of the Roman’s tax decree. Elder Bruce R. McConkie reasoned that this decree was just a vehicle to fulfil the prophecy that the Saviour would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2; Matthew 2:1-8). He goes on to say that Mary and Joseph knew of this prophecy and knowing who Mary’s baby was, would have moved heaven and earth to make it to Bethlehem so He could be born there (The Mortal Messiah Book 1, p 341.

Would women really have been expected to attend accounting of taxes and census? Surely only Joseph would have been required to be there. Any governmental procedure in the ancient world was conducted by men with men. Women came under the jurisdiction of men. Their record keeping tracked only the paternal and not the maternal line. The scriptures attest to this.

So why else would Joseph put Mary ‘heavy with child’ through a journey of eighty dusty, dreary miles from Nazareth, riding on a slow stepping donkey, to Bethlehem if the primary motivation was not Jesus’ place of birth?

Imagine if Joseph had gone to Bethlehem alone and Jesus was born in Nazareth instead. How much cause would the Jewish ruling class have had against Jesus who claimed He was the promised Messiah that was prophesied would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2-4)?! I am certain that Mary and Joseph contemplated this and used it as motivation to fulfil the sacred responsibility they were entrusted with.

Could Jesus have had a better beginning to His life with parental forerunners such as this??? I think not.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Mary and Joseph by Greg Collins)

FORERUNNERS PART 1:

 

In the ancient world there were men who held an important job. They were required to go ahead of a travelling party to clear the path of fallen trees, rocks, undesirable persons or any obstacles that would prevent the travelling party from finishing their journey. They prepared the way. They were called 'forerunners'.

In my patriarchal blessing there is an interesting sentence that goes like this: "As you remain faithful to your trust, your guardian angels will never forsake you. They will go before you to 'prepare the way' and will be close to you and give you strength to resist evil."

I have reflected on this and wondered how much harder I would have struggled in my life had not an obstacle been removed from my path here and there, a temptation repressed, a disaster averted, a hurtful incident prevented. I realised that I could very well have come this far more on the merits of my forerunners than on my own strength.

It amazes me that even the Saviour needed a forerunner. I reflected on this too and realised he had five obvious ones. The most famous 'forerunner' to whom this title was applied symbolically was John the Baptist. John was born according to God's promise to be 'the voice crying in the wilderness' to herald the arrival of one greater than he, as prophesied by Isaiah (40:3) and Malachi (3:1).

His ministry provided a nucleus of faithful baptised believers from whom Jesus could call His apostles. These were men already converted and ready to serve, and well prepared under John’s ministry to believe and act the instant the Saviour called them to abandon everything and follow Him. Such was the power of John the Baptist, a martyr, who valiantly testified, taught and prepared the way and whom Jesus characterized as "a burning and a shining light" (John 5:35).

But John had someone who ‘prepared the way’ for him too….his parents, who are the greatest example of parental forerunners. Stricken in age and childless, they fulfilled an incredible prophesy and brought John into life safeguarding him from murderous Herod so he could grow into manhood and fulfil his purpose. Both John and his father were martyred in the end for their roles as forerunners (See Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p 261; Matthew 23:35; Matt 14:3-12).

There are two other important examples of parental forerunners and they are Mary and Joseph. They were entrusted with a priceless charge of infant Jesus but more on them later. Considering their spiritual calibre, it is not hard to conclude that these five people were handpicked in pre-earth life for this purpose (D&C 138:55,56).

I look back on my parental forerunners and am grateful for the greatest sacrifice they made to take me out of a socialist country in my youth and bring me to Australia so I could have freedom to become who I was destined to be, by taking upon myself the name of Him, through the waters of baptism, who had foreordained me to have His Gospel in this life and to bear witness of His name.

 

What faith You had

In those who held You

by Your mortal hand;

How loyal to their charge

Were they who sustained You

When it all began.

How tender their heart

To see the Hope of Israel

And recognize The Great I am.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Child of Grace by Liz Lemon Swindle)