Mary: Always do what mother says…
I would like to thank all the mothers out there for the
choice they made to be mothers and for all that they have done and will
continue to do to love and serve their families.
In honor of Mother’s Day I wanted to share some of what the
Bible says about the mother of Jesus Christ and to glean some wisdom from what
Mary had to say in the pages of scripture.
Luke 1:26-28 (NKJV)
26 Now in the sixth month the angel
Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name
was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary. 28 And having come in, the angel said to her,
"Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among
women!"
Any Christian who has been to church in the month of
December may recall the introduction of Mary and the Catholics will rejoice
over the scriptural basis of a portion of the Hail Mary Prayer that comes from
Luke 1:28.
The Hail Mary Prayer starts:
Hail Mary,
Full of Grace,
The Lord is with
thee.
Blessed art thou
among women,
and blessed is the
fruit
of thy womb, Jesus.
The angel Gabriel testifies that the Lord is with Her and
she is blessed among women! And I think we can all agree with the angel in His assessment
Jesus as “blessed” and the prophecy that followed:
Luke 1:30-33 (NKJV)
30 Then the angel said to her,
"Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb
and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS.
32 He will be great, and will be
called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His
father David. 33 And He will reign
over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end."
That sounds great but Mary was no fool and had to ask how
this would be possible since she was a virgin:
Luke 1:35-37 (NKJV)
35 And the angel answered and said
to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest
will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be
called the Son of God. 36 Now
indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and
this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. 37 For with God nothing will be
impossible."
Mary, showing what a shrewd mother she would be, “tested
the spirit” but discerned that this was from God and by faith accepted His will
for her life:
Luke 1:38 (NKJV)
38 Then Mary said, "Behold the
maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word." And the
angel departed from her.
Mary took what the angel Gabriele told here by
faith and so visited Elizabeth who confirmed what the angel said and praised
Mary for her faithfulness:
Luke 1:45 (NKJV)
45 Blessed is she who
believed, for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her
from the Lord."
To which, Mary’s response models that of a faithful
mother who praises the Lord, rejoices in her faith, proclaims the truth of who
God is, and gives thanks to God:
Luke 1:46-55 (NKJV)
46 And Mary said: "My soul
magnifies the Lord, 47 And my
spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. 48 For
He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant; For behold, henceforth all
generations will call me blessed. 49 For
He who is mighty has done great things for me, And holy is His name. 50 And His mercy is on those who fear Him From
generation to generation. 51 He has
shown strength with His arm; He has scattered the proud in the imagination of
their hearts. 52 He has put down
the mighty from their thrones, And exalted the lowly.53 He has filled the hungry with good things,
And the rich He has sent away empty. 54 He
has helped His servant Israel, In remembrance of His mercy, 55 As He spoke to our fathers, To Abraham and
to his seed forever."
We next pick up Mary’s story in:
Luke 2:4-7 (NKJV)
4 Joseph also went up from Galilee,
out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called
Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed
wife, who was with child. 6 So it
was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be
delivered. 7 And she brought forth
her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a
manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
These verses tell us that Mary was a righteous and obedient
wife, as she travelled with Joseph to Bethlehem to obey the law of the land, a decree
of Caesar Augustus, to be registered. Joseph and Mary obeyed the laws of the state
even though they may have had doubts or questions of their government’s
legitimacy as they were living in faith to bring into the world a newborn king!
Mothers tell their children to obey
the law no matter what they may think of the politicians in charge.
These verses also show Mary’s resiliency of a mother as
she made the best of their meager circumstances and cared for her child the
best she could.
Angels proclaimed the coming of the Messiahs to shepherds
who hurriedly proclaimed what the angels said to Joseph and Mary and to
others. But Mary as a mother showed
her patience and control over her emotions at this exciting news by quietly
accepting their truth and waiting for their fulfillment:
Luke 2:19 (NKJV)
19 But Mary kept all these things
and pondered them in her heart.
Mary’s patience and
heart as a mother would be tested as on the heels of a great prophecy spoken over
Jesus, Simeon proclaimed to her:
Luke 2:34-35 (NKJV)
34 Then Simeon blessed them, and
said to Mary His mother, "Behold, this Child is destined for the
fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against 35 (yes, a sword will pierce through your own
soul also), that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed."
There isn’t much detail of Mary’s life with Christ but with
such prophecies spoken over Him, Mary like all mothers had her soul invested
in his care and was concerned for her child’s future.
And just like all mothers, Mary had to deal with the ups
and downs of raising a child as 12-year-old Jesus went missing for three
days while on a trip to Jerusalem at Passover, only to find him in the safety
of the temple, discussing scripture with the teachers.
Luke 2:47-51 (NKJV)
47 And all who heard Him were
astonished at His understanding and answers.
48 So when they saw Him, they were
amazed; and His mother said to Him, "Son, why have You done this to us?
Look, Your father and I have sought You anxiously."
49 And He said to them, "Why
did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father's
business?" 50 But they did not
understand the statement which He spoke to them. 51
Then He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was subject
to them, but His mother kept all these things in her heart.
Apparently even sinless kids can drive you crazy, but even
though this episode must have shocked and confused her, Mary knew her Son and grew
calm when He was safely returned to her for she trusted that He was meant for
great things.
She knew Jesus’ time would come and approximately 20 years
later it did. Jesus’ earthly ministry
began with a mother’s words of wisdom that we should all take to heart:
John 2:5 (NKJV)
5 His mother said to the servants,
"Whatever He says to you, do it."
These words lead to the fulfillment of Christ’s first
miracle and the rest is history.
John 2:11-12 (NKJV)
11 This beginning of signs Jesus
did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in
Him.
Through the years of Christ’s teaching and miracles, and
even at the hour of his death, Jesus never forgot the love for His mother and
even made provision for her care.
John 19:25-27 (NKJV)
25 Now there stood by the cross of
Jesus His mother, and His mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary
Magdalene. 26 When Jesus therefore
saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to His
mother, "Woman, behold your son!"
27 Then He said to the disciple, "Behold your mother!" And from that hour that
disciple took her to his own home.
Christ’s example to us for today, regarding our mothers is
to love and care for them as they loved and cared for us right up until the
moment we are separated from each other’s lives.
The word of God also tells us to honor mothers:
Exodus 20:12 (NKJV)
12 "Honor your father and your
mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God is giving you.
So today honor your mother by sharing the love they gave to
you. Show them that their love for you
wasn’t wasted and that it will live on in your life and the life of
others.
And if we feel like we want to honor the virgin Mary, I
think the best thing we can do is to follow her example by being faithful,
resilient, patient, self-controlled, loving, and to tell others to follow Jesus. The wisest thing Mary ever said to us from
scripture about her Son was: "Whatever He says to you, do it."
(05/09/2021)
