They sealed the tomb but I could not walk away. The sorrow in my heart was too great. Only God could sustain me in that moment of my greatest sorrow. Many would think that my greatest sorrows were over, that my Son had persevered in his obedience to the Father, and that the world was now redeemed. All of that was true, but the greatest sorrows were just beginning to be released in my soul. God was taking me to the next stage of my ministry to the world.

The redeeming power of my Son was unleashed like a mighty ocean within me, and I saw all of history as he had seen it. Up to now, my heart was totally centered on Jesus and in helping him to complete his earthly life. That was accomplished. My work as his physical mother was brought to a conclusion.

Now, I was no longer just the mother of Jesus of Nazareth. I was the Mother of the Redeemer, and I would be the Mother of the Redeemer until the end of time. A new work began for me, and with the new work, a new ocean of sorrows. I could hardly move away from the grave. I went with Jesus, in spirit, to the place where the souls of the just awaited him. I greeted my parents and all whom I knew and loved. I saw them brought into the light. I saw the joy on their faces and how they were welcomed by all the angels.

This was the beginning of the kingdom of God which Jesus had preached as imminent and about to break through into human history. It had already arrived for all the just who died before Jesus, including my beloved Joseph.

However, for those still on earth, the battle had just begun. The kingdom of God would be in their midst but the whole world had to be awakened to Jesus’ victory over sin and death. Standing at the tomb, I saw this so clearly. A momentous struggle was about to begin, a struggle in which some of my children would win a victory in Jesus’ name and other would lose, even though Jesus had died on the cross. This was my sorrow as I stood at the tomb.