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Mary (mother of Jesus) |
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Motherhood is a painful privilege. Young
Mary of Nazareth had the unique privilege of being mother to the very Son
of God. Yet the pains and pleasures of her motherhood can be understood by
mothers everywhere. Mary was the only human present at Jesus’ birth who
also witnessed his death. She saw him arrive as her baby son, and she
watched him die as her Savior.
Until Gabriel’s unexpected visit, Mary’s life was quite satisfactory. She had recently become engaged to a carpenter, Joseph, and was anticipating married life. But her life was about to change forever. Angels don’t usually make appointments before visiting. Feeling as if she were being congratulated for winning the grand prize in a contest she had never entered, Mary found the angel’s greeting puzzling and his presence frightening. What she heard next was the news almost every woman in Israel hoped to hear—that her child would be the Messiah, God’s promised Savior. Mary did not doubt the message but rather asked how pregnancy would be possible. Gabriel told her the baby would be God’s Son. Her answer was the one God waits in vain to hear from so many other people: "I am the Lord’s servant.… May everything you have said come true" (Luke 1:38). Later her song of joy shows us how well she knew God, for her thoughts were filled with his words from the Old Testament. Within a few weeks of his birth, Jesus was taken to the Temple to be dedicated to God. There Joseph and Mary were met by two devout people, Simeon and Anna, who recognized the child as the Messiah and praised God. Simeon directed some words to Mary that must have come to her mind many times in the years that followed: "A sword will pierce your very soul" (Luke 2:35). A big part of her painful privilege of motherhood would be to see her son rejected and crucified by the people he came to save. We can imagine that even if she had known all she would suffer as Jesus’ mother, Mary would still have given the same response. Are you, like Mary, available to be used by God? 1- Strengths and accomplishments
2- Lessons from her life
3- Vital statistics
4- Key verse "Mary responded, ‘I am the Lord’s servant, and I am willing to accept whatever he wants. May everything you have said come true.’ And then the angel left" (Luke 1:38). Mary’s story is told throughout the Gospels. She is also mentioned in Acts 1:14.
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Mary, the mother of Jesus She was the virgin that was prophesied of in the O.T. who was to bear a son. #Isa 7:14. Gabriel was sent from God to announce to her that the Holy Spirit should come upon her, and the power of the Highest should overshadow her, and she should bring forth a Son, and should call His name JESUS. She had asked how it should be, and it being thus explained she piously answered, "Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word." She then went to visit her cousin Elisabeth, who, being filled with the Holy Spirit, pronounced her blessed, and hailed her as ‘the mother of my Lord.’ Mary also praised God: He had regarded the low estate of His handmaid: all generations would call her blessed. #Lu 1:26-56. An enrolment, or census, decreed by the imperial power of Rome, caused Joseph, to whom Mary had been espoused, to take her to the city of Bethlehem, where, according to prophecy, Jesus was born. Thither came shepherds to whom His birth had been announced by angels, accompanied by a multitude of the heavenly host praising God. Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. When the babe was presented in the temple the pious Simeon blessed Mary, but had to tell her that a sword should pierce through her own soul. Homage was also rendered to Him by the Magi, but, to avoid the murderous intentions of Herod, Joseph was directed to carry Mary and the young child into Egypt. On returning they abode in Nazareth. Mary is next met with when Jesus remained at Jerusalem after the Passover, and was found among the doctors. This had caused her great anxiety, and she had to hear His mysterious reply as to being about His Father’s business. She was with Him and His disciples at the marriage feast at Cana, when He uttered another mysterious sentence: "Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come." She nevertheless instructed the servants to do whatever He told them, which resulted in their having the best wine at the end (as it will be in the kingdom). Once afterwards Mary came with His ‘brethren’ desiring to speak with Him; but again a mysterious saying declared that those who did the will of His Father were His brother, and sister, and mother. #Mt 12:46-50. No doubt Mary subsequently understood the depth of these sayings when she came to learn what His death accomplished. She stood near the cross and saw her Son and her Lord nailed thereto: now the sword must have pierced her soul. She was commended by the Lord to the care of John, who took her to his own home. She was with the eleven at Jerusalem waiting for the gift of the Holy Spirit, and that is the last record we have of her. Christians gladly call her Blessed, for indeed it was a high honour to be the mother of Jesus; but it is not revealed that she held any place of authority or privilege beyond other saints; indeed, the way the Lord spoke to her, and of her, contradicts any such theory. Jesus was called her ‘first-born son,’ clearly implying that she had other children. The crowds said, "Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us?" #Mr 6:3, &c. |