Jesus takes suffering upon himself, not away — and Mary's life is the same paradox

Jesus' ministry looks like the abolition of suffering — he heals a woman ill for twelve years and a man paralysed for thirty-eight — but 'in the final analysis, Jesus' mission is not to take away all suffering but to take it upon himself,' as the Son of Man who gives his life 'as a ransom for many,' alluding to Isaiah's suffering Servant. Mary's life has the same shape: miracles (Gabriel, the virginal conception, the star, the Magi) and sorrows (the threat of divorce, no room at Bethlehem, the massacre, the flight, the three days' loss, the cross). The chapter's thesis in one sentence: 'Mary did not suffer labor pains at Bethlehem, but she did suffer them at Calvary.'

• Mark 10:45 — 'a ransom for many' — the Servant's mission.
• Isaiah 53:3 — the man of sorrows who carries our griefs.
• Luke 2:35 — the sword through Mary's soul.

The paradox of the Gospel — salvation through suffering rather than around it — is the key to Mary's birth pangs: spared at Bethlehem, endured at Calvary.